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AUTHOR’S NOTE: All names and places denoted by an asterisk have been
changed to protect all privacy.
DEEP CATACOMBS - Hello, yellowlabs765 here. Have you ever had trouble coming
up with a pleasing idea for your next story? Well, you’re not alone. Even the
best of us have trouble coming up with good ideas for our next Neopian Times
blockbuster. If you are one of the people who need a good story idea, you’ve
found the perfect cure. It’s a little list of methods I use to spark creativity
in my mind. I call it “The Little Book of Muses”. I hope you enjoy it!
1. Surf Neopia - This is probably the easiest (and quickest!)
way to get your story created and developed. It’s also probably the most efficient
way to look for an idea. After all, there’s nothing like going straight to the
source. You can go anywhere you like, but I find it more fulfilling to visit
places that aren’t so commonly visited, such as the Brain Tree, Maraqua (if
you can find it!), and the like. When you reach your destination, click on the
various links around that location and see what you can find. When you find
one certain area you like, stop. Take a break, then come back and
explore that area only. It also helps if you take notes on the area, so
you don’t have to keep opening the web page every time you get on the computer
to work. Then when you feel satisfied, begin to write. Don’t forget to refer
to your notes!
2. Look Out Your Window - This muse is very helpful when you
are in search of settings for your stories. The process is quite simple: all
you do is stare out of your window (be aware of what you are seeing, don’t just
stare) and write down what you see. In the story I’m currently working on, Alone,
the opening is a ghostlike description of a chilly winter’s day:
The rain splashed vociferously onto the frozen cement. Icicles hung like crystal
daggers from the edges of every building on the pallid street. The dying sunlight
cast an eerie glow on the face of the earth as frosted, wilted trees hovered
lifelessly over the sidewalk in warped arches...
Sounds pretty complicated to form a scene like this, huh? Think again. If you
just rely on your sense of sight (and your trusty thesaurus!), it’s simple to
form a setting in any way you want.
3. Write... For Your Own Sake - Sometimes it just helps if
you just sit down and start writing. I suddenly remember the day a few days
ago that I had trouble forming an idea for an article, all I knew was that I
wanted to write some kind of article that would help others. So what I did was
opened up my word processor, stared at the screen for a few seconds, and started
typing:
Every single week, I read the Times for entertainment. I enjoy reading the
stories and articles written by kids like me. But the stories I like to read
the most are the ones that are posted on the front page. I always daydream about
how could I could be if I could just write like those sparkling authors...
Then I stopped and read what I had just written. Okay, so I had a little feeling
of uneasiness, but I still felt good overall. So I continued writing:
Of course, some source of inspiration wells up from inside me. I open the word
processor on my computer as quickly as I can... and write.
I stopped again, read my work, and since I felt good about it, continued writing.
As you can see, free-writing can be helpful when you have writer’s block.
4. Write From Your Emotions - Write when you’re at emotional
peaks. Write when you’re very happy, write when you’re very sad, write when
you’re extremely enraged. I find that my best writing comes out when I’m in
an emotional state. Don’t think that you’re limited when you write from your
emotions; just write, your computer (or notepad) won’t tell anyone. And if you’re
using a computer, don’t forget to save all your work! (You can delete it the
next day if you feel it’s not “worth anything”.) Here’s an example of what you
might write when you’re angry:
I can’t believe my parents! They never let me do anything I want to! I have
to clan the house, wash the dishes, make the beds, and rake the yard every single
day! It makes me sick! And my younger sister! Ugh, she gets on my nerves! She’s
always coming in my room and messing up my stuff! I wish I could just get rid
of her! I already made up my mind: I’m running away tonight.
Of course, you can write a whole lot more than a paragraph. When you feel that
you’ve written as much as you can to relieve you, stop, save your work and leave
the computer or writing desk. (And please don’t run away!) Then, after about
a day or two, go back to the computer (or notepad) and read what you wrote.
It might seem a little awkward, but just read it.
After you’ve read your writing, think about how you could turn this into a
story. Start writing down your ideas as soon as they come to you. “This could
be a story about a young Kougra who’s fed up with his life and wants to run
away,” or, “My main character could have a brother or sister that he wants to
secretly abandon,” or anything else. This forms your conflict. Now you can form
characters, a plot, and begin your story!
5. Write About Your Day - What happened over the course of
your day? Did you fail a really big test? Did you get in a fight? Did you tell
an enormous lie? (Well, did you?) Write about what happened during your day
and try to form that into a story.
