Ian Dawson's Blog - Posts Tagged "larry-david"
Pre-Writing: A Writer’s Best Friend
You’ve finally done it! You’ve come up with a great story idea, and you’re ready to start writing your amazing story. Or are you? I’m sure you’ve heard stories about the writer who has started a novel or screenplay but lost steam and tossed what they did have in a drawer, never to be looked at again. I, too, have had an idea and just started into it with no real direction, only to see the idea fizzle out quicker than it popped into my head.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Behold the fun and excitement of pre-writing! While the word may bring back memories of writing those dreaded 500-word essays for your high school English class, pre-writing can positively affect your creative work. It can also help you create a useful road map to get to your final destination: the end of your story.
So, let’s talk about some of the ways you can pre-write your way to a completed draft of your next novel, play, screenplay, short story, or other written work.
Brainstorming
Once you’ve established your story idea, maybe even have a few characters and plot points in mind, it’s time to take your mind on a trip. Sit down with a pad and pen and start writing down ideas for your story. It doesn’t matter if they are good ideas, ridiculous ideas, crazy ideas, or even ideas you think are stupid. Write them down. Every idea has a purpose until it’s no longer needed once you begin to craft your story.
The same with characters, too. Who are they? Write mini-bios and descriptions for them. What are their relationships to each other and the story? Remember that none of this is set in stone, and you can cross-out, use arrows, or do other notations as you begin to build the story and characters.
Your goal here is to get the ideas out of your head and onto paper. Even in this crude form, you can begin to visually see your ideas in words on the page. You can also draw diagrams and maps if that helps you to work on different aspects of the story or characters.
This should be a fun activity where you play around with different ideas and concepts. Don’t commit or reject any ideas 100% at this point. You only have one goal here: to flesh the story and its characters out on paper.
Why is this useful? I’ve found that if I’m working on a story in my head and not writing things down, I tend to either forget the idea I had or repeat it in my head and cannot move on to another aspect of the story. Getting it down and out – for the record, so to speak – allows your brain not to stress about forgetting the idea and frees up your brain for more ideas to flow in.
Keep a Notepad Handy
Getting the story out of your head, as I said above, frees your mind to create more. And your creative brain has no set schedule. Ideas can come at any time, so it’s a good idea to have a notepad handy at your bedside or even a Notes file on your phone. Then, when snippets of dialogue, description, or other creative thoughts pop into your head, you have a handy place to jot them down.
Check out my article called The 3AM Idea for more on this topic.
Fun Fact: Larry David (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) carries a pocket notebook with him all the time!
Active Procrastination/Research
We all tend to procrastinate, whether it’s with writing or other tasks. We’re human. But, what if you took that procrastination and made it work for you and your writing?
If you’re writing historical fiction, you could find a documentary about that period on YouTube and learn about it while hanging out on the couch.
In fact, most topics in your story probably have a video about them on YouTube. If you’re going to be scrolling through and looking for videos anyway, you might as well watch a few videos that will help with your story.
Think about the topics, themes, character traits, activities, or locations in your story. Now, look up that particular item on YouTube. Watch a few videos and see if you can glean some new information that can help enhance an aspect of your story or gives you a new perspective.
This is especially helpful if you want to have your story in a real location that you cannot easily travel to due to the current world situation. You can find videos about most countries, cities, and regions worldwide and use that to inform your work.
You can then add these new ideas to your brainstorm notes, and make sure to bookmark or save the videos that effectively helped with your research.
And you didn’t even have to get off the couch to work on your writing today!
Outlines/Beat Sheets/Treatments
Our pre-writing objective is to get the story out in a coherent form that can then be used as an essential guide to writing the actual novel, script, etc. Knowing the beginning, middle, end, and the main plot points or story beats along the way can save you a lot of time and headaches once you sit down to begin your initial draft.
A basic outline or beat sheet (used for TV and film) can help you flesh out your story’s overall arc from start to finish with a few sentences per the significant plot points throughout the story. This gives you a bird’s-eye view of where things will go and how the story will progress. You must know where the story will go. If you are unsure, the reader will definitely not know, either.
