Let’s say you already have a few ideas for your story.
Your main character could:
Join the circus to become a trapeze artist
Work at the department store in a dying mall
Star in the local rodeo as a bullfighter
So…
How do you choose which is right?
Most writers guess.
They pick:
what sounds interesting to them
what they would choose
or what they think readers would like most
But that’s exactly why the story won’t hold up.
Because the plot isn’t connected to the protagonist. It’s random.
Once you pick a path, then what?
What about what happens after they get the job at the mall?