There are a myriad ways to develop a story. I check out interviews with successful creators across a whole range of fields to pick up on the beliefs and strategies they have which help them to create work that stands out. It’s one of the reasons I read biographies, assuming the biographer is bright enough to allow their subject to shine through their own assumptions and other filters. I’ve interviewed a variety of successful writers myself, too, with an eye and ear to picking up on useful distinctions and approaches.

A few years back I attended an event in Manchester with the man behind Dr Who’s hugely successful relaunch, Russell T Davies. He’s a bright and genial man, and it was fascinating to hear him relate the story of his career, which included elements of his particular style of creativity. For Russell, it seems to start with a germ of an idea; for instance, in one recent interview he refers to a forthcoming script codenamed MGM, or More Gay Men: “What got me started was a friend, a former Mr Gay UK, who split up from his boyfriend. He asked me ‘Why are so many gay men glad we split up?’ That remark’s stayed with me for six years”.

Then, his core concept identified, Russell compares it to his mental database of all the stories he’s seen, read or heard to find out how that concept has been treated before. Having done so, he can then develop something new, which carries with it lessons learned from previous iterations of the core concept. When he’s actually writing the script, he can see in his mind’s eye a rough version of what’s happening on screen. Not in detail – that comes when actors and designers and a director are on board – but a kind of mental animatic, or moving storyboard, just to see if everything flows right, and has pace. All of this was apparent in the way he spoke about his writing process, whether consciously or through observing consistent patterns of body language (which is where the stuff about the ’screen’ comes from, for instance: his eyes kept returning to it).

OK, so that gives some insight into a working and replicable model for coming up with stories. What other factors might be involved? This is an issue that proved of critical importance to comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, whose career exploded into the mainstream after his success in the independent scene shortly after I interviewed him. I asked how his writing had developed over time:

“All I can tell you is I started riding a bicyle every single day. I get up mid-afternoon, I shower, I ride my bike and I take off for 6 or 7 hours, pick up some food, do errands, ride maybe 70 miles, and by the time I’ve come home I’ve got everything all figured out. It’s like meditation. No kidding. Right in the middle of Goldfish it happened, I became a better writer once I started managing my personal time better. The other factor is meeting my wife, who is maybe the best sounding board in all of comics. A huge fan, who loves reading, and has great ideas.”

Which makes sense. I’ve found the same when I go swimming, and Charles Darwin is just one example of someone whose ideas came when he took them for a walk. Body and mind are one after all, so using exercise as part of your writing routine can pay dividends. Now all I have to do is work out how to woo Mrs Bendis.

Carla Speed McNeil, who is the writer, artist and publisher of the excellent comic series Finder was a fascinating interview subject, given her experience of all aspects of the processes of creating, marketing, and distribution. Here’s what she had to say about the response she gets from readers, the first line of which also happens to be the core of what more clued-up marketing people advise their clients:

“Getting direct feedback is necessary to build a kind of ‘virtual audience’ in your head. You get a feel for what will come through clearly after you’ve had people read and analyse what you’ve produced. You always need that reality check stuff.”

So, those are some insights I’ve gleaned from people out there making it as writers. And there are musicians and artists who are well worth reading up on to discover what helps make them and their work tick. More on that in the future…