I’m always impressed with fiction writers. Not only must
their word choice and word order be correct, but they must also conjure up stories
with conflict and suspense as well as good characterization, lively dialogue,
and an alluring beginning, strong middle, and satisfying end. After decades of getting
paid for my writing, I accept that I am a nonfiction writer, not a fiction
writer. The two novels I’ve attempted to write were so clearly based on my life
that I quit the first one and never tried to find a publisher for the second
one. As an editor I have studied fiction and can tell a writer what’s wrong
with a novel and even make suggestions on how to repair it, but I cannot
magically summon a story out of thin air myself.
* * *
As a nonfiction writer, though, I still have the same challenge
to come up with ideas, and where are those ideas? For example, I needed to
write a creative writing exercise for my monthly newsletter, The Writers Network News. I had no idea
what I would write for that exercise, but I had a few weeks before it was due. I
trusted that ideas abound, and one would come to me.
Sure enough, one day I read the following quotation from philosopher
and author Jean Jacques Rousseau: “What wisdom can you find that is greater
than kindness?” Ding! The quotation triggered some deep thoughts, and an idea slowly
formed in my head.
If I asked writers to write about kindness, though, how would
the topic make a good story? Because strong stories employ conflict, how can
kindness result in conflict? Aha! The answer came to me, and I wrote the
following creative writing exercise:
Random Acts of
Kindness
We’ve all heard of random acts of kindness and how
surprising yet appreciated they always seem to be. We’re writers, though, and
we know the best stories involve conflict. No one wants to read about
everything going hunky dory.
For this exercise, create a character that performs a random
act of kindness. To introduce conflict, have his or her act backfire into
something not so kind. For example, what if your character noticed that the
person ahead of him in the checkout line could not find enough money to pay for
his purchase? What if your Good Samaritan character pulled out his billfold and
peeled off a couple of dollars to complete the stranger’s purchase? What if
that stranger then stood in wait for your character to emerge from the store so
he could rob him of the remaining money in his wallet?
Think of your own scenario of a random act of kindness
turning into something sinister, unkind, or otherwise unexpected in a negative
way.
* * *
Where do ideas come from? Ideas are everywhere, if we but
open our eyes. Read headlines in the news. Be in the moment, wherever you are,
and observe everything around you; something may come to mind. Read
voraciously. Be a neutral witness to things happening to you. Keep your eyes
and your mind open. Sometimes you’ll get ideas from writing exercises such as
the one I just told you about. You’ll see that exercise in the August 2016
issue of The Writers Network News. If
you’d like a monthly creative writing exercise, something that gives you ideas
that compel you to start, complete, or continue a story, subscribe to The Writers Network News for free. You’ll
also get news, tips, markets, contests, and much more for writers. Simply go to
http://zebraeditor.com/ and click on Free
Newsletter to sign up.
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