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There were a lot of possibilities on the table when Abrams signed on, but no finalized story. Lawrence Kasdan, who had written The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, was developing a young Han Solo standalone movie, which was just recently confirmed but began development years ago. He joined with Michael Arndt, who’d won an Oscar for the script to Little Miss Sunshine, and Simon Kinberg, who wrote Mr. & Mrs. Smith and X-Men: First Class, to break down trilogy possibilities with Kennedy.
“[They] had just been hypothesizing and throwing out a bunch of what-ifs, but there was no story in place,” Abrams says. “It was, without doubt, a formidable assignment. There were so many options and so many paths that could be taken. Even when we were in debate — and sometimes it was frustrating and heated — it was always thrilling, because it seemed almost everywhere you looked there was something potentially extraordinary, which felt very much like the DNA of Star Wars itself.”

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE!

The Imperial Remnant has morphed into the First Order, while the Resistance is described as a splinter group (of what, it’s not clear; there’s no word if it’s splintered off from the New Republic or if it’s splintered off from another organization).
Princess Leia has acquired Luke’s old lightsaber – which, in turn, belonged to Anakin. So it was somehow found after falling into the depths of Cloud City. (Hopefully, this should put that insipid “the movie opens with a lightsaber floating in space” rumor to rest.)
The driving question that influenced Abrams (and will presumably be hugely apparent within the context of the story itself) is “Who is Luke Skywalker?” (And no, that’s not a lazy Atlas Shrugged reference.) This is a question that will be raised in The Force Awakens and will continue to be brought up in the other two films in the Sequel Trilogy.
On the note of the story of the Sequel Trilogy, the general arc has been decided upon, but the story of the film is still evolving.
The Original Trilogy characters have all been “changed” by the events of the Galactic Civil War – that is to say, they’re not quite the same people that they were when we last saw them partying on Endor at the end of Return Of The Jedi. Kennedy notes that the story arc for the new movies will compliment the message of the films in the Original Trilogy – and not completely reject it, as some have feared.
Abrams will not be directing Star Wars Episode IX.
George Lucas’s words and vision are still important for Lucasfilm after his retirement. When asked about this, Kennedy said “George spoke often about that tension in everybody between what’s good and bad. He always felt that it was easier to be bad than good. I’m not sure all people would agree, but I think that that’s always an interesting conflict to explore. So that’s a big part of the themes inside of Episode VII.”
Kasdan turned down work on the Prequel Trilogy since it only covered the backstory of Star Wars, but he jumped at the call to work on stories set after Return Of The Jedi. Kasdan noted that when writing for the characters, he found that they weren’t necessarily wiser so much as they were more experienced.
One of the most important bits of information come from the following quote: “The amount of screentime the Skywalker twins may get is still unclear, although Luke’s fate is obviously a key factor. Ford’s Han Solo, however, will be one of the leads, piloting the Millennium Falcon alongside his old pal Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew.) Among the newcomers, desert scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley) and runaway stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) will be running for their lives, with the rolling droid BB-8 trying to keep up. Eventually all five of them end up aboard that familiar starship.”

Still to come from Entertainment Weekly is a piece about Kylo Ren’s backstory and more after that, so stay tuned for when we cover those!

UPDATE 2!

EW made an article regarding the backstory of Kylo Ren. I’ll go for a bulleted list again, but the short of it is that those who thought we knew a good amount of information about him are in for a surprise…

The First Order – which Kylo Ren is allied with – is an Imperial Remnant. The wording in the articles suggests that there are other Imperial Remnants besides the First Order.
As many have come to understand, Kylo is obsessed with Darth Vader and wishes to carry out his legacy.
Kylo’s mask actually has a backstory to it, although Abrams admitted that Lucasfilm designed it in such a way to pay homage to Darth Vader.
As those who have seen the crossblade lightsaber up close can attest to, the weapon is cobbled together by Kylo and is not a relic weapon.
EW hypothesizes that Kylo is the anti-Luke – he’s an individual that starts from nothing and becomes legendary. However, whereas Luke chose the Force’s Light Side, Kylo allied himself with the Dark Side in his ambition.
Abrams has said that Kylo Ren is not as fully-formed as a bad guy as, say, Darth Vader is. He very much sees himself as a hero in his twisted mind.
“Kylo Ren” is not his real name. It is a title, much like “Darth Vader”. He isn’t a Sith, either. He’s a member of an organization known as “The Knights Of Ren”, who bestowed the title upon him when he was initiated into their numbers. (Throwing this out there as a bit of speculation – Snoke is probably part of the Knights Of Ren as well, who I imagine are all Force-sensitive.)
EW teases that we might know who one – or both – of his parents are before the movie comes out.
Kasdan noted that he felt that Kylo Ren was the most original character he’d ever written for a Star Wars movie. He is a villain driven by his emotions, which Kasdan says Adam Driver really fleshes out on the screen.