Thread: What if What if is switched off? Or, how do you develop a “What if?” way of thinking?

People keep saying, that to develop ideas, you take an existing scenario and ask “What if (such-and-such happened)?”

However, when I read, or watch TV, or listen to others talking, my curiosity isn’t aroused. It never occurs to me to ask “What if?”

So how do I develop that skill?


(I need to develop new story ideas, hence the question)

Finding something which sparks your interest might be helpful. I'd suspect that the things you're looking at isn't interesting you (TV is pretty much lowest denominator stuff). Also, if you find something which a part of you objects to (maybe M.A.S.H. [TV] - as you're old enough), you could think about things which would be preferable, maybe different endings etc.

What if a man discovered his creativity could not be aroused? To what lengths would he go to find that spark of imagination?

His quest could make for a very interesting story

For story ideas, I sometimes start with a character. I give that character a quirk (or quirks). (your quirk is a lack of creativity, for example), and then see what that character does.

Often, the more quirky characters I throw together, the more ideas come out.

I am a big 'what if' person myself. It seems that if you ask more questions beyond the first what-if, you can come across some interesting things or ideas - most often, they then lead to other even more interesting or significant questions. The first question is rarely the most interesting one.

I was thinking recently: What if you were born blind? What sorts of things would you 'see' or imagine in your mind without having ever seen anything? What if you had to describe the world to someone like that? Could you do it? Would it be possible? Would it be pointless to try? What if modern medicine suddenly was able to correct that blindness? How would someone react to seeing everything for the first time? Would they be overwhelmed or elated? And so on.

Interestingly, the first question seems to simply activate the imagination to ask more questions, rather than formulate reasonable answers. Follow the questions. If the what-if and the questions and concepts they present are of no interest you, ask another question.

For solidarity's sake, I never play What if, Ox. Doesn't work for me. I'm not curious either.
Though I run low on story ideas all the time too, so maybe it' something I should do.

I don't ask What if? either. I think plot should come from the characters involved, so that's where I start: an interesting character. Someone damaged, needing something, fearful of something, etc.

Originally Posted by johnM

I don't ask What if? either. I think plot should come from the characters involved, so that's where I start: an interesting character. Someone damaged, needing something, fearful of something, etc.

With respect, it seems you were more interested in seeing your name up in lights than in answering the question. The question was about developing ideas.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

The question was about developing ideas.

I'm sure there's a pill for that. Why don't you go hunt it down, buddy, and tell us how it goes.

With respect.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

With respect, it seems you were more interested in seeing your name up in lights than in answering the question. The question was about developing ideas.

He is talking about developing ideas. People(characters) do things- why do they do it? Things happen to them-how do they react? All their emotions, motivations, etc., those are ideas, themes, whatever. Answer those questions and you've got a story. Too boring? Throw in a distortion, something odd, like "...a turtle falls out of the sky, hits somebody, only he doesn't die. This turtle's stuck this guys head, and he has to go to work." Still too boring? Take something normal and twist it. "It's not just a turtle, it's an alligator snapping turtle. Everytime he reaches up, it bites him..."

I've been a what if person since I was a kid, but what I find most helpful for getting me to think what if, is to watch a movie, read a book or, to a lesser extent watch TV and come up with ways that would improve the story. This, for me anyway, becomes like a snowball effect because it leads me to different ideas, and different situations based on that one story. I'm sure everyone one of us has watched a movie and thought, "It would have been better if they had . . . ". The more you do it, the easier it gets, the more ideas you get and makes it easier to get the creative juices flowing.

One very concrete way to generate story ideas is to take some time and write down a list of nouns; anything which comes to mind, two waitresses, John's cat, the house at the top of the hill, a big white ball -- anything that pops into your mind.

Then make another list of actions; climb the stairs, kill a family, paint a wall blue, etc.

Put all the nouns in a hat and choose one at random, then put all the actions in and choose one. That can give you the seed of a story -- two waitresses: paint a wall blue -- John's cat: kill a family. Sometimes the pairs are complete klinkers (I can't see a story in the house at the top of the hill: climb the stairs, but maybe someone can), but often they can be thought provoking.

Stories are about the relationships between characters and events, sometimes forcing those connections can kick-start your creativity.

Yeah, i don't much like this 'what if' thing, personally. It sounds good in a 'how to write' context, but in reality its never worked for me, at least not in such a straightforward manner. Like John alluded to, I think the best way to come up with ideas is to not try and come up with ideas but to instead focus on character. Character is at the heart of everything. The right character can give you all the ideas you need. Rather than come up with an idea for a plot and try to build ideas around it, its much easier (and usually better for the story) to begin with a character. I usually start with a protagonist, although you can start with any prominent character in your story. From there I find it best to move on to location. Often the location and character go hand in hand. When you have these two aspects in place then the 'plot' is pretty much just a natural progression of your character responding to their environment.

