IDEAS - Writers Forum

S1E9A8N5 · 12-30-2006, 10:56 AM

I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas. I'm not sure if this falls under the "writers block" category or not. I have the hook down (outline) almost perfectly and ideas for part of the beginning and couple things that I would like to happen through out the story. I also have an idea of what kind of characters I would like to have. But I don't really have a solid plot. I know what the story is about and all the information that should be apart of it but I am not sure where the story should go and what should happen.

I often wait for an idea to spark when I’m watching a TV show or movie and I see something that I would like to put in my story but I would like to come up with ideas whenever I want. How do you know what to include in your story? How do you come up with ideas? I try to put my characters in certain positions but it’s hard to come up with ideas that relate to the story when I don’t really have an idea of where the plot is going. Am I making sense?

My story deals with a conspiracy. It takes place in the near future (roughly 2050’s) where disease and illness has become an epidemic in the country. That natural cures for disease exist and that the government, media, pharma, FDA etc. have been suppressing the truth. For money, power, and control. Innocent people are being lied to and being forced into conventional medicine. Vitamins and minerals are being controlled. Etc.

I’m very passionate about this story idea so there’s no problem with that. I just don’t really have an idea of where to take the story. Would reading books about conspiracy’s help? I would like for it to be an Equilibrium, Fahrenheit 451, Brave new World, 1984 type story.

Any advice?

Sean

Magnum Opus · 12-30-2006, 12:32 PM

Reading books from that genre can always help, but something that can help even more would be watching things like the news, or movies related to the subject, even if it is a subtle plot.

Looking at the news one could look at the world, and then imagine it in a distant, and more desolate future.

wmd · 12-30-2006, 05:38 PM

Just sit down and write... even if it is nothing but utter shit, you need to get it out of your head and onto the paper. Write till your hands hurt... most of it will be thrown away when all is said and done, but before you know it you will be flowing and things will start clicking in your head.

The Great Usurper · 12-30-2006, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmd

Just sit down and write... even if it is nothing but utter shit, you need to get it out of your head and onto the paper. Write till your hands hurt... most of it will be thrown away when all is said and done, but before you know it you will be flowing and things will start clicking in your head.

Not only do this, but also find out the times when you're the most creative. Writing for eight hours during the day can be a waste if you know that your best ideas hit you at night (maybe from like 6-10pm). Use that creativity time to form new ideas for your story. For example, I generally edit during the day but do story development at night when my brian finally comes alive.

Dachux · 01-05-2007, 04:29 PM

I find organization helps to keep the process flowing to where you want it to go. Build a brief outline of the way your story will progress and use it as a guide to help you develop your chapters. If you can't come up with ideas to fill an outline, filling a chapter with "stuff" certainly will result in most of it being thrown away.

Viqto · 01-05-2007, 04:39 PM

S1E,

I had this very problem about two days ago. The thing you have to ask yourself is, "What would my characters do?"

Start yourself somewhere, and if you have that, ask yourself the following questions,

"What does my character like to do?
How does my character react with others?"

These seem like basic questions, but in all honesty once you figure out how they would act/talk in a situation, the situations that follow present themselves.

It is a bit harder to do when you have an outline you want to follow, but just start yourself in a situation that would lead to that first plot narrative.

I hope this helps.

Viqto

MSTK · 01-05-2007, 04:50 PM

The perfect way to develop an idea, I think is the "conversation" method that I learned from David Morell, who is quite a prolific action writer (his most famous book being the book that "Rambo" was based off of).
I can't give justice to it without quoting him word-for-word from his book (Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft), but I'll try --

Basically, it's a method of chronicling your thought process for an idea. Here I'm going to show how I sort of got and developed the idea of my current novel, The Playground Campaign (it's not really, but I re-wrote it and added some elements to make it easier to follow than my raw ramblings). You open up a word processor and go --

