Anyone who has been hamster-wheeling a story idea for years or has hundreds of pages exploring various approaches on their hard drive knows that there must be a better way. There is. Young adult novelist Denise Jaden shows exactly how to create the captivating stories that prevent dispiriting wasted time. Busting the "visitation from the muses" myth, she shows that inspiration is a skill writers can learn by understanding how story ideas work (or don't), fertilizing the ground for fresh and sound ideas, and moving swiftly through stuck points. Practical and inspiring, Jaden's approach celebrates the imaginative sparks that make innovations of all kinds possible while pinpointing the precise tools writers need to fan their unique creative flames.
Anyone who has been hamster-wheeling a story idea for years or has hundreds of pages exploring various approaches on their hard drive knows that there must be a better way. There is. Young adult novelist Denise Jaden shows exactly how to create the captivating stories that prevent dispiriting wasted time. Busting the "visitation from the muses" myth, she shows that inspiration is a skill writers can learn by understanding how story ideas work (or don't), fertilizing the ground for fresh and sound ideas, and moving swiftly through stuck points. Practical and inspiring, Jaden's approach celebrates the imaginative sparks that make innovations of all kinds possible while pinpointing the precise tools writers need to fan their unique creative flames.
Story Sparks: Finding Your Best Story Ideas and Turning Them into Compelling Fiction
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Story Sparks: Finding Your Best Story Ideas and Turning Them into Compelling Fiction
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Overview
Anyone who has been hamster-wheeling a story idea for years or has hundreds of pages exploring various approaches on their hard drive knows that there must be a better way. There is. Young adult novelist Denise Jaden shows exactly how to create the captivating stories that prevent dispiriting wasted time. Busting the "visitation from the muses" myth, she shows that inspiration is a skill writers can learn by understanding how story ideas work (or don't), fertilizing the ground for fresh and sound ideas, and moving swiftly through stuck points. Practical and inspiring, Jaden's approach celebrates the imaginative sparks that make innovations of all kinds possible while pinpointing the precise tools writers need to fan their unique creative flames.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781608685103 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | New World Library |
| Publication date: | 07/10/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 184 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Denise Jaden fast-drafted her debut novel, Losing Faith (Simon&Schuster), in twenty-one days during NaNoWriMo. Her second fast-drafted novel was published in 2012. She runs a fast-drafting challenge on her blog each March and lives outside Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Seek
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.
— JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
Why does the symbol of a lightbulb indicate a new idea? The word idea is from the Greek word "idiom," which means "to see."
Everybody needs ideas. Advertisers, inventors, PTA members, hockey moms, personal trainers, restaurant owners. In this information age, computers can now take care of a great deal of administrative work. Programs and apps can help you develop an outline or synopsis. Grammar software can help you choose wording and assist in sentence construction. What is, and what will always be, in shorter supply is the ability to come up with great story ideas in the first place.
This is easier than you think! A fresh idea is simply thinking of something in a new way or combining two concepts in a unique way. Robert Frost tells us, "If you remember only one thing I've said, remember that an idea is a feat of association."
Idea making is for everyone, not only for the especially ingenious. It's for the mom making soup with what she has left in the fridge, the contractor making a building more efficient, and the fourth-grade teacher seeking to reach all of her students.
As you probably know, the brain is divided into two hemispheres: The left side is the more cognitive, analytical side, while the right side is the more associative, creative side. This is true, but idea creation is more complicated than that. The superior temporal gyrus resides in both sides of your brain, and that's where flashes of insight occur. I think we can all agree, flashes of insight, those moments when your brain relaxes and comes up with a solution you'd never thought of before, are absolutely essential to the creative process!
But no matter how active and developed your superior temporal gyrus, ideas won't always simply come to you. You must become an Idea Seeker and seek them out.
Make a habit of looking for ideas. Don't wait to brainstorm until you've written yourself into a corner. Dr. Linus Pauling tells us, "If you want to have good ideas, you must have many ideas."
