Writing About What You "Don't" Know to Overcome Writer's Block
As a plot first/character second type of writer, I tend to notice random situations and ask myself, “What if this would’ve happened instead?”
I’ve always loved reading mysteries and trying to figure out who done it and why? Clue was the only board game I ever enjoyed as a child—and still as an adult. In turn I find myself asking the same questions about everyday life. I’m a born analyzer. I’m curious about why things happen and I question each and every thing. (Just ask my family. They hate it.)
My creative nature comes in when I start looking for alternative answers to my questions. Why did that elderly woman with the walker in front of me at the computer store, who could barely step up to the curb to get on the sidewalk, later drive away in a sporty white Camaro? (This really happened last week.)
Maybe that car used to be her daughter's and she passed away and the woman refused to get rid of it because of the memories connected to it. Maybe it was her grandson's and he asked her to pick up a computer game for him because he was sick or in worse shape than she was. Or maybe the woman won it in a poker game and it makes her feel young again to drive it.
"Maybe she/he"… and "what if" are the key phrases to nudge the writer’s block that haunts me on occasion.
So, whenever I find myself at a total loss for story ideas, plot scenarios, or a section of my work in progress that just won't flow, I take a drive and park my car, either at a familiar location or somewhere I’ve never been, and I sit and watch people and question; who, what, and mostly why are they doing what they’re doing. And it isn’t long before my creativity starts pushing away that block, giving me clues to what might be my next mystery.
P.s.After posting this blog my mind continued to question the woman with a walker---was she a mystery shopper dressed in costume like Robin Williams on "Mrs. Doubtfire" just trying to see how she would be treated in a computer store? Must. Find. New. Question. :-)
I’ve always loved reading mysteries and trying to figure out who done it and why? Clue was the only board game I ever enjoyed as a child—and still as an adult. In turn I find myself asking the same questions about everyday life. I’m a born analyzer. I’m curious about why things happen and I question each and every thing. (Just ask my family. They hate it.)
My creative nature comes in when I start looking for alternative answers to my questions. Why did that elderly woman with the walker in front of me at the computer store, who could barely step up to the curb to get on the sidewalk, later drive away in a sporty white Camaro? (This really happened last week.)
Maybe that car used to be her daughter's and she passed away and the woman refused to get rid of it because of the memories connected to it. Maybe it was her grandson's and he asked her to pick up a computer game for him because he was sick or in worse shape than she was. Or maybe the woman won it in a poker game and it makes her feel young again to drive it.
"Maybe she/he"… and "what if" are the key phrases to nudge the writer’s block that haunts me on occasion.
So, whenever I find myself at a total loss for story ideas, plot scenarios, or a section of my work in progress that just won't flow, I take a drive and park my car, either at a familiar location or somewhere I’ve never been, and I sit and watch people and question; who, what, and mostly why are they doing what they’re doing. And it isn’t long before my creativity starts pushing away that block, giving me clues to what might be my next mystery.
P.s.After posting this blog my mind continued to question the woman with a walker---was she a mystery shopper dressed in costume like Robin Williams on "Mrs. Doubtfire" just trying to see how she would be treated in a computer store? Must. Find. New. Question. :-)
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