Author: Megan Kemp
Date:   06-30-05 00:55

I am having the hardest time thinking of new things to write about. It seems like everything I start has come from an existing idea, is eventually published, or I get the most horrible case of Writer's Block! It's driving me crazy not being able to write like I used to. I could sit down with a pen and a notebook and not stop for hours and now I'm stuck. I would appreciate all of the tips and tricks you could help me with. Thanks!

Author: Jo Swain
Date:   06-30-05 07:55

I think A LOT before I sit down to write. I imagine myself as a character and make up scenes like a movie. Listening to music helps me too. Watching crappy movies or reading a bad book can boost my confidence level. I don't know Megan, I never really had writer's block. I live in an imaginary world 24-7.

Author: Honey Pen
Date:   06-30-05 08:13

"It seems like everything I start has come from an existing idea, is eventually published"
. . . this will get worse as time goes by. Look at how many books and people are out there now! This was not that big a problem a century ago.

I think a writer's job is to present old ideas in a fresh way. If you can come up with a new idea, great--although if you look hard, it's probably been done in some form or another at some point.

A lot of very ordinary ideas have turned into bestsellers, even Pulitzer prize winners. It's the writing that makes a work unique.

Author: Kaku Kindly
Date:   06-30-05 10:41

Try starting with a charcter. Develop your character's background, personality and motivations then present your character with a predicament. How would your character react? If you've properly developed your character, he should be telling the story himself at that point. All you need to do is write down what happens.

Some writers sit down and write a couple pages of biography defining their characters before they begin to write. If you've taken the time to bring your character to life, writers block should be the least of your problems. I find myself wanting my characters to shut up and give me some piece and quiet once in a while.

Author: MR Ross
Date:   06-30-05 10:53

Here is a story idea. A man who is struggling to find the meaning of life finally finds it, in a secret cake recipe! A booth at a corner diner outside of Pensicola is where it all starts. Overcome with his discovery he goes into hiding until, of all things, the recipe is the one thing that could save humanity from itself.

Okay, start typing.

Author: Nikki Massie
Date:   06-30-05 11:03

Ok, call me nuts, but my characters stories sort of come to me almost like...like you ever see that show "Medium?" It's sort of like that. It may be a character or a situation or anything and it nags at me until I write it down. Now my problem is that I can envision a story all the way through to the end but most of the time I can't commit to writing the whole thing out.

I'm new here so I don't know what genre you write, but some genres are harder than others. I would imagine coming up for new ideas for things like fantasy novels, for instance, are hard because of what's already out there.

Author: Jeanne Gassman
Date:   06-30-05 11:27

Pick up a copy of The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. There are some wonderful ideas in there on how to jump-start your creativity. Also, you may want to look at Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. Sometimes you need permission to write that sh11ty first draft. Good luck. You can do it once you shut down that internal editor and return to the joy of the process.

Author: MR Ross
Date:   06-30-05 12:29

Oh yes, my first drafts are monsters! Grrrr. Im ten pages shy of being done with my current project and I know as soon as I put that last period in place; Grrrraaaaa, out with the monsters. I like monstrs so its not that crazy, but I wish my first drafts were excellent. Oh well. They are not supposed to be.


Here is where my ideas come from. I think of an ending with emotional impact. Characaters are not a probelem for me so I usually have one percoalting around up there to just plug in. Then I write to the ending. My mind does the dancing throught the beginning and middle but the end is solod. It CANNOT change. If I dont write to the ending Im lost.

Premise. If cannot state what the premis of your book is in one sentance you need to rethink your ms. Really try this, it save alot of your time asking, what is this book about.

Ideas are never a problem for mw, why? because If I know the premise I can plug anyone and anything into it.

Hairdressers
a robbery
Glue
Computers
UFO conspiracy buffs
A Kennedy
CIA
Food Fair conventioneirs
Tides tables

Anything. ANYTHING!

Author: Amanda Turek
Date:   06-30-05 13:23

I have more trouble with the term, "premise"...

I start with the characters, who will struggle against and/or learn something, which is the theme; and then I construct a plot around the theme. . . or more truthfully, I send my characters out to do it.

IMO the plot is not what the story is ABOUT, it's what happens in the story, a maze in which the characters explore the theme, which IS what the story is about.

The term "premise" can be applied to either. Either can be summed up in a sentence. This is a distinction others will disagree with, but it is a sharp distinction for me.

When somebody asks what your book is about, a well-expressed plot premise should hopefully lead the listener or reader logically through to the theme. When you ask yourself, and by extension, your characters, it will lead you into the plot.

Author: Weed Eater
Date:   06-30-05 14:44

Try some people watching.

Author: r p
Date:   06-30-05 16:54

This is going to sound stupid, but I swear it works for me. I have a list of all the possible problems (for a main character) I could come up with, including crimes to solve, relationship issues, and anything else that could possibly create conflict. Then I pick a problem and change it. I add an element of fantasy (I write comtemporary fantasy) and try to make the problem different than any other take on that issue I've ever read. I'm not always successful, since a LOT of stuff has already been written. But I always succeed in writing old issues in my own (new)way.

