RichardBist.com

Where do you get your story ideas? I’ve seen that question asked on numerous message boards, and I’ve been asked that by both aspiring writers and the curious non-writers. My standard answer for the latter is, “from everywhere.” For the aspiring, however, the answer is a bit more detailed.

What I’ve found is that ideas spring from everywhere. The trick is to keep up with them. As I’ve mentioned before, I keep a journal, which is a perfect place to keep track of and work on fleshing out story ideas. I also keep a running “Story Titles” document on my computer. It’s basically a couple of pages broken into two columns of potential story titles. Sometimes when I feel like experimenting or working on something new, I’ll open the document and scan the titles until something jumps out at me. Then using that as a prompt, I write. It’s fun, it’s challenging, and it keeps the creative muscles toned.

The titles themselves are also an exercise in creativity. When I’m feeling uninspired, I’ll open the document and come up with some random titles. It could be a couple of works that stuck in my head from a book I was reading, or maybe from some song lyrics. Other times it’s some random words I string together. I don’t remember when or why I started doing this, but it’s worked out well for me. I’ve written several short stories based solely using a Story Title prompt.

Keeping a journal, or at least a pad of paper and pen, next to the bed it another great way to harness ideas. I’ve woken from many a dream with a fragment of story floating around in my head, and I quickly turn on the bedside lamp and scribble some quick notes to read in the morning. More often than not, the ideas are viable and interesting. On more than one occasion I’ve had to question what the hell I was dreaming about. There’s some weirdness afoot in the wee hours of the morning, and my subconscious sometimes pushes the envelope.

A writer has to always be aware of their surroundings, their thoughts, their dreams, and they should always be prepared to take note of even the simplest of ideas. Anything and everything can be the spark that ignites a story. Constantly seek out and explore the unknown, read everything, watch movies, meet new people, talk to strangers, read the news. The world is your inspiration. Embrace it.

RB

I read a discussion yesterday regarding how some authors find writing to be a chore. There were some interesting comments, which I won’t rehash here, but the consensus opinion was that writing can be difficult, but if you consider it a chore then you’re doing it wrong.

In all my years of writing – both as a freelancer and fiction writer – I’ve found the craft to be both exhilarating and frustrating. The times when it feels like work, when I’m struggling to get words on the page, are the times I’m out of The Zone. Writing is creating, regardless of whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. I’m pulling words out of thin air and stringing them together in new and (hopefully) interesting ways. Work is something you do to make money. Writing is a creative process. It’s that simple.

Sure, I write for a living. I write dry insurance copy during the day, freelance in a variety of areas in the evenings, and work on fiction in between. But regardless of what I’m working on, I always try to look at it as a creative process. When I stop doing that is when I struggle. That’s when I get up and walk around, maybe grab a random book off the shelf to read a random passage, go outside and watch my dogs play, fiddle about in my garden. The distraction allows my mind to wander a bit, to think about what I’m working on in an offhand way, reset the barometer, as it were.

This isn’t to say that I’m never at a loss for words. There are times I have to work at getting the words right, or even how to get started, but it’s always easier to work on a project when I’m in the right frame of mind.

All writers approach their craft in their own unique way. What works for you may not work for me, but I think that regardless of what you’re doing, the right frame of mind is essential. Whether you’re writing about agricultural futures in the lower Congo or a space battle off the arm of Orion, it all boils down to creativity. If you think it’s work, it will be.

RB

One of my favorite college classes was Written Argument & Persuasion. The reason was that it was the first writing class to challenge me, to force me to go outside my comfort zone. Before this class, my experience with writing instruction was a very easy Freshman Composition class. All it took to pass that one was getting five-hundred words on the paper. Sure, I worked at it, but I didn’t have to work hard to get my “A”.

WAP (because it’s easier to abbreviate) was fun. I remember that for our first writing assignment the instructor asked everyone what they wanted to write about. Of course, we all picked topics we knew about, were comfortable with, or that we felt strongly about, and we wrote them next to our name on a sheet of paper that was passed around. Once the instructor had the paper in hand, he called on a random student.

“So, you chose to write about why marijuana should be legalized?”

“Yeah, man,” the student replied.

“Okay, now you’re writing about why it shouldn’t.”

