An Idea Box

Do you ever feel like you have no ideas? Lots of writers feel that way. Here's a way to make sure you'll never run out of ideas to write about. 


Find a box. Any old box will do: an empty shoebox, a box from the grocery store, or simply a box you find around the house.


This is your Idea Box. If you'd like, decorate it to make your box feel special.


Whenever you feel like it, put things into your Idea Box. What kind of things? A ticket stub from a movie. A candy wrapper. A canceled postage stamp from another country. An interesting word you write on a scrap of paper. A striped sock that has lost its mate. A cool rock you found on the sidewalk. 


Don't think too hard about what you put in your Idea Box: just whatever grabs you.


After a while, you'll have a lot of stuff in your Idea Box. Here's where it gets really fun.


One day, you'll think you have no ideas to write about. But you do! They're right there in your Idea Box. Go to your box and pull out three things without looking. For example, the candy wrapper, the rock, and the striped sock. Remember--no looking! The Idea Box works best if what you choose is random. 


Write a story about those three things. What if a magical rock can turn lonely socks into chocolate candy? 


Keep filling your Idea Box with stuff. That "stuff" will turn into ideas for awesome stories only you can write! 

The Importance of Names

When is a tree just a tree? And when is it a poplar, maple, birch, pine, cedar, or Douglas fir? 


Sometimes in a story, a tree serves as a background: "The trees swayed in the wind." "The branches creaked on the dead tree." 


At other times, a particular tree needs its particular name. "The bark on the birch tree peeled off like paper." "He climbed the tall maple in the backyard, hiding in its red leaves." It's the difference between someone calling you by name or saying, "Hey, you!" 


A couple of weeks ago I went for a hike in the Olympic National Forest and took the above photo. Those of us on the hike debated whether the trees with the whitish bark were birch trees or alders. (I still don't know.) 


If I were to put these trees into a story, I'd ask myself if it was important to know what kind of trees they were. If the name was important to the story, I'd head for the nearest computer, nature guide, or forest ranger.


Even if we don't use the tree name in our story, it's good for us writers to know the names of things that surround us. The more we master particular names, the more we understand our world. That way, the world becomes richer, and so do we. 


Find a tree whose name you don't know. Look up the name, and write a description of it in detail. Draw it if you'd like. What color and shape are the leaves? Is the bark black, brown, gray, white, or all of the above? What role could this tree play in a story you're writing? 


Now excuse me while I look up the name of "my" trees.  

Shadows

I missed posting last Monday because I was following-up on the Field's End writers' conference I helped plan. It was a great conference, with several speakers and presenters and about 175 writers. I gave a talk about "Writing Groups and the Craft of Critique." 


Today I want to talk about shadows. It's sunny here today on Bainbridge Island, and wherever there is sun, there are also shadows. 


It's fun to see your own shadow, like in this photo I took of mine. Sometimes your arms look huge and your head looks tiny.


There's another way to look at shadows. Some writers think of shadows as the dark side of a character. We all have a dark side, and so do our characters. We may have a sunny personality, but sometimes we feel moody. We may be truthful, but sometimes we tell a white lie. We may be honest, but sometimes we do things that are less than 100% honest.


If you pay attention to your character's dark side, you give that character depth. No one is ALWAYS sunny, truthful, and honest. 


Look at a character you've written about. If your character is too good to be true, can you add one characteristic that may show the shadow side of your character? 


Maybe your character is on his way to his friend's when he finds a $10 bill on the sidewalk. What does he do?


Maybe your character is late to class. How does he explain his lateness?


Maybe your character wakes up and remembers she forgot to do her homework. What does she do? 


Let your character's "shadow" turn your character into someone believable and true. 

Earth Day

Earth Day is over for this year, but shouldn't every day be Earth Day? It's exciting to see people recycling, turning off lights, using cloth bags, and walking instead of driving. We can do those things all year round to make our planet a better place. 


What did you do for Earth Day? Maybe you had a normal day. If you did, it may be more fun to write about "The Craziest Earth Day." Use your imagination to come up with a wacky day where everything goes wrong. 


Here's an idea to get you started. Feel free to change the story and words however you'd like! 

"The Craziest Earth Day"

For Earth Day, my family went to the _____________________. It was really crazy. First we had to find the ___________________________. Then we had to fix the ___________________. On top of that, everything went wrong when __________________. Luckily, Uncle Bob brought a ____________________________. It all turned out okay when I _______________________. I'll never forget the craziest Earth Day! 

Contrast

Wouldn't stories be bland if everything was the same? If everyone was the same? If Character A was exactly like Character B?

I think I hear a unanimous YES! Bland, bland, bland, and we don't want blandness in our stories.

One way to make stories exciting is to have contrast.

The other day when I was walking near my house, I saw these trees. One was a row of cherry trees in full bloom, full of life. The other tree was dead. The trees next to each other showed a lot of contrast.

How can we put contrast into our stories?

What if Character A loves to have fun and make jokes? And Character B sees life seriously?

What if Setting A is a busy mall on a Saturday afternoon? And Setting B is a quiet, empty church on a Thursday morning?

What if someone in your story speaks fast and breathlessly? And someone else chooses each word carefully?

What if some sentences in your story are short? And others are long?

What if some scenes are emotional? And others are matter-of-fact?

What if some of your descriptions are lengthy and detailed? And others are short and general?

What if some situations in your story are funny? And others are sad?

What if Character A dresses in wild, colorful stripes? And Character B wears beige pants?

Try adding contrast to a story you're writing, and see how things that are contrasted come to life more vividly--even a dead tree.

Funny Poems

April is National Poetry Month, and that means it's a fun time to write poems. It's also a fun time to write funny poems.

What's funny to one person isn't always funny to another, but I think everyone would smile at the following poem by Laura E. Richards.

Eletelephony

Once there was an elephant,

Who tried to use the telephant--

No! No! I mean an elephone

Who tried to use the telephone--

(Dear me! I am not certain quite

That even now I've got it right.)

Howe'er it was, he got his trunk

Entangled in the telephunk;

The more he tried to get it free,

The louder buzzed the telephee--

(I fear I'd better drop the song

Of elephop and telephong!)

And here's a short, funny poem by Ogden Nash:

The Eel

I don't mind eels

Except as meals

And the way they feels.

What makes these poems funny? They all use word play and rhyme. They even make up their own words! It's fun to break the rules and write, "And the way they feels."

So try writing your own funny poem. Play with words, make up your own, and try out some rhymes.

If you need help getting started, rewrite "The Eel" with your own animal or thing:

The _________

I don't mind ______________

Except as ________________

And the way they ___________.

Here's my poem, "The Cat." Have fun writing your own!

The Cat

I don't mind cats

Except as mats

And the way they get fats.

Setting and Place

This building is College Hall at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I got my master's degree in writing.

Pretend I didn't just tell you that. Let's pretend:

• This building is where a family of retired elves live.
• This building is where a lonely widow lives with her pet tarantula.
• This building is where a 12-year-old boy has just moved in with his parents, who are movie producers.

Who else could live in this building?

Setting is all about place. Where a story takes place is important. Details about place, or setting, can make a story come alive. Described vividly, setting can be almost like another character.

The above photo was taken in winter.

Here's the same building in summer.

How would the season change the setting of the story? The building will still be there, but how do snow or leafy trees change what happens in the story?

You could also have fun naming the building:

• The McCreepie Mansion
• The Home for Abandoned Aardvarks
• The School for Wayward Snowmen

Write a story that takes place in this building. You choose: winter, summer, or both. Remember to include details about the setting to make your story come alive!