[ OT ] Doubting yourself as a writer , what does it take to write a story ? General tips , getting started , advice needed

I can tell you what works for me. I design characters in my mind; give them appearances and personalities. I tend to work in pairs, for a character, there's a partner / companion / friend who interacts with him. I imagine their interaction in a typical scene they star in. 
 
 Also, I need an idea, a scene that I like, and start living through the characters. Sometimes this spawns other ideas and characters. 
 
 Sometimes the scene I think about is the final scene, the happy ending. Sometimes it's a confrontation, sometimes it's a cliffhanger. 
 
 As the scenes grow, I realize they need a world, so I expand my universe. Then this spawns more characters, villains, 3rd parties, and so on. 
 
 I write many drafts for scenes in my world; then I try to figure out a way to join them or make them work. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. Keep writing and experimenting.