And he did this to all of us. The young woman who wanted to write about keeping abortion legal had to write about why it should be illegal. The guy who wanted to write about how dogs should be spayed or neutered had to write about why they shouldn’t. And so on.

What I remember most from that first class is the resulting surprise and alarm. Some students were upset about their reversed topic, and a couple even refused to change topics (they later dropped). But the rest of us completed our assignments.

The instructor did this to us one more time, then began giving out topics that he chose. I guess you can only fool college students twice.

But even though everyone, including myself, was shocked by having our initial topics turned upside down, we eventually rose to the challenge. By the third or fourth assignment, I could feel my creative muscles flexing, and I began to see both sides of every issue. I wanted harder topics, things that completely went against my moral or ethical code. I wanted to be pushed harder just so I could see if I could produce a compelling argument.

When it was over, I wanted to take the class again, but didn’t have the time or money. On the plus side, the things I learned in that class have paid off in my professional life. I’ve written for a variety of publications, even if the topic or subject matter wasn’t something I cared for or believed in. WAP taught me that a good writer can write about anything. I now know how to push myself, how to see the other side of an issue in order to tackle an assignment in a convincing way. Persuasive writing is an important tool in a writer’s toolbox.  If you have the opportunity to take a course like this, I highly recommend it.

RB

I’ve written about rejection on at least one previous occasion, but I thought now would be a good time to once again touch upon this subject. Why, you ask? Well, it’s because I’ve been having trouble getting one of my stories accepted for publication. Repeatedly. For almost a year now. It’s frustrating. I need to vent.

Accepting rejection (unintentional oxymoron) is part of being a writer. In my case, I have a file folder filled with the rejection slips that don’t fit on my “Wall of Rejection” cork board. Yes, I keep them all as badges of honor. The form replies are a dime a dozen, but my favorites, or at least the ones that I cherish, are the personal responses. The simple fact that an editor or reader took the time to scribble or type out a note of encouragement or suggestions for improvement are valuable and motivate me into not giving up.

By the same token, they can also be annoying, especially when they are vague. The journey of the story I mentioned above is a perfect example. It’s a science fiction piece with a Native American as the protagonist. He is the last surviving member of his tribe who has followed his late grandfather’s instructions to become an astronaut. But now that he is, he no longer knows his purpose and seeks answers in the darkness of space. Eventually, he does find what he is looking for in a bittersweet ending.

The problem I’m running into is not necessarily that the story is being rejected, it’s that the rejections I’m receiving almost unanimously state that, “I really enjoyed your story” or “This is a great piece.” Okay, great. Thanks. This is then followed by, “but it’s now quite what we’re looking for” or “it just didn’t grab me.” Okay. So apparently it’s missing some “oomph”, but what exactly is that? If the story is “great” with “good character development” and “and unique plot”, then what the hell is missing?

From a writing standpoint, that makes me bang my head on my keyboard. Without specifics, I have no idea what it is the story lacks. I’ve reread it a dozen times. I’ve had friends and coworkers read it. No one can seem to figure out what it is that the editors are referring to.

Maybe it’s just the vagaries of the publishing industry. I had a story published last October that had sat on my hard drive for almost ten years before I could find the right market for it. Maybe this is a similar situation. I take a bit of license with Native American creation myth in the story, but it’s a work of fiction and that shouldn’t be a problem. I just don’t get it.

But at least I’m receiving personal replies. That means the story is being read and is being noticed.  I chalk that up as a point in my favor. And I’ll also keep sending the story out until someone either figures out what exactly it’s missing or embraces it as the next Hugo or Nebula winner in the Short Fiction category.

Fingers are crossed.

RB

I’ve been keeping a journal for about twenty years. Well, it’s not the same journal, obviously, otherwise it would be three feet thick. What I mean is that I’ve been writing in some sort of journal…originally just spiral notebooks, then when I started making a little more money and wanted to class things up a bit, leather-bound journals. I’ll admit that I don’t write in them every day, or even on a consistent basis, but it still gives me a certain level of comfort to know that my book is there, waiting for me, whenever I need it.

I’ve always written my thoughts out on paper. It’s always seemed the best way to work things out, to come to grips with some issue, or even just to vent. But it wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I started keeping a notebook for this specific purpose. I’m sure I had a reason, or maybe it was just what was available at a moment when I really needed to write. I do recall it was a low period in my life when I was living alone, barely making ends meet, and struggling to find my path. I filled pages and pages with angst, both real and imaginary, and it helped me to cope.

