I was thinking about this earlier tonight while I was working on a story, and was curious what some of you other writers out there do to get the creative juices flowing.
I personally can’t work in silence. I’ve tried to do it, and find it nearly impossible to stay focused without some kind of background noise. So when I write I’ll put my iPod on random and see where it takes me, or put a movie on or something like that.
This is purely to appease my own curiosity, so I’ll understand if nobody responds.
As a Writing major, I’ve usually got a ton of writing to do and not nearly enough creativity to go around, so I have definitely experimented with a bunch of different ways to get ideas.
The best is always music, but I find that I can’t just listen to anything. Most of the rock and metal I listen to are too distracting to let me focus on a writing assignment, so I stick with classical, folk, and some folk-rock. Sometimes, if I’m feeling very mellow, I"ll go all-instrumental, but instrumental music usually just leaves me bored (the classical music I listen to is almost exclusively choral).
If it’s plot or character ideas I’m stuck for, I sometimes go for the many fun generators at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. They can generate writing exercises, plots, and characters of either the silly or the serious variety. Usually, they’re too far out to be really useful, but they’ll get you to start thinking abstractly, and that’s always a good thing.
If I’m not under a huge time constraint, movies, TV, books, video games, comics, any kind of pop culture entertainment is good. If I see one interesting plot point or character, I may want to try to adapt it to a different setting, or reimagine it to fit in with a new plot. Pop culture is a pretty decent source of material.
That’s all I can think of for right now. More probably forthcoming.
The thing that gets my creativity off the ground most effectively is running while listening to inspiring music. Of course, I can’t very well write while I am blasting across the endless terrain that is the tredmill, but at the very least I get a ton of good ideas from it.
I listen to music, sometimes the same song over and over again. It relaxes me, and helps me focus a bit and I feel creative when I do that. Been doing that for years and years.
So even if I have nothing to write, I sit and I write (or lie on my bed) and write and see what comes. Normally I hate it, but if you put it you make your own inspiration: you can’t just wait for it to come along.
OK, sorry to bump this topic back up from oblivion, but I’m in a bit of a pickle, and I was hoping some of the other writers on the board could help me out.
I’ve been writing a full-length screenplay for one of my classes, and I’ve been making very good progress on it. It’s due this Friday, and it’s almost done. The problem is, I’ve written my main character into a situation that I don’t think he can possibly get himself out of.
I won’t go into all the details here, since it would be hard for you guys to make suggestions without having read the rest of the screenplay, which is very long at this point. However, I need something to overcome a bad case of writer’s block. What do you guys do if you’re absolutely stuck at a pivotal part of a story?
I’ve been thinking about the subtle deus ex machina - the overt one wouldn’t really fit with the tone of the piece. I’ve been looking through my previous scenes in the hopes that I set something in motion earlier, but no such luck.
Also, NOT letting the main character get out might work. The protagonist has had his ups and downs throughout the script, but a crushing defeat right before the final confrontation might make it that much more dramatic.
I’m still open to suggestions - I’ll try to write through it later tonight.
Also, remember Chekhov’s Gun: are there any issues raised earlier on that need to be addressed by the end? If so, find a way for your character to address them.
By the “gun on the mantle” principle, I think I may actually have to let the situation explode and let the main character take the brunt of it. It wasn’t my original idea, but various points in the script have been leading up to this event. It might seem very artificial if I try to stop it.
Try it out and see if it works. If not, there are a ton of gimmicks you can use (not that you necesarily should) to bypass the reality you’ve established.
Thanks very much for your help, everyone. I got through the troublesome part, and I’m going to finish writing the screenplay tonight. This process has been comparable to writing a whole novel, and I think I’m going to feel a great sense of accomplishment once I’m done. Of course, then the revision process starts, but at least then the story is in place.
I decided to NOT let the hero get out of the bad situation, and he’s currently dealing with the consequences. This sequence leads directly into the final confrontation, and I hope that by dealing a blow to the hero first, I’ve raised the stakes for the climax of the story.
Sorry for the double-post, but I just finished writing the screenplay. I feel incredible - it was a long, difficult undertaking, and there are going to be a lot of revisions. But I think I did some quality work, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the way things turned out. Many thanks to you folks again for helping me out in my moment of need.
