Obviously I'm not JMG, but I'm a professional writer, and the best advice I can give you is this: every story starts with a protagonist with a problem. The meat of the story is how the protagonist tries to solve that problem, fails, fails again, and finally succeeds.
Some examples...
Moby Dick: Captain Ahab was injured by the White Whale and seeks revenge.
Ivanhoe: Ivanhoe must rescue Rebecca from the Templars and redeem his good name.
Star Wars: Luke must save the Galaxy from Darth Vader and find his real family. (Many good stories have both an exterior problem--saving the Galaxy in this case--and an interior problem--here, finding his family.)
A great setting and background help to shape the kinds of situations the protagonist find him- or herself in, but the driving force of the story is the problem and the protagonist's efforts to solve it.
you need a protagonist with a problem
Obviously I'm not JMG, but I'm a professional writer, and the best advice I can give you is this: every story starts with a protagonist with a problem. The meat of the story is how the protagonist tries to solve that problem, fails, fails again, and finally succeeds.
Some examples...
Moby Dick: Captain Ahab was injured by the White Whale and seeks revenge.
Ivanhoe: Ivanhoe must rescue Rebecca from the Templars and redeem his good name.
Star Wars: Luke must save the Galaxy from Darth Vader and find his real family. (Many good stories have both an exterior problem--saving the Galaxy in this case--and an interior problem--here, finding his family.)
A great setting and background help to shape the kinds of situations the protagonist find him- or herself in, but the driving force of the story is the problem and the protagonist's efforts to solve it.
I hope this helps, and good luck to you.
--Ms. Krieger