You probably have ideas for several main characters, a handful of scenes, a general conflict, and maybe a broad sense of the ending. Your first goal is to hammer all this down into a premise: one or two sentences that convey the characters, the plot, and the theme.
Who is your hero? Woulf
What does he want? To find his place in the world
Who or what is keeping him from getting what he wants? his disability (telepathy, empathy)
What’s at stake if he doesn’t get it? He won't get to marry his girlfriend or be able to live within his pack
The premise is where you discover and solidify these decisions.
Exercise #1: Ask yourself every “what if” question that pops to mind regarding your story. Some of your ideas will be ridiculous; most will probably never make it into your book. But don’t censor yourself. By allowing yourself to write down every idea, no matter how crazy, you may come up with story-transforming gems.
- What if he never learned to control it?
- What if he did but not completely?
- What if he didn't have his year mates?
- What if getting his disability under control is grounds for exile?
- What if his girlfriend rejects him because of it?
- What if his disability makes him hypersensitive to emotional nuances?
- What if he scares his elders? What if the journey is his choice?
- What if he is pushed out of the village by the council?
- What if he finds out he isn't unique in his village?
- What if the planet warped the children of the Woulven from the beginning?
- What if are just curious about what is outside their village?
- What if the elders had kept them locked into the village ?
- What if more than Woulf sets out on this journey?
- What if contact with other marooned races are on similar quests?
- What if they weren't but Woulf's arrival gets others interested in learning the secrets of the planet and why they can't leave?
- What if the planet is somehow alive and was lonely?
- What if pulling the ships down was the planets plan to become less lonely?
- What if the members of woulfs group become the planets slave?
- What if they are able to convice the planet to allow some of the races return to the stars?
- What if a villian has arrived and is terrorizing other groups?
- What if Woulf and his group are necessary to save them?
- What if the spur getting woulf to leave is a cry for help on a bandwidth only he can hear?
- What if the cry is a trap?
- What if Woulf has other talents that he is not aware of?
- What if he becomes a hero to other races?
- What if his companions become afraid of him?
- What if Woulf does not exist except in someone elses mind?
- What if his childhood trauma made him unacceptable to his pack?
- What if he is the chiefs son not the hunters?
- What if he only loves his girlfriend because his best friend is in love with her and he is simply mirroring?
- What if he had to make his way in the world since the first incident and he doesn't know his own people?
- What if he becomes part of a reverse harem?
- What if the call he hears in because of a sickness?
- What if he is somehow immune to the sickness and the remedy is known to his people?
- What if his ability to hear thoughts could solve a series of murders? or help a ruler?
- What if he decides he is looking for a way to burn the telepathy out of his head so he can be "normal"
- What if someone he knows has an idea how to do that?
- What if he needs to meet and discover other minds like his to solve the reason the planet can't be left behind?
- What if the solution is worse than the problem
- what if he decides not to follow the river for a bit what will he find
- what if his friends decide they do not want to go any further
- what if promises were made that need to be broken how would he decide
- what if he is not honourable or brave
- what if he has a difficult time making decisions
- what if he is sent out as a spy
- what if his people know about his disability and use it to solve issues
- what if he runs away because he needs to find something else he is good at
- what if he hates his people because of the way they treat him
- what if the need to run away is for self preservation
- what if each race he meets tries to use him in the same way
- what if there is always a group of "nice" people that help him out
- what if he uses racial characteristics to solve mysteries willingly
- what if he and members of the other races band together to discover the secret of the planet
- what if the ships have been all but forgotten m the other races
- What if the further the race is from "Wulven" the longer they have been on the planet
- What if a new ship is about to crash or has crashed and Woulf is the one that finds them and helps them get situated
- What if the new race is telepathic without spoken language (they are all mutes)
- what if Woulfs telepathy is the only thing that allows communication between them.
- what if the new race had other mental gifts as well
- what if Woulf needs to protect them from becoming slaves
- What if solving mysteries is what makes Woulf strong, that it is his saving grace
