I have had some people tell me before that they like spring cleaning. I never allow myself to turn my back on those individuals. They scare me. However, there is some spring cleaning that you, as a writer, might want to consider that could actually benefit you in ways that you never considered. Check it out![youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQeMuv2aM_Q]
What are we waiting to write for?
This weekend my family and I took a short trip to a museum in west Tennessee. Part of the museum includes a tower that allows you to look out over a fairly impressive distance. I've been suffering from sinus problems lately, so my main thoughts while I was in the tower dealt with how dizzy I felt while that high up. Once we returned home, I got the chance to look at the pictures I had taken while up there and appreciate them without equilibrium issues. I loved them. Maybe I'm easily impressed, which is likely, but I looked at these pictures and realized that there is so much there that could be written about. Between the museum's outdoor exhibits and the surrounding landscape, it was a beautiful sight, and I realized how much people have a responsibility to share that beauty with the rest of the world. Some do it through art. Some pass it on one person at a time through their charisma and ability to share experiences. I try to pass on the history and beauty to each class full of students that passes through my room. As writers, we should be sharing it through our prose. Take a look at the pictures, or take a look around you. The world is there, just waiting to be shared with those that might not be standing by your side. Give them something to amaze them. If you can't show them a picture taken through a camera, paint them a picture created by your words. If you are facing some writer's block right now, look around you and ask, "What am I waiting for?"
*Thanks to Discover Park of America for the great experience*
So what about those short story prompts?
Well, a day ago I posted a vlog talking about the usefulness of short stories in helping you get through writer's block. Naturally, plenty of people want to know how they are supposed to write a short story to help get them past their writer's block if they can't think of a basis for a short story. Here are a few prompts for short stories that you can use: Write a story about the first time a character has to mow the yard.
Write a fictional family history about people moving into a house that is empty in your neighborhood.
Write a story based on your favorite song.
Write a story about one day told from the perspective of your pet.
Write a story about a leaf being carried along in a stream.
Write a story about writer's block (I thought up a book idea that way once.)
Write a story about your first crush.
Write a story about the perceptions of Earth by a person from another planet/universe/dimension.
Write a story about five people in a plane that is flying overhead.
Write a story about teaching someone to play cards/poker.
There's ten quick story ideas to help get you started, and those were just off of the top of my head. What about you? Any good story ideas?
Short story ideas and where to get them
In this week's vlog I talk about short stories, why they can be useful, and where to get ideas from. I mention a few ideas and would love to hear some of your own writing prompts. I plan on posting more prompts later this week.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUFUnLbV2yg]
How binge watching might help your writing
I know that as a writer I should tell other writers that the only way to help your writing is to read, then write, then repeat the cycle to improve. There is a reason that formula is used so often: it works. However, we are in a changing time with new technologies and possibilities around every corner, so I would like to entertain new concepts that could open your mind to new possibilities. In today's vlog, I point out that the new public fad of binge watching can actually help you to develop your story and characters. It is all about opening your mind to new possibilities and stimuli.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev3opezTXLY]
Filler for your story: what you should and shouldn't do
I recently had someone ask me to do a vlog on filler for their writing. While considering it I also thought about how long it had been since I had the opportunity to sit down and do a written blog. Since it had been quite a while, I figured I would set aside a few minutes and answer his question in writing. Whenever you write, there is always a lot of concern with the length of the story. Sometimes you want to make certain that the story is novel length (which varies, depending on who you are speaking to) and sometimes you want to make certain that you aren't overdoing it. It is the first of these categories that are concerned with the phenomena in writing known as "filler." In essence, filler is something that takes up space and helps serve as a kind of written bridge between one important event in a story and another. Filler makes certain that what you hoped would be a novel isn't just an article. I once heard someone say that one of the hardest things to do is nothing. Filler essentially does nothing for the characters or story, so it makes it one of the most difficult things to write.
