Block Buster
Ideas To Thwart Writer’s Block
It’s been a while, but today’s #TuesdayTip is another Block Buster – a short exercise to either bust your writer’s block, or just a fun writing challenge to practise your skills.
If you’re anything like me, simply being handed a blank piece of paper and told “write a story” is a non-starter. I need some sort of prompt.
Since stories are, in essence, what happens when a character is placed in an situation, then if you have a character and a situation then you are most of the way there.
One easy way to do this is to generate a random number and use it to pick from a list. You can use dice or an online random number generator
(https://g.co/kgs/6NMQ8zx – this is a really simple, no bells, random number generator).
You can easily generate your own lists of characters and scenarios, but if you want a quick start, try the following.
Characters – pick a random number from 1 to 6.
1 – Old Man
2 – Small Child
3 – Alien visiting Earth
4- A Teacher
5 – A Busy Parent
6 – A Young Professional
Scenarios – pick a random number from 1 to 6.
1 – Trying to get the lid off a jar of pickles
2 – Trying on different hats
3 – Doing the grocery shop
4 – Trying to cross the road
5 – Negotiating with a toddler
6 – Choosing from the menu in a restaurant
Now you have your character and scenario, those are your prompts. Be creative!
You can substitute the characters and scenarios for ones that you think will work better, or if you decide to use a number generator, you can even write a longer list to choose from.
You will notice that the scenarios are rather banal – that’s deliberate. I find that forcing yourself to write an entertaining piece about a common, everyday occurrence requires one to be more creative than if you already have an exciting, thrilling setup. Obviously, you may decide that you would rather have something a bit more interesting, so go for it!
Remember the rules:
If you’re anything like me, simply being handed a blank piece of paper and told “write a story” is a non-starter. I need some sort of prompt.
Since stories are, in essence, what happens when a character is placed in an situation, then if you have a character and a situation then you are most of the way there.
One easy way to do this is to generate a random number and use it to pick from a list. You can use dice or an online random number generator
(https://g.co/kgs/6NMQ8zx – this is a really simple, no bells, random number generator).
You can easily generate your own lists of characters and scenarios, but if you want a quick start, try the following.
Characters – pick a random number from 1 to 6.
1 – Old Man
2 – Small Child
3 – Alien visiting Earth
4- A Teacher
5 – A Busy Parent
6 – A Young Professional
Scenarios – pick a random number from 1 to 6.
1 – Trying to get the lid off a jar of pickles
2 – Trying on different hats
3 – Doing the grocery shop
4 – Trying to cross the road
5 – Negotiating with a toddler
6 – Choosing from the menu in a restaurant
Now you have your character and scenario, those are your prompts. Be creative!
You can substitute the characters and scenarios for ones that you think will work better, or if you decide to use a number generator, you can even write a longer list to choose from.
You will notice that the scenarios are rather banal – that’s deliberate. I find that forcing yourself to write an entertaining piece about a common, everyday occurrence requires one to be more creative than if you already have an exciting, thrilling setup. Obviously, you may decide that you would rather have something a bit more interesting, so go for it!
Remember the rules:
- Set yourself a time limit.
- Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
- Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
- It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Have fun,
Paul