It’s important to note that it is much easier to change an outline or beat sheet than to change sections of an entire manuscript (I know this from experience). Changing the story arc in this format will enable you to explore where the story could lead without the hassle of thousands of words being affected by your choices.
A more detailed version of the outline and beat sheet is the treatment (mainly used for screenplays). This is a detailed scene-by-scene breakdown of the story. Again, like the other two, it’s much easier to cut or re-write sections of a treatment than it is to do significant changes to the screenplay draft.
Take your time to craft the story here and reap the benefits later on once the drafting begins.
You can use one or all of these methods as you work through the early stages of creative development in your writing project. The key is to have it down and ready to access so when you do start to write, you know where you’re going.
Taking this time now will definitely save you a big headache in the future. And will keep your files and drawers free of unfinished projects!
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Behold the fun and excitement of pre-writing! While the word may bring back memories of writing those dreaded 500-word essays for your high school English class, pre-writing can positively affect your creative work. It can also help you create a useful road map to get to your final destination: the end of your story.
So, let’s talk about some of the ways you can pre-write your way to a completed draft of your next novel, play, screenplay, short story, or other written work.
Brainstorming
Once you’ve established your story idea, maybe even have a few characters and plot points in mind, it’s time to take your mind on a trip. Sit down with a pad and pen and start writing down ideas for your story. It doesn’t matter if they are good ideas, ridiculous ideas, crazy ideas, or even ideas you think are stupid. Write them down. Every idea has a purpose until it’s no longer needed once you begin to craft your story.
The same with characters, too. Who are they? Write mini-bios and descriptions for them. What are their relationships to each other and the story? Remember that none of this is set in stone, and you can cross-out, use arrows, or do other notations as you begin to build the story and characters.
Your goal here is to get the ideas out of your head and onto paper. Even in this crude form, you can begin to visually see your ideas in words on the page. You can also draw diagrams and maps if that helps you to work on different aspects of the story or characters.
This should be a fun activity where you play around with different ideas and concepts. Don’t commit or reject any ideas 100% at this point. You only have one goal here: to flesh the story and its characters out on paper.
Why is this useful? I’ve found that if I’m working on a story in my head and not writing things down, I tend to either forget the idea I had or repeat it in my head and cannot move on to another aspect of the story. Getting it down and out – for the record, so to speak – allows your brain not to stress about forgetting the idea and frees up your brain for more ideas to flow in.
Keep a Notepad Handy
Getting the story out of your head, as I said above, frees your mind to create more. And your creative brain has no set schedule. Ideas can come at any time, so it’s a good idea to have a notepad handy at your bedside or even a Notes file on your phone. Then, when snippets of dialogue, description, or other creative thoughts pop into your head, you have a handy place to jot them down.
Check out my article called The 3AM Idea for more on this topic.
Fun Fact: Larry David (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) carries a pocket notebook with him all the time!
Active Procrastination/Research
We all tend to procrastinate, whether it’s with writing or other tasks. We’re human. But, what if you took that procrastination and made it work for you and your writing?
If you’re writing historical fiction, you could find a documentary about that period on YouTube and learn about it while hanging out on the couch.
In fact, most topics in your story probably have a video about them on YouTube. If you’re going to be scrolling through and looking for videos anyway, you might as well watch a few videos that will help with your story.
Think about the topics, themes, character traits, activities, or locations in your story. Now, look up that particular item on YouTube. Watch a few videos and see if you can glean some new information that can help enhance an aspect of your story or gives you a new perspective.
This is especially helpful if you want to have your story in a real location that you cannot easily travel to due to the current world situation. You can find videos about most countries, cities, and regions worldwide and use that to inform your work.
You can then add these new ideas to your brainstorm notes, and make sure to bookmark or save the videos that effectively helped with your research.
And you didn’t even have to get off the couch to work on your writing today!
