How to come up with NEW and UNIQUE story ideas
Summary
TLDRDans cette vidéo de 'WritersLife Wednesdays', Abbie Emmons explore les défis de l'inspiration en écriture. Elle partage des astuces pour raviver la passion pour son récit, en suggérant de réfléchir comme un enfant de cinq ans pour libérer le génie créatif. Abbie propose des questions de brainstorming pour décloisonner les idées et encourage à écrire le livre qu'on aimerait lire, en se basant sur des tropes préférés et en cherchant de nouvelles perspectives pour la narration.
Takeaways
- 📚 L'envie de rédiger est essentielle pour un auteur, même si la structure et les conflits internes sont solides.
- 💡 Il est courant pour les écrivains de manquer d'inspiration malgré une bonne organisation et discipline.
- 🤔 La question de la pertinence de son histoire est un point central pour stimuler la créativité.
- 🧠 La pensée divergente, similaire à celle des enfants de cinq ans, est importante pour la créativité et l'innovation.
- 🧒 L'étude de George Land montre que la créativité divergente diminue avec l'âge, mais reste présente dans le sous-conscient.
- 📝 Les auteurs sont encouragés à noter leurs idées en utilisant des supports comme des cahiers ou des projets Scrivener.
- 🔄 L'ajout de tropes ou d'éléments narratifs favoris peut renforcer l'engagement et l'addiction à l'histoire.
- 👀 Changer ou ajouter un point de vue narratif peut apporter une nouvelle dimension à l'histoire.
- 🎭 L'idée d'une suite ou d'une histoire dérivée peut révéler de nouvelles opportunités narratives.
- 🔄 L'inverser ou modifier l'ordre des événements peut donner un nouveau souffle à l'intrigue.
- 📖 La réécriture ou la reprise d'une histoire existante avec un angle nouveau peut apporter de la fraîcheur.
- 🎨 Changer de genre littéraire peut aider à surmonter l'ennui et à explorer de nouveaux horizons créatifs.
- 🔗 Fusionner des idées de stories peut créer des histoires uniques et enrichissantes.
- 🌟 Le thème d'une histoire doit être personnellement significatif pour l'auteur afin de captiver et inspirer le lecteur.
Q & A
Quel est le thème principal de la vidéo 'WritersLife Wednesdays'?
-Le thème principal de la vidéo est d'aider les écrivains à surmonter l'ennui ou l'absence d'inspiration dans leur écriture, en leur donnant des idées et des astuces pour raviver leur créativité et leur passion pour l'écriture.
Pourquoi les écrivains peuvent-ils se sentir ennuyés par leur propre livre en cours d'écriture?
-Les écrivains peuvent se sentir ennuyés par leur livre en cours d'écriture même s'ils ont des conflits internes intéressants, des personnages bien développés et une structure de récit solide. Cela peut se produire parce qu'ils manquent d'enthousiasme ou ne se sentent pas motivés pour écrire.
Quels sont les éléments clés d'une bonne structure de récit selon le script?
-Selon le script, les éléments clés d'une bonne structure de récit incluent des conflits internes juicieux, des personnages avec des défauts et une structure de récit solide.
Quelle est la différence entre la pensée convergente et la pensée divergente selon les recherches de George Land?
-La pensée convergente évalue et critique les idées, les compare avec des idées déjà testées, ce qui se passe dans la pensée consciente. La pensée divergente, d'autre part, imagine de nouvelles idées originales qui peuvent être différentes de tout ce qui a été fait auparavant et qui provient de l'inconscient.
Quel pourcentage d'enfants de cinq ans a atteint le niveau de génie selon l'étude de George Land?
-Selon l'étude de George Land, 98% des enfants de cinq ans ont atteint le niveau de génie dans le test de créativité.
Quels sont les avantages de se rappeler de son enfance pour stimuler la créativité?
-Se rappeler de son enfance permet de reconnecter avec la pensée divergente qui est plus forte chez les enfants et qui favorise la génération d'idées originales et novatrices.
