"‘Why’s he doing this?’ Kai asked.
I asked Farid. He thought, his eyes not focused in the room, but seeing events we couldn’t see. ‘I was with the rebels, fighting the government. I did some bad things. Now I don’t believe in the rebel leaders. I don’t believe in the government, either. Now I think we must just do the good we can. You helped me in the clinic. The clinic helps thousands of my people. This is what God asks of us. To do good.’"

Am I getting the idea? And, thank you,Sally.

So glad to help, Rosemary. Thank you.

What a wonderful way to say how finding the soul of a story works. The soul is NOT the big event. It's the underpinning, the human-ness, and, I believe, the part that changes the world.
Thanks, Andrew.

Or in another novel where two immortal characters are having dinner with friends on another world and casually reminiscing about events that happened centuries ago before they left Earth.

These are little scenes that don’t really move the plot and are usually breathers before or after big action scenes. But they stay with me because what they evoke, the wonder of traveling to another world in the first example and the magnitude of time in the second.

Honestly, I've found that planning a soul story isn't as easy as it sounds. It often turns into a "theme" story instead. Not that it's a bad thing when it does!

But letting the story unfold as it will often brings us to the main point of it as we go, and we discover the soul inside.

I consider myself both a plotter AND a pantster, simply because I like to know where I'm going while allowing the story to evolve and surprise me too. So, I rarely worry about the soul showing up. It will. When it's good and ready.
Thanks, Jerold!

I originally thought no further ahead than the scene where my protagonists wake up and slowly piece together a concept of what's happened to them. Only once they've about figured it out do I actually introduce their captor, Khreseea, an alien eco-sociologist who's specialized in studying humanity as part of her world's 5000 year old expansionist program.

I had no theme in mind. The story initially proceeds as they're interviewed and courted by Khreseea, who wants them to cooperate and thus guarantee 'the best results for both worlds." But it evolves into a battle of wits between my protagonists, led by Maggie Kestler, and their K'ladian captors, led by Khreseea and General H'Saichat. Ultimately, Maggie and her crew find themselves examining their own beliefs, questioning what is most important to humanity, and deciding they must find a way to fight back.

The theme, likely long buried in my personal psyche, simply found its way onto the pages. Ultimately, it not only changed how they fought back against their captors, but also how to best save humanity from itself.

So, yes, where you start from (pantsing, at least) may bear no resemblance to where you take your ideas and story.

Thank you, Moya.

YAY!! I'm so glad you trusted yourself enough to ask your writing partner before you deleted a character, especially the most "important" one. Good for you!
Yes, find some time. Writing is one of the ways I heal myself.

Thanks, Lisa!