“Imagine your friend is about to get hit by a train. He’s standing there confused, staring at it like it’s some alien thing he doesn’t understand, but all you can do is whisper…”

 This is an article about being a QA tester for video games, but when I read it, I was struck by how well it captures the essence of conflict in writing.

These sort of impossible situations are the very fabric of good writing. Plausibly dropping characters into these kind of hopeless scenarios is the task of every effective scene.

The premise is unique and compelling. The character is intriguing. The setting is volatile. All the ingredients of success, yes? Not quite.

My story is flat. The MC is lost in the dark, surrounded by things that can kill him, with nothing but a dim light source to keep him alive. Yet it’s not terrifying.

So I let the story simmer. And simmer. And simmer. Finally, after three weeks of agonizing over the scene, I’ve realized how to up the stakes; how to put it over the top.

Put. Out. The. Torch.

That’s all he’s got left? Well then I have to take it away! That’s right, three weeks to realize that. Le sigh.

You see, this is our job as the wielder of pen. We must put our characters in impossible places so they can show us what they’re made of. We can’t afford to be nice. We must make the readers hate us and love our characters. When we go to a book signing, they should exclaim, “How could you! I hate you.” Then we can say our job is done.

Take everything. Leave them nothing.

Where does your inspiration come from? Do you write in the mornings or the evenings? How do you get the idea for a plot? How do you write such vivid characters?

All journeyman writers know these questions. If you have been to a reading or read an interview of a popular author, they abound. This question bubbles up within every student of the art at some point. What is often missing, and what even the talented author often cannot articulate to words, is the real question: Where, for you, do your inventions begin and how do you recognize them?

For each author, this is different. But essential to the process for every author is analysis. If you do not look, if you do not see, if you do not stop to polish an idea, then how can you recognize dusty gem from dusty rock? Thus, you must begin by finding a strategy that causes you to dig into everything you see, to be curious about every experience of your day.

I’m taking a course on creative writing, and ran across this passage about the importance of journals as an intimate, vital friend to the writer. Enjoy.

Keep the journal regularly, at least at first. It doesn’t matter what you write and it doesn’t matter very much how much, but it does matter that you make a steady habit of writing. A major advantage of keeping a journal regularly is that it will put you in the habit of observing in words. If you know at dawn that you are committed to writing so many words before dusk, you will half-consciously tell the story of your day to yourself as you live it, finding a phrase to catch whatever catches your eye. When that habit is established, you’ll begin to find that whatever invites your attention or sympathy, your anger or curiosity, may be the beginning of invention. Whoever catches your attention may be the beginning of a character.
Writing Fiction, by Janet Burroway

Wow, I realize this is a comic, but what an amazing idea for fleshing out stories.

You could use this for plot arcs, character interactions, themes, and just about anything within a novel.

It looks like a bit of work, but the end result is a wonderful map of the story line and characters, useful for analyzing even the worst sort of story problems.

Since brainstorming and outlining are such important activities for writers, I am cross-posting this article about Mind Mapping Tools from my tech blog.

Give it a peek.