Quels sont quelques-uns des genres de troupes que l'auteure aime incorporer dans ses histoires?
-L'auteure aime les troupes comme les échanges d'esprit, les relations d'amours ennemis, les frères qui sont de meilleurs amis, les protagonistes qui apportent de la récréation, les intrigues de hold-up, les fins heureuses, les anti-héros avec un passé tragique et les familles trouvées qui s'aiment passivement agressivement.
Pourquoi est-il important de changer ou d'ajouter un point de vue dans son histoire?
-Changer ou d'ajouter un point de vue peut rendre l'histoire plus dynamique et éviter l'ennui de l'écrivain, en lui permettant d'explorer la même histoire à travers les yeux de différents personnages.
Quelle est une façon de donner un second souffle à son histoire en cours d'écriture?
-Une façon de donner un second souffle à son histoire est de la transformer en une suite ou une spin-off d'une autre histoire, même si celle-ci n'était pas prévue pour avoir de续集 ou de spin-off.
Quels sont les avantages de mélanger des genres ou des idées d'histoires différentes?
-Mélanger des genres ou des idées d'histoires différentes peut créer des combinaisons inattendues qui forcent l'écrivain à pousser ses limites créatives et à explorer de nouvelles directions.
Pourquoi est-il essentiel de s'appuyer sur un thème qui a une signification personnelle pour écrire une bonne histoire?
-Un thème qui a une signification personnelle permet à l'écrivain de transmettre ses propres émotions et convictions à travers l'histoire, ce qui rend l'histoire plus authentique et engageante pour le lecteur.
Quelle est une méthode efficace pour surmonter le blocage créatif lors de l'écriture?
-Une méthode efficace pour surmonter le blocage créatif est de discuter de son histoire avec d'autres personnes, comme un partenaire de critique, un membre de sa famille ou des enfants, qui peuvent apporter une perspective nouvelle et imaginative.
Quels sont les ingrédients clés pour créer une histoire addictive et excitante selon le script?
-Les ingrédients clés pour créer une histoire addictive et excitante incluent l'inclusion de troupes ou d'éléments de l'histoire qui plaisent personnellement à l'écrivain, l'écriture avec passion et un engagement authentique dans le processus créatif.
Quelle est la recommandation de l'auteure pour les écrivains qui ont besoin d'idées pour leur histoire?
-L'auteure recommande de rassembler toutes les idées, même les moins bonnes, de pousser les limites de la créativité et de ne pas se comparer ou critiquer soi-même, mais simplement de s'amuser et de laisser libre cours à l'imagination.
Outlines
😀 La Quête de l'Inspiration
Abbie, l'animateur de 'WritersLife Wednesdays', aborde le problème de manque d'enthousiasme pour l'écriture malgré une structure solide et des conflits internes intéressants. Elle souligne que l'inspiration et l'amour pour l'écriture sont essentiels et propose de partager ses astuces pour déclencher de nouvelles idées et regarder l'histoire sous un nouveau jour. Elle encourage à prendre des notes et à se remettre en question sur l'importance de l'histoire et à adopter la perspective d'un enfant de cinq ans pour libérer le génie créatif.
🤔 Les Questions du Brainstorming
Abbie propose une série de questions 'what-if' pour stimuler la créativité, telles que l'ajout de tropes favoris, le changement de point de vue narratif, ou la transformation de l'histoire en suite ou en spin-off d'un autre livre. Elle insiste sur l'importance de ne pas se juger et de s'amuser lors de cette activité de brainstorming, en se concentrant sur la génération d'idées plutôt que sur leur critique immédiate.
🎨 Changer l'Angle de Vue
Dans ce paragraphe, Abbie suggère de considérer l'histoire sous un angle différent en changeant l'ordre des événements, en modifiant le point de départ ou en utilisant le point médian ou le point de désastre comme incident déclencheur. Elle recommande de pousser les limites de l'imagination et de ne pas se soucier de la révision ou de l'organisation des idées par la suite, privilégiant ainsi la liberté de créer.
