Stuck in the Middle of Your Story? Try Prompts!
by Alina Sandor
Many books on the writer's bookshelves feature prompts to bolster
the writer's creativity. In some circles, though, these have
become constrained to question-and-answer type exercises and used
more for journal writing than actual fiction and nonfiction
projects you might have underway. These are terrific if you are
stuck for a new article or story idea, but what if you are in the
middle of a piece of prose, and run out of steam? No fresh ideas
are coming -- and a prompt on remembering the first time you rode
a bike seems way off the subject. What then?
Before you decide prompting can't help, you might want to give it
another look.
Prompting is all about inciting ideas, inspiring new ways of
looking at things. There are several ways prompting can work for
you, no matter what stage your story is in. It can help round out
characters, develop new scenes, and create inspiration when you
feel stymied.
Question Prompts
Maybe you are writing a really great story that at first you were
excited about. Now, halfway through, you're stuck.
Don't panic. Bogging down might mean you haven't thought your
story through enough. Try creating prompts by asking yourself
questions about what you want to do with your story.
In a notebook or new computer document, make a list of questions
about your story in progress. Is something in your story
bothering you, or is there something that you can't figure out
how to resolve?
Write down every question that comes to mind, whether you plan to
answer them right away or not, or even if the question seems
irrelevant. What you're doing is making a list of prompts
specifically for your story.
Try not to make the prompt start with the words "will" or "can"
or any other query you could answer YES or NO. The point is to
let your mind run wild, brainstorming as many ideas as possible.
Here are some sample prompts that I came up with while writing a
recent story. Notice how each one demands a lengthy answer.
- Why is Michael's mother so overprotective of him?
- What ends do I need to tie up?
- What kind of fame is Charlott looking for, if any?
- Why does Michael tell Charlott his secret?
The answer to those four questions filled dozens of pages and
gave me ample ideas for my story. Once your questions are in
writing, your mind actively tries to help move past your block.
Your prompts may lead to more prompts, and more ideas.
Response Prompts
Question prompts work well if you have trouble coming up with new
scenes or an ending, but what if you are stuck coming up with the
next sentence? This is where response prompting comes in handy.
Let's go back to the story from before. Here's a passage where I
was particularly bogged down:
"Michael's down at the police station."
"What?" Charlott suddenly became more sober. "Why?"
"Why do you think? They're questioning him." Andrea grabbed
Charlott by the shoulders and hoisted her up. "You're going to go
down to the station and tell them this was all a lie."
Charlott jerked away. "It wasn't a lie."
Okay, now what? This is just a smaller part of a bigger idea, a
bigger thought I wanted to write down. How could the next line
lead into the rest of the story?
In the middle of prose, it's easy to get lost in the overall
picture or the emotion. Response prompting can help you stay
focused on the scene a hand instead of worrying about the larger
story.
Let's start at the end. Take a look at your last line. You didn't
write it for nothing; it was going somewhere. Examine the emotion
you were attempting to convey. Write down the thought process
that went into writing that last line.
Example: I was trying to shock the reader. Michael, one of the
lead characters, is in jail. That alone would shock the reader
because Michael's generally a nice guy. Charlott loves Michael,
yet she is slowly destroying him by revealing his darkest secret.
Now turn your thinking into a question: Is Charlott going to
explain herself to Andrea, her best friend? Or make an excuse?
What would add to the shock factor?
The prompt pushes you to the next line by keeping your thoughts
geared to the emotion that you want to deliver to the reader. If
examining the emotion doesn't work, try to zero in on your
character's motive at that exact moment. You may find that your
character didn't have a clear motive, and that's why you became
stuck.
Prompt Rummaging
Sometimes, no matter what you do, you just can't write. Your
brain won't let you put down one coherent sentence, let alone
come up with a prompt to get things rolling. In this case,
knowing how to prompt-rummage can help. This process helps you
take stale, bogged-down characters and scenes and look at them in
a whole new way.
First, you need several good sources for already preconceived
prompts, such as 365 Writing Prompts for the New Year from
Writer's Digest Books, The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood, The
Writer's Idea Book, or The Writer's Idea Workbook, both by
Jack Heffron.
Thumb through these resourses looking for similarities between a
certain prompts and your story. Keep an eye out for interesting
ways to integrate a piece of a ready-made prompt into your story
by directing it, looking at it from all angles.
Suppose I came across this prompt from The Writer's Idea
Workbook: "Spend some time with your junk -- your souvenirs and
trinkets, old gifts and holiday cards, broken toys and
photographs. All the stuff that for one reason or another you
haven't thrown out or given away. Write a short piece ..." An
exploration of my packrat syndrome might not have anything to do
with my story, but I might add that as a trait for one of my
characters. The part about a broken toy could inspire a scene in
which Michael remembers how he had smashed his favorite baseball
through the window when he found out his brother died.
See how it works? One prompt can produce a wealth of ideas, as
long as you are open to the possibilities. This kind of prompting
adds a dose of reality to your prose, because most prompts ask
you to look at yourself instead of at your character.
Character Prompts
The characters are the heart of your story. If you lose touch
with your characters, you'll lose sight of your story. How can
you find that familiarity again? Character prompting is like a
personal e-mail to get you back in touch with these people you
created.
To start, put your character's full name at the top of the page.
Underneath it, start a dialog with him. Ask him about the
situation he's in at the moment. Is he furious, happy, confused?
Ask him how he thinks he will solve his current problem.
Don't worry; you're not just talking to yourself. You're creating
prompts by making this person real again. Each question is a
prompt, followed closely by an answer from your character. Go
deep. Ask her about her worst fears, how she feels about her
body, what her favorite memories are. The most pressing questions
you need to ask, though, are about what she thinks might happen
next. What are her goals? Remember, your story isn't just about
the plot; it's also about the person living the plot.
When you try prompting, don't censor yourself. Keep an open mind
and keep practicing. Once you get the hang of manipulating
prompts, you can conquer any writer's block that comes your way.
Copyright © 2005 Alina Sandor
Alina Sandor is a freelance writer, does manuscript critiques and
reviews, and is author of The Misadventures of a Carboholic: A
Low Carb Cookbook. Visit her web site at:
http://alinasandor.tripod.com
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