So, to test the theory: Let me see how I might do this in practice.

1. Establish character's base identity: I want to go for somebody who is less frequently written about than others, someone who is not a stock character I can experiment with - I'm going to choose a bum (or, in Brit-speak, a tramp). At this point I will make some basic decisions. He will be a male (because I'm male I usually prefer male protagonists). He will be between the ages of fifty and seventy five.
2. Establish basic environment: Given I am writing about a bum, I want to place him somewhere where one would not automatically place a bum, because this makes creating the books 'USP' a little easier. I am not going to place him in skid-row, its too obvious. I'm going to place him in Paris.
3. Change environment to suitable time period: The best time period is one that is juxtaposed enough to provide good contrast and, therefore, a plot but also one that is realistic regarding the character. I'm going to make the time period the mid-1930's, because I know something of that period regarding European History, and I'm anticipating what comes next...
4. Modify character to suit time period: So it's 1930's Paris and my protagonist is a bum. This is where the magic of imagination comes in. I know that the political climate of 1930's Paris was heavily concerned with the threat of Nazi invasion. I also can imagine the status of the poor in what was an essentially Victorian class-system. I decide I'm going to make my bum, a disenfranchised veteran of the first World War (which coincides with his approximate age). I also decide I will give him an disabilitating condition of some kind, to further increase the sense of him being a social pariah. Alcoholism is a little obvious, so instead I'll focus on the fact he has syphilis. Almost time to begin writing now, just one more step...
5. 'Flesh out' the character as much as possible: Much of character development will take place as the story progresses, however a few details are needed before writing can begin. First, he needs a name. I will call him 'Pierre Eisenburg'. I've decided to make him Jewish, to further complicate his status in 1930's Europe. He is around 40-50 years old with little or no education. He lives in the Rue-De-Martinique, in a bordello and desperately wants to join the French army...
6. Consider the character's viewpoint of his environment and, using this viewpoint, sow the seeds of conflict: This is when I begin writing. I start with a simple, introductory-style situation that gives the reader a taste of the time period, its values and Eisenburg's lifestyle. I create characters that interact with him and, through these interactions, I establish antagonistic characters based very much on the antagonistic characters he would encounter in real life. As I said, this story is based on the eve of WW2, so I will of course use the invasion of Germany to further develop the plot while keeping the narrative very much micro-focused and true to the perspective of the protagonist. I will also address his motivations. Is his desire to fight in the war simple opportunism? Does he want to perhaps regain the respect he remembered from being in the First World War? Is he intensely patriotic?
7. Finally, address the 'message' of the story: I don't normally do this until I've pretty much made up my mind about the story, written a good bit of it, and figured out what the outcome will be. But it is nevertheless something interesting to think about while you are writing. Of course, there's no law that says your story must have a 'message', but most if not all great works do. In this case, I could perhaps have a 'scene' in mind where Eisenburg is watching the rich citizenry, and the retreating Nazis, leaving Paris as refugees and thinking to himself how even money can't guarantee a person will have a home.

I only do that to ideas which have already entered my mind. I couldn't care less to utilise the same skill, as some might insist on calling it, for pieces that already exist, be they televised, in book format or otherwise.

Originally Posted by Kevin

He is talking about developing ideas. People(characters) do things- why do they do it? Things happen to them-how do they react? All their emotions, motivations, etc., those are ideas, themes, whatever. Answer those questions and you've got a story. Too boring? Throw in a distortion, something odd, like "...a turtle falls out of the sky, hits somebody, only he doesn't die. This turtle's stuck this guys head, and he has to go to work." Still too boring? Take something normal and twist it. "It's not just a turtle, it's an alligator snapping turtle. Everytime he reaches up, it bites him..."

Maybe a biting, alligator-snapping, head-hitting, sky-falling-out-of turtle is simply too far beyond my limited imagination skills. I’m just a blob of protoplasm, sitting here, (there you go, Baron, there’s another one for your anthology) and stuff never occurs to me. Seriously. Most of my so-called fictional writing parallels real life.

"...blob of protoplasm"- sounds like imagination to me.
So, uh , 70 somethin' years and uh, nothin' more you might want to share? Real life's not good enough? Good enough for me. Parallels, exaggerations(fabrications) or even the real deal, straight. Ya, I know, the "turtle' idea sucks, but it really &$**^! hurt.