The Challenge of Choosing What to Write
How to decide what story to tell
I have a thousand story ideas go through my head every week. Some of them I forget. Some of them I write down. Some of them I write a chapter or two about. Very few of them end up making the cut for a completed writing project.
What separates the good ideas from the bad ones? How do you tell when you’ve landed on an idea that’s worth fleshing out into a complete story? You’re going to spend a massive amount of time on your writing projects and time is the only truly finite resource we have. How do you decide what story to devote your time to?
Write What You’re Passionate About
Write what you know and you may write a nice paragraph about the contents of your fridge or underwear drawer. Write what you’re passionate about and you may actually finish your manuscript and have something worth reading.
Writing what you know has value. You can’t give what you don’t have. However, part of the wonderful thing about being a writer is that you’re also a reader, and readers can learn new things. If you’re passionate about a story or topic, you’ll devote the time and energy to knowing it inside and out. Don’t be afraid to research or reach out to others to learn whatever you don’t know from your own experience.
Passion will keep you going when your tired, when writer’s block sets in, and when people you care about tell you that you should consider putting your time to better use. Passion will keep you up late working on fleshing out your characters or adding that bit of backstory you left out in your first draft. Passion will keep you moving towards that goal of putting the final period on that last page and passion will get you through the rewrites, editing, and other adventures that follow.
Use “What If” Questions
In his book, On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft, Stephen King discusses the use of the “what if” question when coming up with a story idea. It’s an effective method of landing on an idea that may be worth pursuing. The trick is to make your “what if” question strong enough. It may take several rounds of questioning before you land on the right “what if” question.
Here is an example of how “what if” questions can build on each other:
- What if a cat learned to talk?
- What if a cat learned to talk to the dead?
- What if a cat was possessed by a ghost and could talk to the dead?
- What if a cat was possessed by the ghost of a serial killer’s victim and she uses the cat to get revenge on her killer with the help of the ghosts of his other victims.
Now we have something resembling a story. We could go another 4 rounds or more with this exercise and probably get a bunch more interesting plot lines. I recommend going through at least four “what ifs” when using this method. The goal is to find the strongest storyline.
Learn What Kinds Of Stories Sell
If you go off of current market trends, it will only really be useful for quick writing projects. For novels, what was trending when you started your novel may be out of favor by the time you finish it. What can be helpful, no matter what you’re writing, is to look at the kinds of stories people respond to.
In The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, Christopher Booke outlines seven types of plots used in storytelling:
- Overcoming the Monster
- Rags to Riches
- The Quest
- Voyage and Return
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Rebirth
A team from the University of Vermont, building on Kurt Vonnegut’s theories, analyzed 1,327 stories and identified six types of stories:
- Rags to riches
- Tragedy or Riches to rags
- Man in a hole
- Icarus
- Cinderella
- Oedipus
Eli Landes argues that there are only two types of stories:
- Stories about abnormal characters
- Stories about abnormal situations
You may or may not agree with these theories, but they do have common themes which can be useful to keep in mind when deciding what kind of story to write.
Draw From Your Life & The World Around You
Look at the man sitting on the bench across the street. Watch the kid with the green socks riding down the streets on a skateboard. See the couple arguing over shoes. What are their stories?
Go into an antique shop. Who owned that old bench with the ornate floral relief carvings on it? Does that lamp have a genie? Is that doll evil or just misunderstood?
Art draws from life. The more you see and hear, the more you will have to use for your stories. If you’re an introvert, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to talk to people, but you should still watch and listen. Some of the best characters and stories can be inspired by the most random moments in life.
Read
Every author who’s ever lived will tell you to read. Reading has a way of drawing the muses out of their hole, or palace, or basement, or wherever it is that your muses like to hide. Reading will improve your creativity and your writing. You might also consider reading some public domain works. Retelling an old story can be a treat for everyone.
Find your story and get writing. Before you find it, you may try a dozen on that don’t work, like a disappointing day in a fitting room. It’s alright. You’ll find your story. The one only you can tell. I can’t wait to read it.