For instance, say the problem I picked for a book (can't write short stories--it just isn't in me) is robbery. Maybe my character has to retrieve what has been stolen. I make the stolen object something interesting. Not money or jewelry or anything ordinary like that. Something fictional, or legendary, and maybe magical. Or dangerous. Then I make up the rules (as all good worlds need rules). Maybe the object can't be touched physically without consequences (like wearing the ring in LTR) or maybe it's invisible, or something else like that. The ideas always sound stupid at first, but once I work out the details, keeping in mind that both characters and rules HAVE to be consistent, I usually wind up with something pretty good. At least good enough to warrent the suspension of disbelief.

Obviously, none of these are ideas I've actually used, but hopefully the concept is clear.

Hope that helps. If not, sorry.

rp

Author: jill smith
Date:   06-30-05 17:01

I use a file in which I place current events I think could be a jumpstart for my creative brain. In my writing, I call upon the people I know in my life (even myself) and then I mix other people into the jist of the pot I am brewing. I agree people watching is a very good idea. Also, try to be more observant in what is happening all around you!
Writers enjoy fading into the scenery, you know that don't ya.
Jill Smith

Author: Christopher Fisher
Date:   07-01-05 14:49

Writer's block?

1. Give your idea some "gestation time" before you sit down to write.

2. Stop self-editing at the keyboard.

3. Remind yourself that no one has to ever see the first draft.

4. Try coffee.

Author: Ruth-Ann Jackson
Date:   07-01-05 16:06

I agree with doing a several page bio on the main character. It will help to become emotionally involved in the character and then he/she will tell you what they want to do.

Author: Nick Dobbie
Date:   07-02-05 03:52

Mr. King (in On Writing) says that he starts with a situation - a "What if?" question.

Like, "What if you put a bunch of young kids on a desert island, with no adults?"

Or, "What if a bunch of young adults found an isolated beach and forgot about society?"

Golding's Lord of the Flies, and Garland's The Beach, are almost the same book. Rewrite what's already been done - who cares!

Think, "What if?"

Author: Lo Rin
Date:   07-02-05 22:26

I just write. I even write down the things I know are stupid even as I'm writing them. I just write until somthing good pops into my head.

To me it's like cleaning out all of the clutter and junk first so I can find the good stuff.

I call it spring cleaning.

Author: Abbey Olekwa
Date:   07-03-05 04:53

Hello Nikki,
I've just been going thru the discussion board, & its amazing- i'm just going thru what u r talking about!But of course i cant start writing without putting my mind to what genre my story is designed upon, it just won't achieve the desired end result. Anyway, my main concern is developing an idea from conception to birth, & just like u, i get stuck somewhere, & i start looking at the heavens for intervention. I need a breakthru. Any ideas?Abbey.

Author: Rebecca Cundy
Date:   07-04-05 05:13

I was in exactly the same boat as you, Megan...I really wanted to write something but none of the ideas I came up with were original or had any real power or depth to them. I got quite down in the dumps about it because I felt I should be writing, but everytime I tried I gave up and felt even worse. I left it for a while (nearly a year) and while I felt bad at the time I realise now that it was for a reason.
Sometimes you need to be patient and stop thinking about it, and let the idea come to you. I don't wanna sound too deep here but a really good idea is something that hits you when you least expect it. Mine came from a personal experience - had I tried writing earlier, things wouldn't have been so clear in my head. But when I came out of the other side I thought about chanelling my emotions into writing and I came up with a storyline based on what I'd been through.
Since then I've brought new things into it and I'm reading to start writing. I actually feel passionate and excited about it too because I'm writing from personal experience.

Sorry it's a bit of a long reply but i hope you get my gist! Be patient - trying to force an idea goes against your natural creativity. It won't work. Read lots and stay alert and open to whats going on around you, and dig into your own life for inspiration.

Hope that helps,
xxx

Author: Harper
Date:   07-04-05 08:03

"IMO the plot is not what the story is ABOUT, it's what happens in the story, a maze in which the characters explore the theme, which IS what the story is about."

I like that description, Amanda. Thanks.

I also like r p's process. Very interesting, and specific.

Author: Mark Siet
Date:   07-07-05 16:54

Start with the kernel of an idea that moves you then expand upon this. Everything is derivative. It's okay. Our lives too are derivative. Each cell growing in replication of a previous cell in response to a need our body requires.

The same thing with a story. Look at life and be alert for ideas and don't put pressure on yourself. Write short stories or articles but keep writing. Like exercise it improves with practice and deepens in intensity the further you go with it.

Love stories are old but timeless.

A good tale with a hero and a cause are never out of vogue.

What matters is your POV. That is where you become the writer in the telling of the tale. Another word for this is finding your voice.

You can't find your voice if you aren't using it.

Write. Stop second guessing. Write for the flowing of your words and out of their flow you become a writer.

Novels are scene after scene all intertwined together in a majesty of relationship and drama.

Think short when you write long.