So, if you are asking this particular amateur writer how to create filler for your story, here is my answer: don't. I understand how much it might seem that you need to come up with something to fill up space, but if you do, then it is possible that you haven't fully developed your story or characters yet. Each thing that happens in your story should be a link in the chain. Anything that isn't doesn't belong there. Whatever is being written should be something that helps the characters grow or the story move forward or give background to the situation. If it doesn't do one of those things, then you are wasting your time and your reader's time. Your characters and your story should be alive. Everything that is alive, whether they realize it or not, do things for a reason. They may not understand the reason, but it is there nonetheless. Your living story and living characters should be no different.
I understand completely how tempting it is to add extra stuff in to lengthen out a story. However, when it is all said and done, I would much rather have a well written short story than a poorly written novel. There's my two cents worth.
5 ways of ending an idea drought
Nothing is more devastating than running into a complete roadblock when you are trying to think of good ideas for a story or book. Humans are storytellers. We love to spin a yarn about all kinds of things. Sometimes we want to be scared, other times amazed, and still others we like to be reminded. Some of us, though, like to do the scaring, the amazing, and the reminding. For some of us, it is almost like a high when you are sure your audience is reacting to your words. It is also an unbelievable low whenever you can't find the words to say. I'm probably not the best person to be creating this short list of place to look for ideas since I'm not a best-selling writer or anything, but I firmly believe that all of these things can work, and work well.
#1 Read, read, and then read some more!
Never steal another writer's ideas. There is nothing more low among writers than the pilfering of another's thoughts. However, reading someone else's work provides you with some great new perspectives. The style of writing may help push you towards a new approach. One of the characters may mention something that you are unfamiliar with, and in researching what it is, you may find something that spurs a storyline. You may find a concept that you think needs more exploration. You may even come up with a completely spontaneous storyline that you had never considered before and may never have thought of if you hadn't taken your mind off of things by writing. In the end, there is very little downside to this suggestion.
#2 Talk, listen, then talk some more!
As I have already mentioned, people are storytellers. We spend all day telling stories of some kind or another. That is the nature of being social animals. If you can't seem to find a story to tell in your writing, it is time to get around some other people and start telling stories. Once again, I am not suggesting that you try to steal some of their ideas. You are looking for inspiration. So many things in our regular interactions can inspire. Just remember that as often as you speak, you also need to listen. Get out of your isolation and interact.
#3 Open your eyes, you fool!
Look at the world around you. I mean really look. There are things that happen all of the time, right under our noses, that are remarkable. Sometimes you don't even need to move in order to see them. Have you ever watched a speck of dust floating in the air? Have you thought about where it came from and how it came to be in the middle of your living room? How does it get where it is going? What has it seen? Is it watching you, too? Just think, you may have found the inspiration for a unique story all because you forgot to buy Pledge at the store. Just think of what you might find if you venture out of your house!
#4 Turn up the radio!
Very little spurs emotions among humans more than music. Why else would the various MP3 players be so remarkably successful? Why not sit down, turn off the computer, and just listen to the radio for a while. Let the songs take you away from the stress of writer's block and everyday life for a few minutes. Come back to your writing quest refreshed, ina different mood, and with a different outlook. Even if you are like me and usually listen to NPR, the stories you hear can really get your mind working and put you back on track to starting, continuing, or completing that story you are looking for.
#5 Write something!
"If I could write something, Slater, I wouldn't be reading this stupid list now would I?" I said something, as in "anything." Write a limerick. Write a short story. Write a blog. Change your Facebook status. Write a chronological list of your day's activities. Whatever it is, just write it down! If you crumble it up and throw it away afterwards, that is still one thing that you have written. You have broken the drought. The only thing that overcomes defeat is success, no matter how minor that success is.
An idea drought can be devastating to anyone that considers themselves a writer. Don't let it wipe out your hopes or plans. There are always methods to dealing with an obstacle. You can go around it. You can go over it. With appropriate application of force, you can go through it! What you can't do is sit down in front of it and declare "You win."