3T Writing Tidbit

How do you come up with those ideas??

Have you ever been asked this question?

Have you ever answered it?

I like creating stories, characters, and settings because to me it's like Tetris. Different characters have different shapes (needs/goals/personalities). They fit different ways with their setting, and with each other.

Some shapes don't fit at all. Some snug down so beautifully I know they were meant to be together. Some even fit together with the hole of the exact shape of another character!

But I have to be willing to put a few together wrong to really appreciate when they're right.

Or it's like building blocks. Snap a few together and you get a bridge. Snap others and you get a building. Depending on what kind of theme I want to explore, I'll pick up and discard a dozen, two dozen or more element blocks of character, setting, and motives.

But I have to be willing to discard a wrong block and try another.

The point I'm trying to make is, creativity abounds with wrong paths. 

Creativity isn't like most things in life. It's not building something everyone knows how to build. It's not following a recipe to the letter to get exactly what you expect.

It is, by definition, creativity creates, which means the unexpected. It also means some things won't work out.

At some point in the writing process--either before you start writing, when things aren't going well, or if the ending falls flat--you need to envision the scene you're trying to create. Put people there and work with them; put them through their paces. They might not work out. In fact, the first few probably won't!

But keep trying. Be willing to envision and scene and try different paths. be willing to put together pieces that might not work. They may surprise you! or turn out to be absolutely awful.

It's still creative. And if you keep creating, you can make something that you'll read and be astonished and delighted and proud.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.