InkyBites readers are always saying to me they “don’t know what to write about” or they “have an idea, but aren’t sure how to get started.” It’s one of the most common comments I get from readers, in fact.
That’s why I was psyched yesterday while reading my Google Reader. I came across a blog post by Larry Brooks of StoryFix.com that I believe will really help you know what your idea needs before it’s ready to be written.
Your StoryFix
As always Larry has laid brilliance into a blog post and shared a tip that is going to save you so much time and aggravation throughout your writing career.
In his blog post, Staple This To Your Forehead,” he shares the following tip about finding an idea for your story:
The objective of storytelling, the point of it all, isn’t to write about something.
The idea isn’t even to write about something.
The highest goal of your storytelling is to write about something happening.
Mind Blown
Yea, I know, my mind was blown too.
It just really puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it? It really tells you what storytelling and writing a novel is all about.
Finding an idea is great, but unless your idea is going to be about something happening to a character (or group of characters), it’s not quite story-ready yet.
Keep marinating on it and brainstorming and thinking about it, and really do the story justice. Really dig in there and figure out what this story is about–what happens that’s so important it has to be written down into a story?
Once you have that level of an idea, then you can worry about sitting down and writing it.
Of course by that point you’ll be so excited about what you have bubbling in your brain you won’t be able to stop yourself from sitting down and writing it.
That’s how you build enthusiasm for writing. Having a plan. Knowing what your story is about before you write it.
Be sure to read the rest of Larry’s blog post for a more in depth look at this writing tip.
Share With Us
How has this tip helped shift your perception of what storytelling is?
Image courtesy of pittaya
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