Here’s an example of what happened to me one particular Friday at school:
Oh goodness! What a day! You’ll never guess. You know Plato*, the nerd I’ve
been telling you about? Well, today before first period, he felt brave enough
to kick water in Archimedes’s* face! In Archimedes’s face! Well, Archimedes
got mad and told Plato that he would get him back. Of course, Plato was just
standing there with that dumb smile on his face.
Well, as promised, Plato got his. When the class was headed to fourth period
from lunch, there was a huge crowd gathered around the puddle. I backtracked
to see what was going on, when lo and behold, there were a bunch of people hoarding
Plato and calling him “mudslinger”. They were pushing him around and trying
to knock him into the puddle. He was defending himself by kicking water into
the crowd’s faced. And Antigone*, the drama queen, she got water splashed into
her face, and she started whining that “she got water splashed in her mouth
and swallowed it”. I was sort of hoping that he {Plato} would get knocked in,
since he thinks that he’s better than everyone. (Everybody else thinks so, too.)
He’s Mr. Croseus’s* Teacher’s Pet, and Mrs. Isis* thinks that he’s smarter than
everyone else. I was even the one that told him about Neopets, and now
he thinks that he knows more about it than me! (He doesn’t even know what the
Snowager is...) Anyway, he broke free of the crowd, and just as he was getting
away, Prometheus* grabbed him, and started pushing him and hitting him, and
someone else called “Run!” and we all ran into the building for fourth period.
Later, about three minutes after fourth period started, Prometheus came in
huffing and puffing, and he said that he was mad because Plato got mud all over
his new jeans. Soon after, Plato came in crying, and all of a sudden some of
us started feeling sorry for him instead of happy (me included). Prometheus
said he was going to get back at Plato that afternoon, but since he doesn’t
ride my bus and Plato does, I was relieved that he got out of school okay.
Alright, now take a deep breath and rest your eyes for a moment. Now, do you
see where I’m going with this?
Since I have part of my plot formed, I can start extending it. Do I want the
fight to be the climax? Do I want my secondary main character to tell about
how he feels about Plato and what he did? Do I want to tell exactly why
Plato splashed water into Archimedes’s face?
Have you ever seen a farmer or gardener prune a tree? They start with the original
product, and they trim the longest branches and tie the trimmings onto deformed
or dead branches so the tree will regenerate itself. After a few weeks, the
bandages are removed, and the tree is stronger and more beautiful than before.
The same process is vital to forming a story, especially when you’re attempting
to form a whole story from just one scene. You start with your one scene, then
you trim off certain details from it and paste them in any other places that
you feel are acceptable. Once you have the “trimmings” in place, help the story
to regenerate itself, and then , after hours of hard work, you have a wonderful
story.
6. Just Stop Writing Altogether - “What?!” You’re probably
ripping your hair out of your scalp right now. “Stop Writing? Are you crazy?!
How can I stop writing when I‘m trying to write the perfect story?” No, I’m
not crazed. Sometimes it just helps if you just make a compromise with yourself,
stop writing, get up from your desk and do something else. Getting your mind
off of a “frustration” helps you to settle down and allow your mind to clear
out for more ideas. Keep in mind, though, that when you do stop writing,
do something that is still constructive. Go shopping in The High Street, read
a book, feed your pet, draw, listen to music, play the violin... anything! Anything,
that is, except play games.
Do not play any kind of game, not even games on Neopets. Playing a game
draws your focus to something entirely different, something that won’t help
you with writing a story. Once you start playing a game, your focus goes to
trying to reach the Hi-Score table, beating the fifteenth level, or earning
a faboo amount of Neopoints. None of this will help you when you sit back down
to write your story.
And last, but not least...
7. Ask For Help When You Need It - Asking for help when you
want (or need) it can help you immensely. Ask your Language Arts teacher for
help. I’ve asked my teacher many a time for help. I write my work in my writing
journal and ask him to read it. He’ll write comments and suggestions that will
help me improve on my writing, and I never regret it.
Ask people to read your story when you want feedback . Your can post excerpts
on the Chat Boards, or there are some writing forums for Neopians around and
about. I won’t go into detail about them, but I am a member of one of these
forums. I benefit greatly from the reviews that people give me when they read
the story excerpts. They tell me how I can approve on what I’ve written, and
what parts they really like. Asking for help when you need it is the best way
to learn. After all, no one learned anything without help.
And (sadly), this concludes yellowlabs765’s “Little Book Of Muses”. If you
have any questions or comments, don’t be afraid to offer feedback. Until next
time, this is yellowlabs765, signing off.
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