📚 Les Retournements et les Nouveaux Défis
Abbie explore des idées plus audacieuses telles que faire de l'histoire une reprise d'une autre histoire connue avec un nouveau twist, ou de changer complètement de genre pour stimuler la créativité. Elle encourage à combiner des idées d'histoires et à s'interroger sur les thèmes qui ont une signification personnelle, soulignant que les bonnes idées peuvent survenir soudainement et qu'il est important de suivre ses impulsions créatives.
🌟 Le Souffle Créatif
Pour conclure, Abbie partage ses conseils pour maintenir la créativité allumée, incluant la méditation sur les idées et la confiance en l'arrivée des bonnes idées au bon moment. Elle invite à télécharger un guide d'aide au brainstorming, à partager ses méthodes préférées de création d'idées dans les commentaires, et à s'abonner à sa chaîne YouTube pour suivre ses conseils d'écriture hebdomadaires.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Écriture
💡Créativité
💡Personnages
💡Tropes
💡Point de vue narratif
💡Récit
💡Séquences d'événements
💡Raconter
💡Générique
💡Thème
Highlights
Introduction to 'WritersLife Wednesdays' and the common struggle of feeling bored while writing.
The importance of loving the writing process and being excited about the story you're working on.
The concept of brainstorming to overcome writer's block and tap into creative genius.
The recommendation to keep a notebook or Scrivener project to jot down ideas as they arise.
The question 'Why does your story matter?' as a prompt to explore the science behind great stories.
The idea of thinking like a five-year-old to unleash creativity, based on a study by Professor George Land.
The distinction between convergent and divergent thinking and the importance of the latter for original ideas.
The brainstorming method of adding favorite tropes or story elements to make the writing process more enjoyable.
The suggestion to consider changing or adding a point of view to revitalize the story.
The concept of making a story a sequel or spinoff, or focusing on a different character or generation.
The strategy of turning the story upside down by rearranging events or changing the starting point.
The idea of making the story a retelling of another work to inject new life into a stale plot.
The possibility of changing the genre of the story to something more comfortable or entirely new.
Combining two story ideas that aren't working separately to create a unique and fresh narrative.
The importance of theme in a book and how it should be something personally meaningful to the writer.
Encouragement to trust the timing of creative ideas and the value of discussing the story with others.
The availability of a free printable with the brainstorming prompts for future use.
Invitation to join the Patreon community for deeper engagement and additional storytelling resources.
Transcripts
- What's up, my friend?
Abbie here, and welcome back to "WritersLife Wednesdays,"
where we come together to help you make your story matter
and make your author dreams come true.
Are you bored with the book you're writing
and you don't even know why,
it's just missing that magic spark
that makes you addicted to writing it?
If so, don't worry. You're not alone.
Lots of writers feel this way, this lack of inspiration,
even if they have all the juicy internal conflicts,
all the flawed characters,
and the great, strong story structure.
You can get everything right and still be bored.
You're not even sure why.
You just don't feel like writing it.
When you sit down to write, you make time,
you have discipline,
and you still just don't feel like writing it.
Over the course of the last few weeks,
we've been exploring writing struggles.
So in this video here, I talked about making time to write
when you feel like your schedule
is constantly getting in your way.
And then in this video,
I talked about finding the motivation to write
when you feel like procrastination and distractions
are getting in your way.
But there's more to writing
than just discipline and time management.
You have to love it.
You have to be so excited to do it,
there's nothing else you'd rather do.
And if you're not feeling that excitement
for your story right now, it's time for some new ideas.
It's time to brainstorm,
to tap into that inner creative genius
and look at your story with a fresh perspective.
That's what I do every time I'm feeling bored
or unenthused about the story I'm writing,
and it works every time.
In this video,
I'm going to share with you all of my favorite prompts,
questions that I ask myself
to get the creative juices flowing
and trigger new ideas, new possibilities,
new ways to look at my story and get excited about it.