Outlines/Beat Sheets/Treatments
Our pre-writing objective is to get the story out in a coherent form that can then be used as an essential guide to writing the actual novel, script, etc. Knowing the beginning, middle, end, and the main plot points or story beats along the way can save you a lot of time and headaches once you sit down to begin your initial draft.
A basic outline or beat sheet (used for TV and film) can help you flesh out your story’s overall arc from start to finish with a few sentences per the significant plot points throughout the story. This gives you a bird’s-eye view of where things will go and how the story will progress. You must know where the story will go. If you are unsure, the reader will definitely not know, either.
It’s important to note that it is much easier to change an outline or beat sheet than to change sections of an entire manuscript (I know this from experience). Changing the story arc in this format will enable you to explore where the story could lead without the hassle of thousands of words being affected by your choices.
A more detailed version of the outline and beat sheet is the treatment (mainly used for screenplays). This is a detailed scene-by-scene breakdown of the story. Again, like the other two, it’s much easier to cut or re-write sections of a treatment than it is to do significant changes to the screenplay draft.
Take your time to craft the story here and reap the benefits later on once the drafting begins.
You can use one or all of these methods as you work through the early stages of creative development in your writing project. The key is to have it down and ready to access so when you do start to write, you know where you’re going.
Taking this time now will definitely save you a big headache in the future. And will keep your files and drawers free of unfinished projects!
Help! My Story Isn’t Working! – Is It the Story?
We all tell stories every day. Whether it’s an event that happened to us on the way to work or something that happened to someone else, stories are how we communicate and connect with those around us. When it comes to fiction, the same adage holds: our goals with fiction are to communicate and connect with readers.
When anyone sits down to craft a fictional narrative, many challenges can arise, even if they have a solid idea to work from. It’s okay. There’s no reason to panic, fling yourself on the bed, and cry into your pillow about how the creative Muses have abandoned you.
All writers – yes, even pros – can have problems getting a story to work. And a story problem should have a solution. Today, we’ll explore three possible story problems and three possible solutions to try with each.
But first…
What’s Your Story?
We all have story ideas written down. They can be simple or complex, but there’s something about those ideas that compels you to jot them down for later. You might have one in mind that you really like, but something is nagging at the back of your mind that makes you wonder if there’s trouble ahead before you even start.
Identifying potential story problems early will save you greater headaches in the long run since you can address and fix those issues before you’re 10,000 or even 100,000 words into a manuscript.
The story itself tells us the basics. Let’s look at a few examples:
The Shining by Stephen King
Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later, she is still not free. Sethe has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Billy, Old Dan and Little Ann -- a Boy and His Two Dogs...
A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains -- and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. And close by was the strange and wonderful power that's only found...
These three examples draw the reader into the world of the story that awaits. We’re given several intriguing aspects of each narrative and its main character or characters that lead readers to want to know more and dive into the story to find out what happens.
Now, let’s explore ways to help your story become more substantial and more compelling.
Problem: My Story Is Boring
Possible Solution #1: Develop a Story That Excites You
Nothing causes a writer to lose interest more than writing a story they aren’t enthused about. Just going through the motions and writing to write is a good way to cause a reader to feel the same way you do about the story. If you’re not excited about what’s happening, why should anyone else be?
Anytime you develop an idea, it should be something you are passionate about and are ready to commit a lot of time, effort, and energy to, along with losing plenty of sleep as your mind keeps writing long after you’ve finished for the night.
If your story lacks this level of creative excitement, consider revising the initial idea to craft a story that sparks your interest in its direction and character development throughout the narrative.
Possible Solution #2: Share It with Others; What Do They Think?
You’re in the early stages, you’re unsure of your story idea, and you have no emotional stake in the game at this point. If you feel your story is lacking, consider sharing it with a few people to get their perspective. For this to work, you’ll need people who will give you honest feedback. It’s the only way to improve the story and make it worth working on.