As an Idea Seeker, choose quantity over the quality of ideas. First, it's often difficult to recognize the quality of an idea when it arises. An idea may look humdrum until it's fed into the right story at the right time, or until it is combined with another idea to create the perfect solution.
Gathering a plethora of ideas does not necessarily take smarts or even creativity. It simply means diligently keeping your eyes open for new ideas or new connections between ideas. In fact, highly intelligent people often overestimate their smarts, and they value too highly a single idea that they focus on exclusively, while underestimating the power in simply observing.
Idea Seekers always actively search for new inspiration. Then, once they have gathered a sufficient number of ideas, this propels them to create with those ideas. Idea seeking and implementing is a cycle that feeds itself. By developing an almost insatiable appetite for acquiring and using new ideas, you will discover that the act of finding and using ideas continually sparks the creation of even more ideas.
But you don't become an Idea Seeker overnight. It takes time to discover what, specifically, sparks your creativity, joy, anger, and sorrow. Make notes of what you feel and what causes your reactions.
Seek inside yourself. What are you good at, or what do you think you might be good at? Be a fly on the wall to yourself and explore what piques your interest. What do you already know about, and what do you want to know about? For example, if you're interested in golf, consider why this interests you. Is it the focus the sport requires, or the particular skill of hitting a tiny ball a long range with accuracy? Or is it the camaraderie of playing with a group, or the sport's particular humor, pace, history, or debates? Explore those areas and note your reactions.
Explore your interests in places and peoples. If you could go anywhere, where would it be and why? Explore the finer details of these locations. What type of people intrigue you the most and why? What, specifically, do you find interesting or engaging? Study the way people are and the traits that interest you. Imagine what it might feel like to be another person. Interview people with your idea-seeking eyes open. Were people born with the attributes you find most interesting? Or has life shaped them that way?
What do you return to again and again? Is there a type of person or job or pastime you usually gravitate to? If you were going to reread five books, what would they be and why? What places do you enjoy visiting and what do they have in common? Take notice of what's already there. This is the starting point for finding new ideas.
What types of ideas are you most receptive to? Or, a better question might be, what ideas are you unreceptive to? Some folks arbitrarily reject popular ideas, while others gravitate to them. They feel safest with ideas and people who have already succeeded.
If I suggested that you write a story about a boy and his dog, what would your reaction be? Some ideas come to us and our inner voice shouts, "Yes!" while others barely extract a shoulder shrug. Explore why that is for you. If someone told you that an idea you consider boring would be the next bestseller, would you look at it differently? The value we place on ideas guides the ideas we choose to use in our stories. Rather than dismiss some ideas out of hand, treat all of your ideas as though, with a good shining, they could be gems. The fact that we are not receptive toward certain ideas usually says more about us than the quality of the ideas themselves.
I'm not saying you should embrace ideas that feel wrong. No. I'm only suggesting getting into the habit of considering every idea and, at the very least, filing it away. I'm suggesting breaking the habit of quickly rejecting certain ideas. Perhaps some ideas will never have emotional resonance with you, and that's okay! But some, given time, and combined with the right elements, could be the key you're looking for in order to complete a well-rounded plot. They could, eventually, take on a life of their own.
What about those ideas that do resonate with you? Which ideas leave you feeling sympathy or empathy for a person or a situation? Whittle down exactly what moves you. Knowing yourself will help you know your characters and what causes passionate reactions in your stories.
Think of your observational skills as muscles. The more you use them, the more they will develop, and the easier it will be to "lift weights" with barely any effort on your part, perhaps without even noticing.
Have you ever had an accidental idea? Think back to a time when you were trying to come up with a new plot idea for one story, and instead an idea from left field for a totally different story popped into your head. This is the great effect of relaxation helping you brainstorm. The part of your brain that is not über-focused on your first story is taking a walk through an airy park, feeling the wind through its brain tunnels, and this freedom is allowing ideas to rise up. Write them down! You don't have to take off on a tangent and fully plot out that new story right this second, but don't lose those ideas! Write down what comes to you easily. And when your brain moves on to something else and another accidental idea pops up about this new story, jot that down, too. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time for that to become your "stress project" later! (And that's when you'll likely get fantastic new ideas for yet another story!)
Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes what you think you're looking for is not really what your story needs. Be open to anything, and allow your brainstorming mind some freedom. Your search may inadvertently lead you to what you really need in your story if you let yourself believe in the possibility. Even if your ideas seem to be going in a weird direction, write everything down and figure it out later.
Don't only look where everyone else is looking. Once you start looking for ideas without automatically discounting them, you'll start to find them everywhere.
Don't be afraid to dream wild and big, and don't be afraid of incomplete areas that still need to be developed and filled in. Don't let a lack of ideas stop you from writing. Simply leave blank spots in the story for now. Like a grade-school quiz, you can come back later and finish the tough questions after you've filled in the ones you know.
Put It into Practice
1. At your workplace, at school, or at any public place you frequent, have a meaningful conversation with three people you do not already know well. Learn at least three new things about each person, such as their dreams, most exciting experiences, and greatest fears. Ask about emotional reactions to events, secrets, habits, and quirks. Actively learn about people to discover material for fictional characters and plots.
2. Make a Spark List of new ideas that arise during your conversations or while out in public places. Describe the emotions these ideas spark and where the ideas might take you if you followed them through. Ask questions and what-ifs about each scenario.
As an example, I've included a sample Spark List of my own for reference:
1. The grocery store clerk's name tag read "Chelsea" today. I stopped to ponder if she might have a nickname and what her friends would call her. "Chels," I decided. From there, I considered the smile she seemed to be suppressing. I pictured her meeting up with her friends after work, and wondered, "What's the coolest thing Chels could do after work today?" Is she single, but crushing on a guy in her friend group? Are they going to the fair, or hiking up a mountain, or trying bungee jumping for the first time? I thought back to the one time I considered bungee jumping, and along with a shot of fear, I felt an immediate respect and admiration for Chels.
2. At the gym, I noticed a scrawny guy who was giving the weights his all. At first, I was a little afraid he might hurt himself, but then my mind wandered to what would motivate him to work so hard in the gym. Does he get teased? Does he have a brother who's naturally beefy, and whom he's always been jealous of? Does he aspire to a well-paying job that involves heavy lifting? What would change for him if he put on ten pounds of muscle? Would he be more secure with himself, or would it still not be enough?
3. While on the elliptical machine at the gym, I watched an episode of a culinary competition show. One of the chefs on the show bet all his "show dollars" on himself right at the onset of the show, while another was timid about using any of his "show dollars." It got me to thinking how different characters, and different people, deal with risk. Are some born being risk takers? Or does it have to do with family upbringing? Was the first chef just that much more confident in his ability? What if they were both taken out of the food realm, where they are experienced — would they bet the same way with real money in the stock market? Why does my heart rate skyrocket as I watch the stakes rise? How heavily would I bet on myself in, say, a writing competition, and would the adrenaline of betting on myself help or hinder my performance?
Now come up with your own Spark List. Where will life take you this week, and what about that journey interests you most?
CHAPTER 2
Passion
Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.
— YO-YO MA
What do you love, connect to, or want to read when it comes to fiction? In this chapter, I'd like to delve into the heart of who you are and what you connect to most.
We've all heard the advice to "be yourself." But how well do you know yourself, and when it comes to creating other characters, what does that mean? We're also told to "follow your passion," but what if you don't know what, exactly, you're passionate about? I believe that everyone's true self has great stories that are full of life and just waiting to be told, but we have to seek and explore our true self to find those stories. We need passion to deliver us to the end of the process — where we find resonance and kinetic energy — but how on earth do you find it?
First, get rid of all the shoulds in your writing. What is your level of desire to write a new story or to finish the stories you are currently working on? Do you feel any sense of obligation about writing these stories? Sam Bennett suggests writing a "Could Do List." For instance, if you had unlimited time and resources, what might or could you do? Make this list, while understanding that you are under absolutely no obligation to follow through with any of these ideas. This is not a to-do list. It is a dream list that reveals what's inside you.
