1. Think about the line: “You are the greatest story that has ever been told.” What does it mean to you? How does it make you feel? Do you believe it? Do you agree? What makes it more real for you? Spend some time mulling it over in your brain, jot down some notes, and then write the greatest story ever told by drawing directly from the events of your own life. Don’t doubt for an instant that you can do it. Just put pen to paper and make it real.
2. Think about a time when magic found its way into your life, when you believed, even just for a moment, that there was something more, something profound, something sublime. Even if there have been many of these moments or even if you live that way as a constant state, think about one especially profound time that still rings with a certain clarity, no matter how long it has been. Now, write about it. Encapsulate that memory, that moment into a story. Give it emphasis and life, breathe into it and create something wholly new from it.
3. Compose a letter to someone that you would never normally write to. It could be someone who is long dead, someone who doesn’t exist, a character from a previous story you or anyone else has written, or even someone alive today who you would not write to for any number of reasons. Make it real, hold nothing back. Now, go back over it– rewrite it as the dialog, the outpouring of someone’s heart to another person in a wholly different setting.
4. What do the words “Winding River” make you think of? Do they set a scene in your mind? Paint a picture in your imagination? Is there a sound, a concept, a moment, a person, and/or any other mentally associated thing that goes with it? Wade in amongst it all, breathe it in, and then use it to kick off a story. (Consider– why are you where you are? Who else might be with you?)
5. Think about a time when you were most in love. It could be a smitten kind of admiration that just can’t be suppressed, a torrid and passionate lust, or anything else that you really felt deeply enough, clearly enough that it has left its mark on you ever since. What was it like? Put poetic metaphor to it. Explain it in the abstract language of feeling and flowers. Be creative, but don’t lose touch with the feelings inside of you.
6. Take a moment to consider your life and all that you have achieved while living it. Think about the achievements that matter most to you, no matter how silly others might think they are (like that song you memorized, or that game you beat six ways to Sunday) Now, pick one that you feel especially proud about, that feels particularly monumentous, and write about it. What part of this achievement brings you the most joy? No matter how small or personal the achievement, make the reader feel the pride, the epic glory of it all.
7. Have you ever seen a ghost? Ever experienced anything that could be classified as paranormal or supernatural? Take a moment to consider a one (or all) of these moments, and then use the “best parts” to create a story. If you need ideas, spend some time researching Reiki healings, ghost photography, and even just stories of the supernatural in general. Be creative. Don't just decide that it's all fake and therefore pointless to write about.
8. Think about what some heavy hitting words like REDEMPTION or JUSTICE mean to you. What kind of images, scenarios, stories, ideas, or even just abstract random thoughts pop into your brain when you hear the word VINDICATION? When you read the word TRANSCEND? TERMINATED? GENOCIDE? EUGENICS?
9. Just for fun, create a crossover. It doesn’t have to be serious or something that you plan on selling or even showing to anyone. Just think of it as a chance to practice using someone else’s tools. Or, get really creative and create a crossover of your own original material using characters that haven’t appeared anywhere else before. (Is it still a crossover if it’s the first story?) It’s up to you to figure out where you want to go with all of it.
10. Spend some time thinking about people you consider to be nuts or crazy (It could be an ex-girlfriend, an ex-president, the current president, me, yourself, your mother... anyone) and then delve into that madness. How is that person crazy? What changes have occurred in that person’s life to make them “nuts”? Were they at one time normal and only changed after they were “damaged” somehow, or were they born nuts? At what point in the descent into madness is a person considered truly crazy? Is anyone truly sane? Explore these concepts in a story, and most of all, be creative! Don't feel like you're confined to only causes that exist it reality.
