'nother Mike (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mbarker) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
writercises2022-03-24 05:25 pm
mbarker) wrote in writercises2022-03-24 05:25 pm
Entry tags:
TECH: No ideas? Oh... we can fix that!
Original Posting March 6, 2019
On another list, someone mentioned that they have the technical ability to put a story together, but they couldn't possibly write a story a week because they didn't have ideas.
After I picked myself up from the floor, I got to thinking. Okay, let's suppose you just don't have an idea for a story. So, where could you find something?
1. Listen to a song! That's right, rock-n-roll, country-n-western, one of those that you like. Now, almost every song has a story hidden inside. Not very hidden in most cases. So, take that story, and write it! Turn those short descriptions into living, breathing characters, build the setting up, and turn those events into scenes! Go for it! Heck, put us in the ship with Francis Scott Key, looking for a flag waving... yes, it's an oldie, but it's still a goodie!
2. Take a joke. Please! If you ask Google about jokes, you get about 689,000,000 results, and that's just the hits. Go to any of those sites, and you'll find plenty of jokes. Now, you can use that joke as your story framework, expanding it. You can use it as a kind of theme, running behind or through your story. Anyway you like it, use that joke.
3. Look at a picture? Try google images. Pick a word, any word, or a phrase and see what turns up! See if one of those pictures sparks something for you. Might be the start of your story, a scene in the middle, or perhaps even the climactic ending, but... write a little story about that picture (or two or three?)
4. Reader's Digest Stories? Sure, why not? Someone here on the list used to take... I think it was the last line, or maybe the first line, from a Reader's Digest story, and use that as the seed for a short story. https://www.rd.com/true-stories/ might get you started, or perhaps https://www.rd.com/jokes/funny-stories/ or https://www.rd.com/funny-stuff/
5. Plumb your own memory or life? Sure... what was an exciting event in your life? What was an upsetting event in your life? Pick some event in your life, far past, recent, whatever. Now, think about it. What might have happened? Go ahead, imagine some variations, play games with that incident. Who else might have gotten involved? What would happen if... Wow! That could be a pretty interesting story.
6. What's your favorite movie? How about one you remember pretty well? Now, pick a scene or event in that movie. And... put yourself into it. Yep, imagine you are riding in an X-Wing fighter, and the spooky voice says, "Trust the Force!" in your earphones... what happens? Oh, wow... Okay, don't like that? Well, take that movie and consider a twist. Imagine the story from the point of view of a bit player? Tell us the story from that point of view...
There. Six possible fonts of ideas for your stories. I'll admit, I think the first five work better for me, but use whichever one you like.
Oh, wait! I forgot comic strips, comics, cartoons... take those stories, and write those up! Yes, those can be fun!
Just write!
On another list, someone mentioned that they have the technical ability to put a story together, but they couldn't possibly write a story a week because they didn't have ideas.
After I picked myself up from the floor, I got to thinking. Okay, let's suppose you just don't have an idea for a story. So, where could you find something?
1. Listen to a song! That's right, rock-n-roll, country-n-western, one of those that you like. Now, almost every song has a story hidden inside. Not very hidden in most cases. So, take that story, and write it! Turn those short descriptions into living, breathing characters, build the setting up, and turn those events into scenes! Go for it! Heck, put us in the ship with Francis Scott Key, looking for a flag waving... yes, it's an oldie, but it's still a goodie!
2. Take a joke. Please! If you ask Google about jokes, you get about 689,000,000 results, and that's just the hits. Go to any of those sites, and you'll find plenty of jokes. Now, you can use that joke as your story framework, expanding it. You can use it as a kind of theme, running behind or through your story. Anyway you like it, use that joke.
3. Look at a picture? Try google images. Pick a word, any word, or a phrase and see what turns up! See if one of those pictures sparks something for you. Might be the start of your story, a scene in the middle, or perhaps even the climactic ending, but... write a little story about that picture (or two or three?)
4. Reader's Digest Stories? Sure, why not? Someone here on the list used to take... I think it was the last line, or maybe the first line, from a Reader's Digest story, and use that as the seed for a short story. https://www.rd.com/true-stories/ might get you started, or perhaps https://www.rd.com/jokes/funny-stories/ or https://www.rd.com/funny-stuff/
5. Plumb your own memory or life? Sure... what was an exciting event in your life? What was an upsetting event in your life? Pick some event in your life, far past, recent, whatever. Now, think about it. What might have happened? Go ahead, imagine some variations, play games with that incident. Who else might have gotten involved? What would happen if... Wow! That could be a pretty interesting story.
6. What's your favorite movie? How about one you remember pretty well? Now, pick a scene or event in that movie. And... put yourself into it. Yep, imagine you are riding in an X-Wing fighter, and the spooky voice says, "Trust the Force!" in your earphones... what happens? Oh, wow... Okay, don't like that? Well, take that movie and consider a twist. Imagine the story from the point of view of a bit player? Tell us the story from that point of view...
There. Six possible fonts of ideas for your stories. I'll admit, I think the first five work better for me, but use whichever one you like.
Oh, wait! I forgot comic strips, comics, cartoons... take those stories, and write those up! Yes, those can be fun!
Just write!