Start your story :
: Steal this plot:
Let's do what Shakespeare did. Let's borrow a plot. They're just there
to give the characters something to do anyway. What you'll do is take a Shakespearean
play or a work of classical literature or folklore and write an outline of it. Only change
the time and the place and the characters. (What you will end up with is a totally different
story with allusions to another classical work, such as West Side Story used the idea in
Romeo & Juliet) Notice that I said write only an outline.
: Look for a character:
Sit at a bus stop, restaurant or the mall and notice people. Find
someone interesting that you can observe for a while. Describe the person physically.
After you've done that, let your creative juices run and tell me anything about that person
that fits the physical description (he's a Russian spy, he left his wife, he's an escaped con
etc.) Then tell me what he's doing at the mall or at the restaurant or bus stop.
: Strange Interlude:
Imagine a person you see every day but don't know very well. It
could be someone you hate or like, but it can't be someone you know anything much
about. Now that you can see the person well in your imagination, take a closer look. The
person is humming a song. Do you recognize it? Now you remember why you're here.
You've come to tell this person something important. What is that? Deliver the message.
The person answers with a cryptic sentence. What do you make of it?
: Steal This Fairy Tale:
Just like “Steal this Plot” above, except this time you will
actually steal the plot of a fairy tale and write it up-- not just an outline. Fairy tales can
be relatively short, so take the plot, change to modern times, and modern people and go
to it.
: The Loved One:
Recall someone that you have loved, but someone who is no longer
in your life. Freewrite on that person for two to five minutes. You've already collected
some important and perhaps even surprising material. Make some sense of having
known that person. What was left behind from that relationship? It doesn't have to be
factual, but imagine you and the person as two characters in a story, and you need to have
an ending and a break-up that makes sense.
: Write a Vignette: Definition: a short, descriptive literary sketch. If you need an
example, take a look at some of the tiny chapters in The House on Mango Street. Take an
important moment in your life, when you moved into your present house, for example,
and describe it. It could be true, or it could be a work of fiction.