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Turning a corner?

Mgellis

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One issue with writer's block, I think, is that if you know one person with writer's block, then you know one person with writer's block. It's going to be different for each person. And the solution may be different for each person, too.

I think I may have turned a corner. Admittedly, the last year or so has been very stressful for a variety of reasons (I won't bother going over them...let's just say the last 18 months have involved a lot of lows and a few real highs, like my daughter getting married, but a lot of up and down, and a lot of stress). But for months I feel like I've been spinning my wheels, trying to come up with a good story.

A bit of background...I write science fiction and I have a very detailed "Bible" for a setting put together (not so much individual settings, but just the rules about how this world works, how the technology affects society, enough so I think my stories feel like people are really living in this setting, etc.) but I was really struggling trying to come up with a good plot. I'm not sue what exactly was wrong.

And then it occurred to me that maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe all I have to do is start with someone else's plot and use that. That way, I know the plot works because someone else has already used it.

Now, of course, I don't mean using a plot beat for beat and scene for scene...just using it as a starting point. So, for example, Snow White could be turned into dozens of different plots, but all of them have the same structure: a young heroine is either exiled and nearly murdered or must flee for her life, she finds sanctuary in an isolated location and, for a while, enjoys a reprieve with new friends; eventually, however, her old enemy reaches out and strikes a cruel blow. Now, in the original, the heroine must be rescued by the prince, but here we could diverge--perhaps the prince is the one attacked and the heroine must find the courage to defend him, defeating her enemy, and earning her happy ending.

The last plot just flowed out of my head, almost effortlessly. And I like it. Maybe this is the one I'll use for my next project.

So this is my suggestion for a beat-the-writer's-block exercise. Pick a story you like that works. It can be anything. Pride and Prejudice. Hamlet. Little Red Riding Hood. Speed Racer. It doesn't matter. Adapt that story for a different setting or genre (e.g., Pride and Prejudice on Mars) and/or mix it up with some other story (e.g., Pride and Prejudice MEETS Little Red Riding Hood...on Mars) and work up and outline drawing on that concept. But the goal isn't to come up with a perfect adaptation...the only real goal is to spark ideas for a new story. See if that works.

(By the way, I know this is not an original idea...people have been using mash-ups like this for a long time. But sometimes you need to remember what you already know)

Anyway, I hope this helps. For myself, I am, for the first time in a while, pretty hopeful I've got a way to shake myself out of my block.

Good luck.
 

Mgellis

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Just thought I would post a follow-up. I started with Snow White as the basic plot idea and let it grow in its own direction. It's a YA scifi love story set in the far future and I've got about 7,000 words of very rough draft at the moment (so about 500 words a day, so far). I think the whole thing will end up being 20,000 words, maybe, so something like a short novella.

I realize now another issue I was having with my writing was trying to make everything a novel or a short story--that is, trying to force every story into one of the two forms that are easiest to sell. The approach I'm going with now is to just let the story be as long as it needs to be and worry about whether I can sell it afterwards. I know that won't work for everyone, but I'm retired, so I'm doing this more for the challenge (and because I don't know how to stop) than trying to make money off my writing.

I hope my experience and what I've learned is helpful to other people. Good luck with your own writing!