Writing Tips

What to Write

What to Write When you Have no idea What to Write.

Sometimes we want to write so badly that we feel like we are going crazy inside, but the moment we grab a pen at an inspiration, suddenly it's gone. Utterly and horribly gone. Either the idea vanishes like an alien has abducted it, or suddenly it doesn't feel like it is the correct thing to write, or it feels like a stupid idea.

Other times that craving to write hits, and nothing will satisfy it but some legitimately excellent words on the paper, but no matter what we do, nothing comes to mind.

Right now, we are not going into anything technical, because technicalities are from the left side of the brain, and the left side just loves to rationalize everything and tell the creative right side that everything it thinks of is stupid or that it won't be good enough. 

You need to tell the left side to shut up right there. That's the first downfall of many writers. It doesn't matter your skill level, skill comes with time and patience, and with the undying intent on perfecting your work over time (learning to edit). Writing comes first, so it doesn't matter how stupid it is. You are going to jump off the cliff, take the slippery slope down, and find out where it takes you only when you finally plunge into the deep and then get washed ashore. It's exhilarating.

Again, only the editing is allowed to be frustrating.

Alright.

First we will play the Pick a Card game, except instead of cards, we are using categories. Do you want to write a Romance? Action? Science Fiction? What about Fantasy? (Cool part is most of these can be mixed or modified, and many books cross genres.)

Let's say we decide a space story. Okay. Now for the era. Now? Past? Future? Alright, let's say it's the future. Dude? You seriously have just made a very important choice. You are farther than when you first began. Already, your left brain is beginning to pout because the right side is saying, "Ooooh! Pick this one!" And the left side is growling and saying, "Yeah, but why? This is dumb, what if some other category is better?"

Tell it to shut up. Hell, write a story about the two sides of the brain arguing with each other and getting into some nasty cat fight that gives a person serious brain damage! (Heheh.)

What do you think of when you say the word "space," or when you think of the future? Lots of technology, other planets, suns, moons. Aliens, or advanced humans. How often does it make you think castle? Not very, but that is interesting, right? Brainstorming is very important, it decides several things: types of characters, settings, color schemes, cool names for stuff, et cetera. It decides the basic layout of a story as well, and the pitch for it.

Often, I pick a scene and write complete analogies for it. Something creepy with a hint of beauty, like a skeleton carved with intricate patterns that are painted with gold and silver, jewels imbedded upon the fore of the cranium and the middle of the sternum. Something so deathly made artistic. Or you can remain on the side of deathly, draping it in cobwebs and keeping the bleached bones half-buried in the dust. Imagine the story behind theses props. Incorporate them while your pen dances through your scene.

Another idea to write more for your story is to draw on every memory you have. Pick a person, change the looks, half of the personality, and add some crazy quirk they don't really have so it isn't really that person anymore. Now make this person pass through the scene. Give them a goal, a reason to pass through. Barely hint at it while making them wonder about the bones.

History enriches a story. Give everything a history cuz most things we cross were already there and had a strange story of how they came to be there. An environment is a living, breathing character, just as much as the other characters who speak. Give the environment moods: freaky lightning storms, violent gales, peaceful breezes, subtle trembling in the forests that are blanketed by fog, as though the earth is ready to spew out poison. Show the bits of history that will somehow reveal what is going on inside your character, or what is about to happen. These details should always exist to provoke, intensify, or reveal. If they are just there to be there, they're halfway useless.

Another idea is to sit down and observe people in the background of tv shows, or in real life. Imagine what has them dressed the way they are, why they must be where they are, and where they may be going. Imagine what they do for a living, what their favorite sports or foods are, what family member they like the least, how successful or artistic they are. Random questions that might come up in conversation, things you have wondered about doing before, or that you have wondered about others before.

Dreams make another good writing subject. I keep a dream journal for the best dreams. A stream of perhaps 6 or 7 dreams, plus several old stories and a LOT of my own memories have all been manipulated and stitched into fitting with each other for my Leviathans series. It makes for great reference later, some dreams being full storylines that are great even after you wake up. (Turning into an alien with a tail was probably one of my weirdest / coolest dreams.  I still remember the scenery, the treasures, the rain, the snow...)

Funny stuff is fun, too. Write about a .... green ..... hand, which ..... is reaching for a cookie jar ..... but is ..... stopped by werewolf mermaids!  (Would werewolf mermaids be scaly or furry, I wonder?) Weird, but possibly really funny. That would make an awesome children's book, right? That would have beaten any Dr. Seuss book when I was little! And Dr. Seuss was the bomb!

Another way? Participate in one of those Add a Sentence stories which you tell with a group. Each person says a statement, ending with "and", or "but," or something along those lines. The next person picks up from there. As long as you get the creativity flowing, that's what's important.  You'll all get likely frustrated with each other but it's a great laugh and a fun writing exercise.

If none of that works, you can always start with a flaming bird coming down to eat a school bus full of evil teenagers.

Lyrics for songs and poetry are both great ways of figuring out creative stop points for periods, comas, hyphens, quotations, etc. Plus, you don't always have to concentrate on rhyme. You learn rhythm as well. Try to practice as many different writing styles as possible.  Those are good ways of helping to unplug the cork, so to speak.

Journals help, too. They give real perspectives you can reflect back on through the years, helping you to remember things you never realized had ever been important. Sometimes that stuff shocks you . . . or bores you! (A lot of mine were really lame. Some were horrifying, as they depicted a teenager growing up in an abusive home. But it's made for some extremely good writing and some really good motivational stories for others who have been or are in similar situations.)

You will find yourself leaning more and more toward wanting to write for the piece that you have been stuck on. Suddenly you won't be able to take it anymore, and you'll drop the rest and jump on it. And the writing block will be gone. Yay!

Always take notes the moment something pops in your head, you may need that later.  Add it to your stash alphabetically, or whatever order serves you best.  Newspaper clippings help, so do news stories and magazines.  Pictures may inspire you as well.  I keep a mishmash folder of odds and ends, kind of like a scrapbook, but for writing ideas, and it's separated by color schemes, cultures, etc.  It makes a great idea-giver, although I periodically go through and trash the whole thing so I don't have mountains of hoarder garbage in my house or on my computer.