Show it to five people. If no one seems interested in the story, ask them why. Their feedback and input will be valuable to you as you move forward and continue to develop the story.
Possible Solution #3: Ask Yourself What Intrigued You About the Story Originally
This ties into #1, but there had to be a reason you thought this was an idea worthy of writing down. We all have dozens of ideas that pass through our brains every hour of the day, so what made this one stand out? Was it connected to an event you experienced? Is it something that happened to someone you know?
Is there an emotional connection to the story that’s now missing because time has passed? Can you revisit that emotional point as you reflect on the events that led to this story idea?
Working to recapture that initial moment may give you the clarity and motivation you need to see the story from a better perspective and help it get out of feeling bland and boring.
Problem: My Story Doesn’t Have a Solid Hook
Possible Solution #1: As a Reader, What Would Motivate You to Read the Book?
We are our first audience. Even before we sit down to develop the story’s outline, we’re flipping through events that might take place as the story progresses. It makes sense that there is something about this story that makes you want to write it, and that is where the hook lies.
Re-read the blurbs for the novels presented earlier in this post. What aspects of them hook you in, grab your attention, make you want to know more? If you saw a blurb on the back of your book, what would get you to buy and read it as soon as you get home?
Possible Solution #2: Take a Step Back and Make a List
This is the perfect time in a story’s lifecycle to brainstorm and make lists of ideas. If you’re happy with the basic concept of your story but need a better hook, it’s time to sit down and write out as many story hooks as you can think of. Some will be great, some not so great, and some will make you cringe that you even wrote them down. It doesn’t matter. Write it down and filter through all the hooks you came up with and see if there are two or three that fit into your story and make it a novel you’d love to read.
Possible Solution #3: Do Some Hook Research
You read books, watch movies, and enjoy TV shows. All of them have a hook that intrigued you, pulled you in, and made you unable to look away. Go through your favorites and write down what the hook was for you that got you invested in these stories.
One of the greatest moments that hooked me and millions of viewers was the opening sequence of Breaking Bad. There was so much going on, so many questions, and so much kinetic energy emanating from the screen that it became impossible not to watch to see what happened next.
What shows, movies, or novels did this for you? How can you emulate that feeling in your story?
Problem: I Just Realized My Story’s Been Done Before
Possible Solution #1: Accept that Most Stories Have Been Told Before
With a few rare exceptions, most stories have been told in some form at least once. But that shouldn’t discourage you; that should encourage you. Since similar stories – also known as antecedents – exist, you can see how others have worked within your genre and make the changes necessary to make your story unique to you and your voice.
There’s a reason Westerns, superhero movies, horror movies, and romantic comedies are standard film genres. Many of these films follow a similar template, but it's the ones with their own unique style of storytelling that truly stand out.
Possible Solution #2: Making Your Story Unique
What makes you, you? What life experiences, conversations, skills, quirks, and other aspects of your life make up who you are? These are all things that can be mined and utilized for story ideas and character traits that can make your story more than just a run-of-the-mill genre piece.
Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld, carries around a small notebook and pen wherever he goes. He has used the story ideas based on things that have happened to him and others as launching points for stories on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He used his life experiences to give his stories a unique voice that made both shows stand out.
While it’s tempting to follow the trends, it can also be refreshing to readers to find a new voice that isn’t like all the rest.
Possible Solution #3: Mixing Genres
This is another excellent time to experiment and see if you can blend two genres to create a fresh take on a tried-and-true story. Play around and see what zany ideas you can come up with when playing with genres that aren’t typically blended together. Do any of the pairings intrigue you and make you curious about how they would function in your story? Does the new genre generate any new character ideas or story hooks?
In the mid- to late-1950s, American TV was populated with lots of traditional family shows like Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and The Donna Reed Show. This was a reliable genre of television that was a staple on the three networks.
In the mid-1960s, networks started to experiment and blend this family-oriented genre with the supernatural, giving audiences Bewitched, The Munsters, and The Addams Family. Suddenly, a fresh perspective and energy were injected into the traditional family series, satirizing aspects of it through humor and antics not seen in the previous iteration.