I highly recommend grabbing a notebook for this one,
or your Scrivener project, because you're going to want
to write down your brilliant ideas as they come to you.
Let's get started.
Why does your story matter?
Good question.
What if I told you that there's a science
behind every great story?
I don't just teach you how to write.
I teach you how to change the world with your story
and make your author dreams come true.
Before we get started with our brainstorming session,
I wanna tell you to do something
that might sound kinda strange.
Think like a five year old.
Yes, I'm serious. (chuckles)
This is key when it comes to unleashing your creative genius
and inviting new ideas into your imagination.
I recently stumbled across a fascinating study
on creativity in children.
The study was conducted by Professor George Land in 1968.
He tested the creativity of 1,600 children
using the same creativity test he devised for NASA
to help select innovative engineers and scientists.
The assignment was to look at a problem
and come up with new, different, innovative ideas.
Dr. Land retested the same children at 10 years old
and again at 15 years old.
Look at this.
The percentage of children who scored at the genius level
were, amongst five year olds, 98%,
amongst 10 year olds, 30%,
amongst 15 year olds, 12%.
And then the same test was given to 280,000 adults
with the average age of 31,
and the percentage who scored at genius level were 2%.
Dr. Land's research concluded in the idea
that there are two kinds of creative thinking:
convergent thinking and divergent thinking.
Convergent thinking is when you judge ideas, criticize them,
weigh them against ideas that have already been tried
and tested, all of which happens in your conscious thought.
Divergent thinking is when you imagine new, original ideas
that are different from anything that has been done before
and which may be messy to start with,
but this kind of thought originates
in your subconscious mind.
The younger you are,
the more likely you are to think divergently,
and as a result, the more original
and genius your ideas will be.
Fascinating stuff,
but I'm not going to ramble too much about psychology here.
I just wanna show you this
to prove that you are a creative genius,
at least you were when you were five years old.
And that means you still have that creative genius
in your subconscious mind.
You just have to pull it out, dust it off,
(blows) and use it.
So all throughout this video,
as I prompt you with these brainstorming questions,
I want you to think with your divergent, creative-genius,
five-year-old brain.
Don't worry about whether this idea has been done before
or whether it will be criticized or disliked.
Let this be playtime.
Let your brainstorm session be fun and imaginative,
not a method of torture.
Okay, let's get into the what-if brainstorming questions
that I ask myself all the time
when I'm trying to come up with new ideas.
Feel free to pause the video after each prompt
and write down your answers
or any new ideas that come to you.
Remember, don't self-judge. Just play.
What if I add a trope that I know I'm a sucker for?
We all have tropes that we love more than life, (chuckles)
tropes that make us immediately want to read a book
when we find out that this trope is included in the book.
So everyone's tastes are different on this, obviously,
but you should write the book that you want to read.
So what are those attractive, addictive qualities
that you find in your favorite stories?
Is there a pattern?
Is there a trope that you always come back to,
that it makes you immediately want to engage with a story?
I would recommend making a list
of your favorite tropes or story elements,
things that make you swoon or laugh or annotate
or stay up until the wee hours of the morning reading.
For me, that list looks something like this.
Sassy, witty banter, enemies-to-lovers romance,
enemies-to-friends relationship arcs,
brothers who are best friends,
protagonists who are also the comic relief,
heist plots,
sunshine one/grumpy one, (chuckles)
happily-ever-after endings,
anti-hero MC with a tragic past,
and found families who passive aggressively love each other
but never get along.
I could go on and on, but that's my shortlist.
And as you can see, it's all over the place,
(laughs) very niche.
(laughs) Your list will look totally different.
And that's okay. There's no right or wrong way to do this.
The point is just to write down everything
that you absolutely love in fiction
and you love again and again,
no matter what story it appears in.
Then once you have this list, ask yourself,
is there a way to include one or two
or all of these things in my story?
Seriously, think about it.
You're on a mission to make your book the most exciting
and addictive thing to write.