"Hello, computer."
"Hello, Justin (that's my name).
"So, you thinking of writing a novel or something?"
"Well, I don't know if it's novel material. But something has been interesting me for a while now."
"Oh? What is it?"
"I've been becoming really interested in history lately. Military history, governments, etc. But more particularly, war."
"War?"
"Well, not the bloodiness. But, the tactical maneuvering, the strategy...just the complexity."
"But that's been tried and done. And what are you going to do, imagine World War III?"
"No, I just...maybe there's a way that I can craft one and show all of the genius and tactics of war."
"Well...you could maybe put it in a past era, like Napoleonic or somethhing."
"But then I'd have to create a whole new world. Design nations and everything about the world. That's not what I'm going for."
"And you're saying that a World War III is out of the picture?"
"No, I'm not going for science fiction here. And what with the nuclear weapons, satellite imagery and advanced ballistic missiles, it's not the same as the classic warfare that I'm interested in."
"So you're stuck in a rut, there. Let's think of something else, and maybe that'll help."
"Well, another intriguing part about military history is how it all got started. Like, how tribes one day went, 'You know what? Let's gather as many people as we can and fight each other for land.' It's just not plausible. There's slow but steady development."
"Ah. So like...a social commentary? An analysis?"
"Yeah, sort of like The Lord of the Flies, which condense global matters into one big allegory...wait, that's it! How about a war of children?"
"Dunno. Would seem a bit corny."
"No...it's...kids that band together in cliques. Like ancient tribes. And they independently develop the art of warfare. We watch how they do it. And after that, they wage a true war, parallel to real ones, with all of the strategicness and everything, embodied in a kid."
"Is this in the wild, like Lord of the Flies? Or in a tame environment?"
"How about it's in a school? It'll only make it more comical. Territory = courts..."

And so on, so on. And eventually you'll go to things like...

"Okay, wait. Stop making all of these factions and stuff. A true story is with characters and individual people. Kids. Let's assign a face to the conflict."
"Well...okay. Maybe there's this one kid, who..."

And there you have the protagonist.

If you ever run out of steam, like your train of inspiration runs out, take a break. Then go back, and ask, "So what?" That's your restarter. "So what?" And when you slow down again, ask, "So what?"

Sorry if that sounded like a jumbled mess, but that always helps me refine my ideas.

The best part is that when you finally make an outline, or a spreadsheet (or whatever you do), and you ask "What the heck was I thinking?" "What emotion is supposed to be embodied in this scene? What does it represent?" and "How did I get to this idea?", then the answer is already logged for you.

It's basically a recording of your thoughts, so you can go back in time and remember what you were thinking.

Emerson Darkness · 01-05-2007, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S1E9A8N5

My story deals with a conspiracy. It takes place in the near future (roughly 2050’s) where disease and illness has become an epidemic in the country. That natural cures for disease exist and that the government, media, pharma, FDA etc. have been suppressing the truth. For money, power, and control. Innocent people are being lied to and being forced into conventional medicine. Vitamins and minerals are being controlled. Etc.

Okay, you obviously know something about the workings of your conflict. (A conspiracy for certain people to hold power.)

But what is the end result. Somewhere in all that, someone must have a certain goal to achieve besides money, power, and control. All these things are usually a means to an end.

Find the end.

things will become clearer as to what your antagonist must do, and what your protagonist must do. Of course, since things rarely turn out perfect for goodies and baddies, mix things up a little.

But always remember that an antagonist has a journey as well, they often use the protagonist to further their ends.

S1E9A8N5 · 01-06-2007, 04:25 PM

Thanks for the advice.

MSTK, I understand what your trying to say. But I don't really get the "ask So what?" part. So what as in who cares or as in so what now? Know what I mean?

MSTK · 01-06-2007, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S1E9A8N5

Thanks for the advice.

MSTK, I understand what your trying to say. But I don't really get the "ask So what?" part. So what as in who cares or as in so what now? Know what I mean?

Yeah. It basically means both. "Who cares?" as in "why does this matter?", and "what now" as in "how could I incorporate this?"

Basically, it's when you introduce something new, go off a tangent, and then find that you're stuck.

S1E9A8N5 · 01-06-2007, 10:11 PM

Thanks.