OPENING THE TAP

Ideas for great projects like novels, scripts, and nonfiction books drift into a writer’s thoughts periodically, often when it’s least expected. But ideas are fleeting. A smart writer will jot them into a journal as soon as possible. Later, when creative fire has all but gone out, you can leaf through those journal pages to re-ignite that creative spark.

Generating ideas for fictional characters and conflict for a novel can be daunting. As Annie Dillard noted, “On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away.” Still, writing fiction opens the tap. Think of your writer’s mind as a garden hose. When you open the spigot, sludge might flow out initially but what follows is clear. The following tips can help you start the flow.

1. Write a character sketch for a character with a secret, a character with a broken heart, or a character with no conscience. Or, choose a character deeply in deb to the mafia or some unsavory individual.

2. Write a  couple of paragraphs about a setting where your story could take place. Perhaps the setting is futuristic, inhospitable, romantic, exotic, or historical. Create ambiance using words. What does your setting look like? What is the temperature? How does it feel, smell, and taste (salty sea spray, for example)? What sounds are heard in your setting? Is it light or dark? What is the source of the light?

3. Write about conflict. Will your story pit man against man, man against the System, man against Nature,, or man against himself?

Often the simple process of sitting down at your computer or notebook and letting your thoughts flow about a character, setting, or conflict can generate an entire concept for a novel or work of short fiction.  Give it a try and see for yourself. And . . .  if you are serious about wanting to crank out your great American novel, participate in Nanowrimo. November is “write a novel in a month” at Nanowrimo. See, http://www.nanowrimo.org/