Consider what genres would make your story more interesting and make it stand out from the pack, and see what creative pathways you can explore.
Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Brainstorm
There are millions of story possibilities that exist in the universe and your imagination. As you work to improve your story, take the time to brainstorm and write down every possible story idea and thread you can think of, from the brilliant to the worst idea you could ever think of using.
It is within these brainstorming sessions that you may find the key to unlock your story and give it the power you’ve been looking for. It’s okay to list 20, 30, or even 50 ideas, then walk away and come back later to review and eliminate the useless ones. Within that list, you may find the idea that sparks something that begins to connect the creative dots that lead to your story going from dull and listless to energized and engaging.
Next Time…
The series has just begun! In my next post, we’ll dive into ways to improve your story’s plot.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
When anyone sits down to craft a fictional narrative, many challenges can arise, even if they have a solid idea to work from. It’s okay. There’s no reason to panic, fling yourself on the bed, and cry into your pillow about how the creative Muses have abandoned you.
All writers – yes, even pros – can have problems getting a story to work. And a story problem should have a solution. Today, we’ll explore three possible story problems and three possible solutions to try with each.
But first…
What’s Your Story?
We all have story ideas written down. They can be simple or complex, but there’s something about those ideas that compels you to jot them down for later. You might have one in mind that you really like, but something is nagging at the back of your mind that makes you wonder if there’s trouble ahead before you even start.
Identifying potential story problems early will save you greater headaches in the long run since you can address and fix those issues before you’re 10,000 or even 100,000 words into a manuscript.
The story itself tells us the basics. Let’s look at a few examples:
The Shining by Stephen King
Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later, she is still not free. Sethe has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Billy, Old Dan and Little Ann -- a Boy and His Two Dogs...
A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains -- and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. And close by was the strange and wonderful power that's only found...
These three examples draw the reader into the world of the story that awaits. We’re given several intriguing aspects of each narrative and its main character or characters that lead readers to want to know more and dive into the story to find out what happens.
Now, let’s explore ways to help your story become more substantial and more compelling.
Problem: My Story Is Boring
Possible Solution #1: Develop a Story That Excites You
Nothing causes a writer to lose interest more than writing a story they aren’t enthused about. Just going through the motions and writing to write is a good way to cause a reader to feel the same way you do about the story. If you’re not excited about what’s happening, why should anyone else be?
Anytime you develop an idea, it should be something you are passionate about and are ready to commit a lot of time, effort, and energy to, along with losing plenty of sleep as your mind keeps writing long after you’ve finished for the night.
If your story lacks this level of creative excitement, consider revising the initial idea to craft a story that sparks your interest in its direction and character development throughout the narrative.
Possible Solution #2: Share It with Others; What Do They Think?
You’re in the early stages, you’re unsure of your story idea, and you have no emotional stake in the game at this point. If you feel your story is lacking, consider sharing it with a few people to get their perspective. For this to work, you’ll need people who will give you honest feedback. It’s the only way to improve the story and make it worth working on.
Show it to five people. If no one seems interested in the story, ask them why. Their feedback and input will be valuable to you as you move forward and continue to develop the story.
Possible Solution #3: Ask Yourself What Intrigued You About the Story Originally
This ties into #1, but there had to be a reason you thought this was an idea worthy of writing down. We all have dozens of ideas that pass through our brains every hour of the day, so what made this one stand out? Was it connected to an event you experienced? Is it something that happened to someone you know?
Is there an emotional connection to the story that’s now missing because time has passed? Can you revisit that emotional point as you reflect on the events that led to this story idea?
Working to recapture that initial moment may give you the clarity and motivation you need to see the story from a better perspective and help it get out of feeling bland and boring.
Problem: My Story Doesn’t Have a Solid Hook
Possible Solution #1: As a Reader, What Would Motivate You to Read the Book?
