Yes, this heading is a cliché, it’s not very creative.
Creativity is a necessity as a writer and not just for the stories you write.
If you are submitting articles to magazines there will come a time that you
will have to think up a topic to cover and not rely on your editor to provide
you with an idea.
One of my editors sends around a list of stories to his usual
“stable” of writers; sometimes the list is sparse and the writers who received
the list in their email ask for a story — it’s usually first-come, first-serve
and there are some writers who don’t get a request in before all the
assignments are handed out. Some of us make suggestions for story ideas,
usually not as the list comes out, but by looking at the editorial calendar a
month or two in advance. This particular editor allows those of us who
recommended an idea the courtesy of writing it if he chooses to use it so it is
a win for us and guarantees an assignment; he also lets us know he appreciates
the input which, he claims, makes his life just a bit easier and this makes a
positive impression for us.
Whether you are writing how-tos for your local newspaper,
hoping to get the cover feature in a magazine, or penning a novel, thinking of expanded
possibilities can help you find assignments and spin gripping tales that would
sell books. Creativity begins with familiarizing yourself with what actually
exists and coming up with something relevant, perhaps surprising, definitely
interesting and decidedly different.
Here are a few ways to get creative and come up with new
ideas: Look at a situation or a theme from a different perspective, would a
woman look at something (anything) the same way a man would and if not, think
of questions she might want answered; take a break from what you are writing
and change the scenery, a fresh view might present a fresh idea; play the what if game, change something in the
scene and it may change the story; after researching facts for an article think
of questions you still have; introduce a new character who has different priorities or experience than your protagonist;
daydream and put yourself into the setting, how do you feel and what would you
do; think of the worst case scenario and deal with it.
If you think about popular stories (books, movies, TV shows)
you’ll notice that many tales have similar story lines, so how do these
repeated stories keep being successful? Each new story has (should have) twists in the story that make it different
from previous. Let’s talk about the often compared Romeo and Juliet versus West
Side Story; both stories are about young, forbidden and tragic love with
characters that very closely substitute — Romeo/Tony, Juliet/Maria,
Tybalt/Bernardo, Friar Lawrence/Anita, and Lord Capulet/Officer Krupke. The
stories have different settings and time periods, the young lovers want each
other despite feuding families in one and racism in the other, Catalysts are characters
killed by the hero, in both cases the hero is led to believe his love interest
has died, and in one he kills himself in grief and the other he is killed while
looking for her.
Same story but the creative twists make each different;
different settings, slightly different motivation and different social times
makes both stories hits. Change it up and come up with different possibilities.
Writing exercise:
Think of a stressful problem you’ve had at some point; write a brief
summary of how you handled and hopefully resolved the problem. Think of any two
people who are/were in your life and have different personalities from you. For
each of these people, rewrite the same problem and how that individual would
have handled/resolved it. This is only for your eyes, so be honest in your
descriptions (use phony names if you are afraid of someone reading these).
Writing prompt:
Make a list of 10 different headings of How-To articles that would interest
you; a list of 10 people you would like to interview (living or dead); and a
list of 10 book titles you would like to write.
Challenge Assignment:
Did you have a favorite bed-time story as a child? Rewrite that story and
make the protagonist into someone terribly evil.