I pull the old journals out of my footlocker every so often and scan back through them. It gives me perspective on things, allows me to see how much I’ve grown and changed, and also reminds me of things I still have to work on. Mostly, though, I cringe when I read those old scribbled lines, remembering how lost I was, how I had no idea what to do with my life. I remember how I felt back then and understand the confusion and disassociation I felt, but it’s still awfully embarrassing to see how immature I had been.

But then scanning through those old notebooks also allows me to see my own character arc, to see how not only my writing changed, but how I changed. I can see how my view of life, my hopes and fears and aspirations, developed. In a way, I was writing my own story. And no, it’s not worthy of a autobiography, or even a creative non-fiction piece. My life was boring, and the angst I felt was nothing more than a cliche. Or at least, that’s how I see it. On the other hand, I might very well mine a few story nuggets from some of my misadventures. Nothing grand, I assure you, but there still might be something in there worthy of a short story.

As for my current journaling, well, it’s fallen by the wayside. I still keep one on my nightstand for when I feel the need, but it doesn’t come as often as it used to. With the other writing I do – my nine to five job, freelancing, short stories – I find my mind is too preoccupied by other endeavors to focus on a journal. My entries have dropped from daily to a couple of times every few months.

The other reason I don’t write in my journal as often is that, well, I’m happy. My journal has always been my confessor, my therapist, but that was also when I was lost and confused. Now that I’m on the path I was looking for, I’m doing the things I wanted to do, I don’t find I have the need to vent as often. I know I should…it would probably still be good to do a mind dump every so often and clear the pipes, so to speak.

But then, what would I have to blog about?

RB

Cardboard characters have been the undoing of many a good story. It’s the result of a writer focusing on  telling the story and not paying enough attention to making their characters real. The players need to be alive, flawed, and genuinely human. Characters need to be three dimensional, living, breathing, full of emotion and life. I’ve read a few stories where the protagonists are nothing more than automatons, stiffly going through the motions without any energy. I like it when a writer adds nice little quirks and actions that help to subtly define a character.

An example would be to have a character straightening things up while some other main action is taking place, like during a heated conversation with another character. Some writers would simply have two talking heads…the conversation going back and forth with a, “he said” and “he replied.” Instead, have the characters move, fiddle with things on a table, straighten up the living room. In this way you can show repressed emotion, unspoken anger, OCD. If nothing else, it shows that your characters are alive and real, not two-dimensional cutouts on the page.

For inexperienced writers, adding life to their characters can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. The first thing to realize is that you don’t have to create a character from scratch. Second, character models are all around you…your family, friends, coworkers, even strangers that you observe at a restaurant or in the mall. Third, have fun.

I’ve found that in most cases the characters create themselves. Well, the more accurate statement would be that my subconscious automatically creates them without too much effort from my conscious mind. I’m sure it’s different for every writer, but generally I get some sort of story idea and play around with it in my head for a while. As the basic premise comes together, the character (or characters) form, too.  It’s organic, one builds off the other.

But where to they really come from? From all the people I know, the people I see on T.V. and in the movies, from people I see on the street or sitting at the next table in a restaurant. My mind picks up on these things, not consciously, but all these little details get caught in the subconscious filter. At some point, my mind shakes out the filter and puts all these random pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle (without the cover for guidance).

I think this is why my characters end up being so varied. My protagonists are not universally white males. I’ve written about women in their eighties and teenage girls, I’ve written about Native Americans and Hispanics. I don’t think I consciously choose my characters age, gender, or ethnicity. It seems like, as I mentioned above, they organically grow as part of the story. I don’t put much effort into thinking about who they are, why they act they way they do. Another example is a story I finished writing earlier this year. It started out as just a man standing in the desert, but evolved into a Native American coming to grips with his past and his destiny among the stars. I didn’t plan it, the story just happened. I think that’s the way it should be.

Characters, like it or not, should be a part of you and should develop naturally as part of your story. Don’t put too much effort into it ahead of time. As you write the character will develop, evolve. Just remember that a lifeless character, one that is forced, is going to kill your story. A real character, one that you allow to come forward naturally, that you allow to move and live and breathe, is the one that will carry your story.

RB