There are several ways to continue a story that you have started in order to bring it to completion. First of all one can ramble on just write things that come to mind so that just anything gets on print but then one can add a greater life to the character they have developed giving them the tools to become more interesting. This was the key for success to Kerouac and his road trip stories. Here I have listed some ways to develop a story.
If doing a mystery story on crime than knowing how the crime could be committed would be an advantage. There are so many ways a life death situation can be worked into a story. It takes more than just general knowledge of the subject if one wants to get real reader interest. This might be accomplished by dealing with hard to handle subjects; collaboration between prisoners fighting for a similar cause could be written in the story to blow the cover on another criminal organization.
A corrupt lawyer may be involved in a rape story and then the reader can be introduced into the personal life of the lawyer to find out how corruption pervades his personal romance. So when touching on prisoner friendship, the reader may find out how bonds can be useful in creating a lasting rapport between the lawyer and the man he has to defend. When discovering the shady side of the lawyer's family involvement we can find out if the lawyer has opposition at home as well as in the courts and how that affects him.
Twists and turns in plots are often the key to success. Someone appears in the main line of action that one wouldn't expect which adds more intrigue. The hero may now have to deal with British and French police in his escape and has now traveled to another country to escape the wrath of the first. So there is added intrigue, as the fugitive now has to worry about the collaboration of the two police systems. A subplot would also be good to add depth.
That runs parallel to the main story. The subplot adds dimension to the tale, creates a wider perspective allowing the reader to appreciate the story from other angles that would not be simply accessed by just going through the front door of the tale.
One has to overcome writer's block just as a regular writer would. To get around the obstacle, one can think of a personal story or experience. In order for the creative story to last there should be a strong interest in working the story around the characters. A more complex story may involve a layer of characters. Sometimes the writer might tailor his piece around a particular protagonist in mind. A story like writing about a person born from a mixed marriage in Britain is not considered British because of the colour of his skin and yet is not recognized as a Pakistani national because he was not born there.
Another topic could be writing about the secular nature of the society you come from. Obviously the writer is going to decide whether his story is going to be fictional or a true account. This could be the backdrop of this person's struggle to seek identification with one or another society or reject both.
Real life references help to enliven a book even though it is fictionally based. This is also the force that is behind fictional documentaries. One can elaborate on events that tie into the rejection behind this person like racism and build a vignette on that using information that is also available in the news like racist reactions among certain pockets of the population like the lack of acceptance of Sikhs in conservative neighborhoods or the fact that a Persian family lived in an airport before they were granted asylum into Canada.
