by Gayle Bartos-Pool
The very desire to write stimulates the imagination.
Your imagination gives you an idea.
The idea engages the brain to put those thoughts on paper…or on your computer.
Then comes the hard part…
Wait a minute. Does that mean getting an idea isn’t work?
It’s only work if you force yourself to search for an idea in an underappreciated imagination. You see, the imagination is always working. You just have to realize it’s there. You see things around you all the time. People. Places. Objects. Maybe even a phrase that causes you to think about who would be saying those words and why. Those things are all part of a million stories. You only need to find one that grabs you.
What if you see a face in the crowd that, for a second, looks like a character in a book. What book? How about the next book you write. There’s something about him. He’s a funny old guy who could be your protagonist’s grandfather, but he has a very dark past. Or maybe you see a beautiful young woman who could be a lost princess. Or you see a stray dog who just might rescue, say, that lost princess, but her old grandfather with the mysterious past…the king, doesn’t want her to live her life without her true love like he did when he was forced to marry a woman he didn’t love but who would unite his kingdom with another. Looks like you have the bones of a story.
If you happen to write mysteries, maybe the face you see looks like somebody who should be behind bars. You heard him growl at the young clerk at the fast food place where you were picking up dinner. You were waiting for the bum to reach across the counter and punch the poor kid in the mouth for not giving him extra ketchup. Or maybe to pull a gun and ask for a lot more than just something for his fries.
Or how about you see a couple of local gardeners early one morning digging in a secluded spot next to the golf course behind your house, but to you the pair look like they were burying a body, and you find out later that somebody is missing in your area. I actually wrote a short story based on that idea after I saw two “gardeners” digging in an area behind my house. I didn’t go running to the cops to check out the mysterious goings-on, because as far as I know, no one was missing in the area. But I got a short story out of the chance encounter.
So, if you truly want to be a writer, that imagination of yours will keep you up at night searching for more avenues to take those characters down before they get to the end of your story.
And something else, once you actually start putting those words down from whatever triggered your imagination, think about what some of your characters might be saying to each other. Then describe what those characters look like. Let the reader know a little more about where they came from and what brought them to the same place as everybody else in your story.
Then wonder where that main character wants to go with the knowledge she’s learning. If she’s the character in the book about the gardeners, how can she get their attention so they know she saw them and she might know what they have been doing. You’ll probably need to have that lead character be a little more than some random housewife with only a rolling pin as a weapon when they confront her. That only happens in a Hallmark mystery, and I doubt if a real killer would be intimidated by Betty Crocker in the kitchen with a clever line and that rolling pin to protect herself.
So set your imagination free. Let it know there are stories in that brain of yours waiting to find themselves on pages to be read by folks who might not be a writer, but who love a good story. Write On!
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Fun post, Gayle! And it of course got me thinking. Yes, I’m always letting my imagination run free, and story ideas based on what I’m seeing or experiencing flow a lot. And though I admit to being a slower writer than I used to be… yes, I’m writing on!
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As long as the imagination keeps pumping out ideas, we have something to write…even if it takes us a little longer now.
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So true, Gayle. Your post reminded me of a talk given by a prominent legal thriller author at a writer’s conference. He introduced the attendees to what he called the “what if” scenario, where you see something ordinary and wonder, what if something unexpected happened next. Allowing the imagination to run free sparks the most interesting and creative ideas.
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I use the “What if?” method all the time and even teach it in the writing classes I put on. It’s a great way to get writers motivated.
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Such a fun post, Gayle. Even though those of us with an imagination often wish we could switch it off, so that we can sleep at night! I love your ‘what if…’ ideas, too. I just miss the lectures and workshops you used to do in Los Angeles. You and your storytelling gifts are really missed here!
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I enjoyed doing those workshops. I learn about writing myself when I dig into how I actually get those words on paper. But we all learn as we read other writers’ books and see what they do. Some of it works for us, but it’s more fun when we realize we actually have some interesting ideas in our own style.
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Thanks, Gayle. I let my imagination run free sometimes too. My problem is, when I start putting it down on paper, I start getting bogged down with details and little twists to be set up, and character traits, and maps of the area, etc., that I lose the main “trail.” Any suggestions on how to overcome that? Do you follow your original imagination tickle to the end before filling in the details? How?
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My original idea usually stays with me even when I start to add all those details. If you have to, write down the gist of the idea first so you have it for reference later, then let those other thoughts add all the lovely details. When you have that rough, first draft, go back and see what works or what needs to be amended. I have had a character I thought would die in the first chapter end up being a main character who lives to the end of the story. I liked his backstory and what I thought of him, so he stayed. But you will tighten the story after the fifth or sixth edit because there can always be improvement. But do have at least a paragraph telling you what that original thought was and go from there.
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I’ve found the voice memo capability on my phone to be invaluable for logging thoughts that come to me. I often get my best ideas while out for a walk or hike. I pull out the phone, record the idea or bit of dialogue that came to me, and voila! Saved for when I can use it.
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Most writers will have a “bits and Pieces” folder with many ideas that come to them while doing things other than writing . They write them down for future use. I am using one of my such folders for a new short story collection called…Bits and Pieces.
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Great post, Gayle. I especially like your response to Jackie. I enjoy those what-if moments and it’s so important to write them down or record them. At the moment I think I’ll absolutely remember the idea, but alas, often I don’t.
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