Writing it has to feel like eating comfort food, okay?
I'm telling you, this is going to show through
when you publish this book and other people read it.
They are going to see your love in the pages.
It's going to change the whole reading experience
because you actually had fun.
You genuinely enjoyed the process of writing it.
So if you need to pause the video here and make that list,
go ahead and do that right now.
(vocalist humming)
(upbeat pop music)
Next question: what if I change or add a point of view?
Sometimes you're not bored with the story;
you're bored with the character
whose point of view you're writing.
What would happen if you told the story
through a different character's perspective?
Or what if you just added a point of view
and switched back and forth?
Or what if you wrote it from the villain's point of view?
This has saved my writing life so many times.
I don't think I ever even told anyone this,
but when I was first outlining "100 Days of Sunlight,"
I was originally gonna have it all be
from Tessa's point of view.
Literally, Weston was not going to get a point of view.
Can you even imagine?
Can you imagine how tragic that would've been?
So this is a question worth thinking about.
(cheerful pop music)
What if I made it a sequel or a spinoff
for a different book,
even if this different book wasn't going to have a sequel
or a spinoff?
Maybe the plot and the story structure
and the theme is all great, very solid,
but you're just not clicking with the characters.
Well, what if you borrowed some characters
that you've already created and written and love
and made them a part of this story?
Or what if it follows a side character
from a book that you've already written and love?
Or what if you made it a next-generation story
that takes place 20 years after the events
of that other book, and it's about
those characters' children all grown up?
Or what if you made it a previous-generation story
that takes place 20 years before the other book,
and it's about those characters' parents?
So many possibilities.
(pop music continues)
What if I turn it upside down?
I'm not talking about literally
turning your laptop upside down.
I'm talking about looking at your story
from a totally different perspective.
What happens if you rearrange events?
What happens if you change the whole starting point
of your story?
What happens if you take the end of your story
and put it at the beginning?
Or what if you made the game-changing midpoint
or the disaster point, the inciting incident instead?
Maybe you're writing a dark fantasy romance
where the female MC is forced into an arranged marriage
with the evil king, and that's the game-changing midpoint.
Well, what if you moved that point
to the inciting incident or the hook,
and we start page one on her dreaded wedding day?
Or maybe you're writing a survival sci-fi
where the main character is trapped on a hostile planet
with their ex-lover,
who happens to be stuck on the mission with them.
But we don't start at the starting point
of the blast-off from Earth.
We start in the middle of a banter-filled shootout
against an alien army.
And then we rewind to see how we got here.
The point of this exercise is to color outside the lines,
enthusiastically break the rules.
You can always revise and edit
and rearrange your ideas later.
Right now, it is time to let your imagination run wild
and brainstorm.
♪ Wee, wee, wham, da-da-dum, da-da-dum ♪
♪ Wee, wee, wham, da-da-dum ♪
What if I make it a retelling?
This is one of my favorite what-if questions.
Maybe you want to write a sci-fi adventure,
but it's just feeling bland to you.
Well, what if you made it a retelling
of "Around the World in 80 Days"
with time travel instead of a geographical race?
Or what if your dark academia magical realism
was actually a retelling of "The Secret Garden"
with evil, magical plants
and mystical portals to other dimensions?
Or what if your thought-provoking contemporary
coming-of-age story was actually a retelling
of "Black Beauty" with people instead of horses? (chuckles)
I know it might sound kinda crazy,
but this is the kind of five-year-old genius
that you need to start exploring.
Bring all your ideas to the table, even your bad ones.
Don't be afraid to explore.
Push the boundaries.
Think outside the box.
The point here is to come up with something original,
something unique,
something that you haven't necessarily seen done before.
So don't compare or criticize yourself.
Just have fun.
(playful music)
What if I change the genre?
Maybe you're writing a genre that is just,
let's face it, not your cup of tea.
Maybe you just need to go back to that comfort-food genre,
the one that feels like home.
