In my Chandler's Ford Today post for this week, I discuss with Gail Aldwin writing tips, character creation and "real" books amongst other topics.
One common question put to writers is where do you get your ideas. Well, the answer can be all over the place, which is not what most people want to hear. What they want, a quick pat answer, is simply not possible becauset he great thing about generating ideas for stories is that there are several methods to do this. One at least is bound to suit you. I use:-
1. Well known sayings (and sometimes I twist these too).
2. Proverbs
3. Think of a subject and a problem in one sentence and then see where it takes you. For example, "He refused to cry again". Who is he? What made him cry in the first place? What has led to his change of attitude here (and it is clear there has been a change)? What has been his problem that has led him to this point?
4. Think of an ending in one sentence and work backwards. For example, "At last, the dragon was killed". Okay, so why wasn't it killed earlier? What was the problem here?
5. Sometimes in conversations or even TV/radio programmes, you will pick up on something that can be useful - an odd phrase can give a good indication of character. Then it is up to you what you do with that character on the page!
One common question put to writers is where do you get your ideas. Well, the answer can be all over the place, which is not what most people want to hear. What they want, a quick pat answer, is simply not possible becauset he great thing about generating ideas for stories is that there are several methods to do this. One at least is bound to suit you. I use:-
1. Well known sayings (and sometimes I twist these too).
2. Proverbs
3. Think of a subject and a problem in one sentence and then see where it takes you. For example, "He refused to cry again". Who is he? What made him cry in the first place? What has led to his change of attitude here (and it is clear there has been a change)? What has been his problem that has led him to this point?
4. Think of an ending in one sentence and work backwards. For example, "At last, the dragon was killed". Okay, so why wasn't it killed earlier? What was the problem here?
5. Sometimes in conversations or even TV/radio programmes, you will pick up on something that can be useful - an odd phrase can give a good indication of character. Then it is up to you what you do with that character on the page!
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