Monday, April 29, 2013

TOTW: Plot Generators, What-If Tools, 37 Dramatic Situations, and Getting Past Writers Block

Image by wstera2
Even within speculative fiction, everything that happens in a story has to trickle down from the world and the characters in it. But that doesn't mean there isn't incredible latitude about what those characters can do. The seemingly limitless choices of writing fantasy or including speculative elements in a novel can feel overwhelming at times, and it often leaves me feeling stumped about where to go next in the plot. I used to walk away for a bit and wait for inspiration, but I've learned that it's better for me to power through writer's block even if that means staring at a blank computer screen for a while.



A Better Solution

"Discipline allows magic. To be a writer is to be the very best of assassins. You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show up. You get into the habit of writing every day so that when she shows up, you have the maximum chance of catching her, bashing her on the head, and squeezing every last drop out of that bitch."


~ Lili St. Crow
Yeah. What Lili said.

The WHAT-IF Blockbuster.

Image by Valerie Everett
To avoid going unarmed into battle with my muse, I've found a number of tools to add to my arsenal. The What If technique is a sure-fire blockbuster. It involves literally vomiting up ideas. I open a new document, or grab a pen and paper, and take an inventory of what I already know about my story. Then I start writing down what could happen within those confines.

What if . . . ?

I make myself push the boundaries. Let myself be ridiculous. Let myself laugh out loud. Or cry. Or both. What if the dog gets run over? What if one of the characters dies? What if the sister my mc is trying to save is already dead? Nothing is off the table. This is not the moment to wear a editor's hat.

The Rule of Twenty

Once of my favorite writing tips ever is the rule of twenty that came from a workshop taught by the brilliant Bruce Coville. He suggested creating a list of twenty options any time we need to make a choice about the story. Why twenty? Because the first things to come to mind will also come to every reader's mind (and the mind of every agent and editor), which means that if we go with that first instinct, there's no reason for anyone to continue reading. To hold a readers' attention, we need to come up with something fresh. So I keep brainstorming until I come up with something that works for the characters but is also a little outlandish, a little twisted. What if I need to kill the dog? I could have it run over, sure. That's the first idea. John Cleese and Charles Crichton kept brainstorming until they decided to have a piano fall on it. (A FISH CALLED WANDA) What if one of the characters in my mc's party has to die? Sure, I could have them cut down in a battle, but Michael Crichton kept going until he had the t-rex eat the lawyer in an outhouse. (JURASSIC PARK) Leah Cypess needed a plot twist, so she made the character her mc was trying to save from Ghostland into a ghost. (NIGHTSPELL).

The three examples I gave feel totally plausible within the worlds of their stories, but they were created by brilliant writers. For me, at times, coming up with even ten things can feel like an impossible task.

Fortunately, there are online tools to help.

Web-based Idea Generators

  • The 36 Dramatic Story Situations (+1). A great chart for finding where a story fits and where it is most likely to go. 
  • The Plot Twist GeneratorA generator that literally just gives you a one sentence idea for what might happen.
  • The Random Story GeneratorA free online tool gives you "an event that gets the story rolling and a secondary conflict to keep you going." Two conflicts in one, plus characters. How cool is that? And with a few tweaks, you can almost use the first conflict as your opening line.
  • Generatorland Plot GeneratorA rudimentary but fun generator that comes up with very nice pitches.
  • Meets Generator. A generator for the TV lovers. And don't knock it, how do you think Suzanne Collins came up with the idea for THE HUNGER GAMES? Yes. X Meets Y.
When All Else Fails

Sometimes no matter what, I still can't come up with anything. That's the time to look backwards and see if I've done something in my story that wasn't organic to my characters. My subconscious could be telling me I took a wrong turn somewhere. That's when it's time for:
What about You?

Have any brainstorming tips that help you burn up your keyboard? How's your WIP coming along? What's the most outlandish thing you've ever written?

15 comments:

  1. I love that Rule of 20, especially! I do that (don't always do twenty, but I make a good-sized list) whenever I am stuck. It's amazing how the right choice will just SING to you once you get to it.

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    1. Exactly! I've never made it to twenty either. The right thing always resonates. There's a sort of "Of course Chracacter Whoever would do that!" Most of the time when I write myself into a dead end, it's because I tried to make a character do something they didn't want to do in the first place.

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  2. I'm trying each and every one of these! Thanks for this very helpful post, Martina!

    Up to now, my favorite blockbuster has been opening a new document and journaling in a character's voice--my protagonist at first, but later on it's any character in the scene I'm working on. I always start with mundane stuff--what they had for breakfast, for example--but eventually things get more pertinent. I always, always learn something new about the character and where my plot's headed.

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    1. Yes! I completely forgot about journaling in the character's voice. Thanks for the reminder. I was at the YBB workshop last September, and they gave us daily prompts for journaling. Some great ones started with us having to answer questions like: I would die if . . . , I wish I could . . . and so on. I never thought of starting at a given point in the day, but I imagine that the mundane moments would be really revealing and then once you're settled into character, branching out into a story question would be much easier. Thanks for the great tip!

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  3. Dang! I'm officially in love with Lili! Great and motivating quote. I've been stumped for a few months. I have, however, plotted out most of my YA sequel. But something still tugs at me, like an element or passion is missing. I can't put my finger on it, so you're probably correct - I should just muscle through and just start writing.

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    1. Sequels are so hard though! Often for me, it's theme that ends up being the heart of the story. If I don't have that, even if I have a kicka$$ plot, I end up not being excited about writing much. Hope you fall back in love soon!

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  4. Wonderful post Martina! I love the 20 rule idea. I will definitely use that one. I don't fully outline a book before I start, usually I have just a general idea, so I often come to crossroads. These tips are so helpful!

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    1. I'd actually love to be a fly on Bruce Coville's shoulder. He is endlessly creative, and I imagine that coming up with twenty things is easy for him. My brain grinds much more slowly. :< Hope this works for you! I am in awe of people who can write without an outline or at least a short discovery draft. I struggle to remember what I ate for breakfast, let alone keeping track of a whole book. Hats off!

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  5. I love it all! I'm officially a Martina groupie I guess. ;D I'm going to use some of those links because I"m a little stuck on something at the moment. And that quote? Awesome!!!

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    1. Awwwwwww! Love you, Lisa!!!! And what do you mean, you're stuck? Wait, don't tell me. You've only written half a book this week as opposed to a WHOLE book? :)

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  6. This is some really great stuff! Thanks, Martina. I'll be posting a link to this on my blog.

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  7. The rule of 20 and the What if exercise sound great. It think they can be used also when revising and a scene doesn't feel right.

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  8. I especially like the rule of twenty too. And the Writer's Den with plot twist generators, and name generators, etc. great site. Thanks.

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