Or maybe you've been writing in the same genre for too long,
and it's time to change things up, try something new,
try something you've never done before,
try something you think you're not good at.
(laughs) Don't let that hold you back.
Come on. Would the five-year-old you say-
- I can't write that genre.
I shouldn't do that.
I'm not any good at that.
I know that it will turn out bad.
- Try.
(playful music)
What if I combine this story idea with another story idea?
If you've had this problem once,
you've probably had it twice.
Maybe you have two problem stories
simmering on the back burner.
Maybe you should combine those stories into the same pot
and cook them on the same burner.
Even if one story doesn't have the same genre
or setting or time period, would that be a problem?
Or would it just make the story more unique?
Unlikely combinations are so cool
because they force you to put 2 and 57 together
when you were just stuck trying to put two and two together.
Maybe 59 is the perfect answer that you're looking for.
So give it a try. What do you have to lose?
Write down all of your story ideas in fragments
on sticky notes and put them all over the floor
and rearrange them to see which ones might work together.
There are no rules in this brainstorming process.
Have fun. Be creative.
Try new things.
(upbeat pop music)
Theme is the backbone of a good book.
And in order to write a compelling theme,
it has to mean something personally to you.
So perhaps the question you should ask yourself is,
what do I care deeply about right now?
What is the truth I want to scream from the rooftops?
What is it I catch myself crusading about
at the dinner table until my family is like-
- Okay, okay, you're preaching to the choir. Stop.
- It's also important to remember
that the answer to this question is always in flux,
and that's 100% okay.
What you are passionate, moved, and driven about right now
could be different than what you're passionate, moved,
and driven about next month.
That's why certain stories need to be written
when you feel that burning desire to write them.
Follow that creative impulse, that energy.
Trust it to guide you, and it will lead you great places.
Okay, boom!
That's it, my creative rocket fuel
that I use to get my imagination fired up.
I hope these prompts have helped to spark some ideas
and get you excited about trying something new
with your story.
If you're still stuck, don't worry.
Brilliant ideas cannot be forced.
They just have to strike you like a bolt from the blue.
That's how great ideas happen for a lot of writers,
myself included.
Also, it might help to talk to someone else
about your story,
whether that person is your critique partner,
they could be your sibling, your mom, or your kids.
If you have little creative geniuses
running around your house, what are you waiting for?
Exploit their brilliant imaginations!
Remember, good things take time.
If nothing is striking your fancy right now,
just meditate on these ideas, these prompts,
these questions, and see what happens.
Trust that your next brilliant idea is coming to you
in perfect, divine timing.
If you want to grab all of these prompts
that I shared with you today,
you can download a handy printable for free
that is linked below this video,
something to drop in your Scrivener project
for future brainstorming sessions.
Comment below and tell me,
what is your favorite way to brainstorm new ideas?
Let's just, like, load up the comments section
with all kinds of amazing brainstorming methods
and make this page, like, the most brilliant resource
for writers to come up with new, innovative ideas.
Smash that Like button if you liked this video.
And be sure to subscribe to this channel
if you haven't already
because I post writing videos every Wednesday,
and I would love to have you here in the community.
Also, be sure to check out my Patreon
because that's where we go beyond videos
and take storytelling to the next level.
The Patreon community is not only the best way
to support what I'm doing here on YouTube,
but it's also the only way to connect deeper
with the "WritersLife Wednesday" community,
through Discord, through the Inner Circle Facebook Group,
and get access to my monthly live training sessions.
All of that and more can be found
at Patreon.com/AbbieEmmons.
I hope to see you over there,
and thank you again for watching.
Thank you for being here.
Until next week, my friend, rock on.
(Abbie imitating camera whooshing)
It's that I feel like I'm reading the author's notes
on just, like, every idea they had for this world.
And they just start laying it all out,
and it's so much information.
It's just information overload, and I can't grasp it
because I'm taken out of the mind of the character
that I'm supposed to care about,
and I'm shown so much (chuckles) that I can't...
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