We are our first audience. Even before we sit down to develop the story’s outline, we’re flipping through events that might take place as the story progresses. It makes sense that there is something about this story that makes you want to write it, and that is where the hook lies.
Re-read the blurbs for the novels presented earlier in this post. What aspects of them hook you in, grab your attention, make you want to know more? If you saw a blurb on the back of your book, what would get you to buy and read it as soon as you get home?
Possible Solution #2: Take a Step Back and Make a List
This is the perfect time in a story’s lifecycle to brainstorm and make lists of ideas. If you’re happy with the basic concept of your story but need a better hook, it’s time to sit down and write out as many story hooks as you can think of. Some will be great, some not so great, and some will make you cringe that you even wrote them down. It doesn’t matter. Write it down and filter through all the hooks you came up with and see if there are two or three that fit into your story and make it a novel you’d love to read.
Possible Solution #3: Do Some Hook Research
You read books, watch movies, and enjoy TV shows. All of them have a hook that intrigued you, pulled you in, and made you unable to look away. Go through your favorites and write down what the hook was for you that got you invested in these stories.
One of the greatest moments that hooked me and millions of viewers was the opening sequence of Breaking Bad. There was so much going on, so many questions, and so much kinetic energy emanating from the screen that it became impossible not to watch to see what happened next.
What shows, movies, or novels did this for you? How can you emulate that feeling in your story?
Problem: I Just Realized My Story’s Been Done Before
Possible Solution #1: Accept that Most Stories Have Been Told Before
With a few rare exceptions, most stories have been told in some form at least once. But that shouldn’t discourage you; that should encourage you. Since similar stories – also known as antecedents – exist, you can see how others have worked within your genre and make the changes necessary to make your story unique to you and your voice.
There’s a reason Westerns, superhero movies, horror movies, and romantic comedies are standard film genres. Many of these films follow a similar template, but it's the ones with their own unique style of storytelling that truly stand out.
Possible Solution #2: Making Your Story Unique
What makes you, you? What life experiences, conversations, skills, quirks, and other aspects of your life make up who you are? These are all things that can be mined and utilized for story ideas and character traits that can make your story more than just a run-of-the-mill genre piece.
Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld, carries around a small notebook and pen wherever he goes. He has used the story ideas based on things that have happened to him and others as launching points for stories on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He used his life experiences to give his stories a unique voice that made both shows stand out.
While it’s tempting to follow the trends, it can also be refreshing to readers to find a new voice that isn’t like all the rest.
Possible Solution #3: Mixing Genres
This is another excellent time to experiment and see if you can blend two genres to create a fresh take on a tried-and-true story. Play around and see what zany ideas you can come up with when playing with genres that aren’t typically blended together. Do any of the pairings intrigue you and make you curious about how they would function in your story? Does the new genre generate any new character ideas or story hooks?
In the mid- to late-1950s, American TV was populated with lots of traditional family shows like Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and The Donna Reed Show. This was a reliable genre of television that was a staple on the three networks.
In the mid-1960s, networks started to experiment and blend this family-oriented genre with the supernatural, giving audiences Bewitched, The Munsters, and The Addams Family. Suddenly, a fresh perspective and energy were injected into the traditional family series, satirizing aspects of it through humor and antics not seen in the previous iteration.
Consider what genres would make your story more interesting and make it stand out from the pack, and see what creative pathways you can explore.
Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Brainstorm
There are millions of story possibilities that exist in the universe and your imagination. As you work to improve your story, take the time to brainstorm and write down every possible story idea and thread you can think of, from the brilliant to the worst idea you could ever think of using.
It is within these brainstorming sessions that you may find the key to unlock your story and give it the power you’ve been looking for. It’s okay to list 20, 30, or even 50 ideas, then walk away and come back later to review and eliminate the useless ones. Within that list, you may find the idea that sparks something that begins to connect the creative dots that lead to your story going from dull and listless to energized and engaging.
Next Time…
The series has just begun! In my next post, we’ll dive into ways to improve your story’s plot.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
