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Ever find yourself in a creative log jam? Try the following technique excerpted from my\u00a0StoryWeaver<\/a> story development software to help regain your inspiration:<\/p>\n 1. Inspiration<\/strong><\/p>\n Inspiration can come from many sources: a conversation overheard at a coffee shop, a newspaper article, or a personal experience to name a few. And, inspiration can also take many forms: a snippet of dialogue, a bit of action, a clever concept, and so on. One thing most inspiration has in common is that it is not a story, just the beginnings of a story. To develop a complete story, you’ll need a cast of characters, a detailed plot, a thematic argument, and the trappings of genre.<\/p>\n But how do you come up with the extra pieces you need?<\/p>\n In the questions that follow StoryWeaver will help inspire you, even if you can’t come up with an idea to save your life! If you don’t yet know what your story is going to be about, StoryWeaver will help you find out. And if you do have something already worked out, these questions will help you fill in the details.<\/p>\n 2. What do you have to start with?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you already have an idea of what your story is about, describe it briefly in your word processor. Don’t go into great detail at this time, just the key concepts, people, and events. If you don’t yet have a story idea, advance to the next step and StoryWeaver will help you come up with one.<\/p>\n 3. Nonsense!<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are stuck for ideas, it\u2019s probably because you are trying to force yourself to be creative – a situation often referred to as “Writer’s Block.” Fortunately, there is a trick you can use to break through Writer’s Block and get your creativity flowing again! First, write down three arbitrary nonsense words. Don’t stop to think it over, just jot down the first three words that come to mind, as in a word-association test.<\/p>\n 4. Meaning<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, imagine that all of your nonsense words had to become part of your initial story idea.\u00a0 How could they fit in?\u00a0 What could they possibly\u00a0 mean?\u00a0 See if you can rework your short story description to include them.<\/p>\n You’re probably not going to want to keep that material in your story, but just the process of altering your story from a whole new perspective can begin to put a few cracks in that wall between you and your creativity.<\/p>\n But what if you didn’t have even a story idea to begin with?\u00a0 Then ask yourself how many different stories can you think of that incorporate those three words.\u00a0 Write a few of those concepts down just to get rid of your creative cobwebs.\u00a0 You may just find that the words start to flow more and more easily until you are in the mood to make progress on your actual project.<\/p>\n 5. What’s Going One Here?<\/strong><\/p>\n We all try to find meaning in what we see. That is why we identify pictures in inkblots, see faces in wood grain, and animal shapes in clouds. So even when no meaning is intended, our minds can’t help but impose it.<\/p>\n By picking words at random, and then looking for their collective meaning, we move our minds out of creative mode and into analysis mode. In other words, we temporarily shift from communication to interpretation. In so doing, our subconscious automatically provides alternative meanings that fit what we see. It just can’t help itself.<\/p>\n Of course, many of the ideas you come up with may be completely ridiculous and not useful at all, though there is always the chance a few might work their way into your story.\u00a0 But that really wasn’t the point of the exercise.\u00a0 The whole purpose here is to break free of Writer’s Block, and the very process of shifting out of forced creative mode and into analysis mode usually does the trick.<\/p>\n So, even if none of the nonsense interpretations are usable in and of themselves, when you return to your original ideas, you’ll probably find whole new inspirations easily come to mind.<\/p>\n Bottom line.\u00a0 Sometimes a little nonsense is the best place to find meaning.<\/p>\n \u2014Melanie Anne Phillips<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n This article is drawn from the author\u2019s<\/em> Try it risk-free for 90 days and write<\/em> \u00a0Click for details and free bonus\u2026.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\nStoryWeaver Story Development Software<\/em><\/p>\n
\nyour novel or screenplay step by step<\/em><\/p>\n
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