General

I would start off with painting my main character in the story, while also painting the other supporting, minor, or antagonists in a realistic way that would resonate and touch down deep with people, making them understand why the character commits these actions? You had a really great point about being more specific about the character instead of generally saying "he rented a wide variety of movies", but saying "he bought a copy of 'The Brave Little Toaster" so in that the reader trys to grasp what the character is thinking.

[quote=Lets69]I think the conflict would be hard considering how long the book would be and I would probably go with a conflict that has many underlying twists, turns, and the occasional red herring.[/quote]
If it's an actual novel, then instead of one small conflict, you could have one large, overarching conflict, and a bunch of smaller minor conflicts. And maybe, if you're up for it, those smaller minor conflicts could tie into the overarching conflict somehow.

[quote=Lets69]Also, what questions should I ask MYSELF, seeing as how I want people to relate to the story and see it as something they would see or do.[/quote]
[b]Meaningful concrete details[/b] are going to be your best friends here. People relate to things when they're spot-on, not when they're vague. It's tempting to want to be very general or abstract, in the hopes of attracting as many readers as possible, but all you'll do is create something that most people can't relate to, since it just isn't specific enough. Writing "he rented a wide variety of movies" is general, and a lot of people can probably relate to renting videos at some point, but that's about as far as it goes. On the other hand, writing "he bought a copy of 'The Brave Little Toaster' on VHS, from a secondhand store" is quite specific, and I'm sure it resonated with a lot of 90s folks here. It also tells us a lot about the character: we learn that he is somewhat nostalgic, maybe even a bit childish, since he's buying a 90's animated film whose target audience was mostly children (but it has darker themes, and if you wanted to give your character a more serious side, you could write that he looked forward to watching those specific scenes). Those ultra-specific details, as narrow as they are, will REALLY resonate with SOMEONE, as opposed to general fluff that doesn't resonate with anyone at all.

There are other ways, too. Less narrow ways, I mean. Give your character specific opinions. If he sees a man walking around in skinny jeans and a sleeveless shirt, and you want your character to seem counter-culture or old fashioned, or even a little uptight, make him grimace and think "what happened to men?" or something. And boom, just like that, anyone who's ever shared that sentiment will relate to your character. Even if we disagree with your character's opinions, we'll have a better understanding of who he is.

Never be afraid to dig too deep. Digging too deep is your job from now on. When you start to feel uncomfortable, like you've gone too far or dug too deep, that's when you know that you're on to something good.

I'm an incoming freshman, but I won't let that hinder me I have some plots that I sometimes contemplate in my head when I'm bored or such, but I have a problem in originality. I base my characters on the classics such as Sherlock Holmes, or even some modern ones. I have been thinking about carrying around a writing journal with me wherever I go, and describe the scenario and people. After that, I could look into my journal and ruminate about a plot that might come up, or just write some pastiche on some other classics. I tend to be reading some detective novels, teen books, and pastiches. I think the conflict would be hard considering how long the book would be and I would probably go with a conflict that has many underlying twists, turns, and the occasional red herring. Also, what questions should I ask MYSELF, seeing as how I want people to relate to the story and see it as something they would see or do.

Also, you should totally show us what you've written so far, if anything, so we can give suggestions. We probably won't bite.

This is my super-basic four step process:

1. Think up a bunch of characters. You have to really understand these characters, so well that you'd be able to predict what they'll do in any given situation. For that reason, try basing them off yourself or close friends/family members to start with, but as you get better you'll be able to whisk them out of your own experiences.
2. Take those characters and dump them in the craziest situation you can think of.
3. Watch what your characters do. Don't force them to do anything, just watch them. Kinda like roleplaying with yourself.
4. If you like it, great. There's your story. If you don't, then change the characters or the setting around and redo step 3.

If you're interested in learning more, you can PM me and ask. I'm pretty experienced with this sort of creative writing.

EDIT: Actually, if you don't feel like talking to me (which makes me sad), it's worth checking out [url=http://badassdigest.com/2012/05/31/the-complete-film-crit-hulk-archive/]Film Crit Hulk.[/url] While he's primarily about film, a lot of his essays apply to creative writing as well, since that's obviously a big factor in film itself.

Also watch [url=http://vodpod.com/watch/15380496-matt-stone-and-trey-parker-crash-an-nyu-writing-class]this.[/url]

Conflict is gonna be super important. Like, major important. So important that I'm gonna write it three times: [b]conflict, conflict, conflict[/b]. You're gonna have a character that wants something. And there's gonna be something getting in the way. That's conflict. It can be internal conflict (Jim wants people to notice and respect him, but his boss hates him and his wife cheats on him with his brother) or it can be external (Jim really wants the last slice of cake, but his brother won't let him have it) or it can be a mix of both (Jim wants to be assertive and respected. Later that night, Jim's brother comes over and they're all eating dinner, when Jim's brother, the same brother who's sleeping with his wife, takes the last slice of cake. Jim's desire to be assertive manifests itself in his want for the slice of cake). Stories that utilize both are usually more interesting, but do whatever you want!

Utilize backstory! Tell us things about these characters -- things that they've done in the part, or things that have happened to them, to make us care about them! And use meaningful concrete details! If you want to show us that a character is very dark and brooding, and you're writing a scene where he's checking out books at a library, don't just say "he got a stack of books and took them home," give us TITLES, and make them really dark and brooding books, you know? Stuff like that -- it helps a lot in forming your characters. And it does it in a way that [i]shows us[/i], instead of telling us. So instead of saying "JIM WAS DARK AND BROODING," you're showing us that Jim is dark and brooding because he just checked out four very DARK AND BROODING books from the library.

Also, go on tvtropes for an hour. Find some tropes that you like. Throw 'em in your story. My favorite is [url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakTheCutie]"break the cutie."[/url]

How is that trolling?..

edit: Your username is Lets69.
I'm not helping you, troll.