In your journal, answer the following questions: When do you feel most alive? When are you most in love? Most enraged? What motivates you? What wrecks you emotionally? What angers you most? Harness these feelings and memories to find new ideas, and use them to sift through your ideas once you have an overflowing abundance.
What is dangerous about your writing process? Do you anticipate and plan for readers of your work? Do you add plot obstacles or situations to your writing that feel risky, that feel like they may take your story in the wrong direction, or that feel beyond your ability as a writer to pull off? If you answer "nothing about my writing is dangerous," this may be a problem. If your writing feels humdrum, it may be because you don't have anyone waiting to read your stories, or your writing doesn't tackle high stakes. If you don't feel much while writing your stories, your readers may not feel a whole lot either.
What is your personality type? Are you an all-in kind of person or a hold-back type? Do you tend to look up to other personality types or automatically discredit them? What about yourself do you hold in highest regard? What about yourself do you wish you could change?
What are your most prized values? If you haven't, try writing a character with opposing values in a sympathetic way. Are you a dog lover? Write about a character who dislikes or is afraid of dogs. Are you always punctual? Try writing sympathetically about someone who is always running late. If your writing lacks vibrancy, try writing characters who conflict with you, and dig deep to discover their motivations. For your readers to feel deep emotions, you must write with deep emotion and passion.
As you discover new things about yourself and what inspires your passions, insert those ideas and motivations into your stories. At the end of the day, you want your stories to make readers feel as inspired as you felt when you first thought of them. Do your stories make you feel passionate? Do they inspire, invigorate, teach, and enlighten you? Have they helped you solve a problem? If you want them to do the same for your readers, they must.
The goal of knowing and recognizing the things that make you feel deeply is to inspire your writing, so I ask you this: Which ideas propel you to write?
Put It into Practice
1. During a character-building workshop I teach, I tend to harp a lot on how the more we know ourselves, the more we will know our characters. That's why I start my character-building workshops with a personality quiz — not for the characters, but for the writers. (Later, I encourage students to complete the same quiz for their characters.) I like to use a fun and short online personality quiz from the Smalley Institute that features four main personality types and names them after four animals: the lion, the otter, the golden retriever, and the beaver (see theendnotes for a link). But it doesn't matter which personality quiz you use. Others are more thorough or complicated, with more categories (and wanting one of these probably says something about your personality type!). Choose a personality quiz that interests you and fill it out today.
2. Once you've identified the strengths and weaknesses and relational propensities of your personality type, take a few minutes to write a mission statement for your writing and your life. By putting these ideas to paper, you define the purpose that guides all your writing. What is most important to you? What do you hope to focus on and bring across on the page? What do you hope to make readers feel?
This mission statement can be worded in any way you want, but consider writing it so that it answers questions like these:
1. What emotions do you want readers to feel most when they read your writing?
2. How do you envision improving or enriching your reader's life because of your writing?
3. Ideally, how do you want your writing to change the world in a meaningful way?
4. How does your writing benefit you? Is it cathartic? Does it enrich your understanding of the world? Does it add to your income?
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Story Sparks"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Denise Jaden.
Excerpted by permission of New World Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Section 1: S.P.A.R.K.
Seek
Passion
Allies
Resonance
Kinetic Energy
Section 2: Spark Application
Observation Skills
Fun and Games
The Fast Five
Blank Page to Map
Logline to Idea
Themes to Ideas
Brainstorm like a Child
Brainstorm like a Teenager
Brainstorm like a Senior Citizen
What If...
Combining Ideas
Choosing an Idea
Following Through
Troubleshooting Ideas
Section 3: Spark Habits
Organization
Find Balance
Be Positive
Get Active
Rest
Change Sparks Observation
Weekly Spark Habits
Conclusion
Table of Contents (part 2)
Appendixes
Appendix A: Names
Classic American Names
Unusual Names
Old Fashioned Names
Long Names
Short Names
Fantastical Names
Surnames
Appendix B: Places
Setting Suggestions
Appendix C: Motives
Motive Suggestions
Appendix D: Obstacles
Obstacle Suggestions