What If Ideas?

What If Questions Game

  • What if (a famous novelist) had been a play writer instead?
  • What if we could only talk in rhymes and meter?
  • What if you could live anywhere in the world?
  • What if you found out your house was infested with snakes?
  • What if you had a money tree growing in your backyard?

Contents

What is IFS for a story?

These story writing prompts were conceived on the fly without any research or Google search for inspiration.

  • What if the past and present timelines began to merge?
  • What if the Greek Gods truly did use to walk the earth?
  • What if your stepfather or stepmother is actually your future self?
  • What if the sun began to die?

What is if in writing?

What If? is the first handbook for writers based on the idea that specific exercises are one of the most useful and provocative methods for mastering the art of writing fiction.These exercises are designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer.

Where do story ideas come from?

You can get compelling plot ideas by reading the news or historical texts or watching documentaries. You can also use an existing nonfiction book to inspire a fictional novel, short story, or script. Thinking more broadly, you can source inspiration from a podcast, a poem, or even a self-help book.

What should I write about in English story?

Top 10 Story Ideas

  • Tell the story of a scar.
  • A group of children discover a dead body.
  • A young prodigy becomes orphaned.
  • A middle-aged woman discovers a ghost.
  • A woman who is deeply in love is crushed when her fiancé breaks up with her.
  • A talented young man’s deepest fear is holding his life back.

How do you set a scene?

Setting the scene: 6 ways to introduce place in stories

  1. Try setting the scene by showing scale.
  2. Show what is surprising or strange.
  3. Introduce emotional qualities of place.
  4. Give immersive details.
  5. Establish time period or time-frame.
  6. Show characters interacting with their surrounds.

How do you write a shopping scene?

Try these three strategies:

  1. Use the store as a setting. Look around the next time you shop.
  2. Use the expectations of shopping as a conflict. A store provides great material for fiction because everyone who goes to a store wants something.
  3. Use a character’s purchases as an inciting incident.

What is if in a sentence?

We use what if at the beginning of a question when we are asking about the consequences of an action, particularly one that is undesirable. We refer in this way to present or future circumstances: What if I am made redundant and have no work? What shall we do then?

How do you use writing prompts?

How To Use Writing Prompts

  1. One a day keeps the blues away. It is good if you have a set, daily time to write.
  2. Write by hand. I use an A4 hardcover spiral-bound notebook.
  3. Set a timer and keep writing.
  4. It is open to interpretation.
  5. Don’t google prompts – at least not on the day.
  6. Reap the rewards.
  7. Unwinding.

How do you get ideas?

  1. 9 Habits That Make It Easy To Come Up With Great Ideas. How to train yourself to generate better ideas.
  2. Consider what you consume.
  3. Regurgitate what you consume.
  4. Think macro.
  5. Capture ideas when they come.
  6. Speak your ideas.
  7. Ask more questions.
  8. Study opposite takes on the same idea.

How do you develop a story concept?

7 Straightforward Tips For Turning An Idea Into A Story

  1. Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm.
  2. Research for further inspiration.
  3. Refine and clarify your central idea.
  4. Focus on character goals and conflict.
  5. Weave smaller ideas into your central concept.
  6. Give yourself time.
  7. 7. …

How do journalists find story ideas?

15 Ways to Generate New Article Ideas

  1. Have a niche.
  2. Write an impassioned opinion piece.
  3. Write a self-help column.
  4. Peruse trending topics.
  5. Follow up on a previous story.
  6. Write an explanatory article about a piece of national news.
  7. Write a pop culture roundup.
  8. Seek out personal stories.

How can I make my story interesting?

17 Ways To Make Your Novel More Memorable

  1. Your protagonist drives the story.
  2. Structure your book as a roller-coaster ride.
  3. Tell the story in a linear way.
  4. Write from your heart.
  5. Start your novel at the end of the backstory you’ve created.
  6. Include only the most important parts of the story.
  7. Always remember the end.

What are some story starters?

Story starters

  • I didn’t mean to kill her.
  • The air turned black all around me.
  • Icy fingers gripped my arm in the darkness.
  • Wandering through the graveyard it felt like something was watching me.
  • The eyes in the painting follow him down the corridor.
  • A shrill cry echoed in the mist.

How do you write a scary story?

7 Tips for Scaring Your Readers

  1. Use the environment.
  2. Use your own fears.
  3. Write longer sentences.
  4. Make your readers breathe faster.
  5. Leverage fear of the unknown.
  6. Avoid clichés.
  7. Practice.

How many scenes are in a short story?

Typically, a short story has about one or two main characters (with shorter character arcs than a novel) and 5-6 scenes, at the most. Some short stories that I have read had a single drawn-out scene—this helps the reader get immersed into the story because the story doesn’t swing between many scenes.

How do you make a boring scene interesting?

This is how to keep your story fresh and exciting in every scene:

  1. If You Can, Trash It. Your first choice should always be to get rid of any in-betweens that don’t advance your plot.
  2. Introduce Personality: Make It about Character.
  3. Introduce Action: Make It about Drama.
  4. Introduce Questions: Make It about Suspense.

What are the five elements of a scene?

Still, there’s a way to write a good one, so here are the 5 elements of a scene.

  • Time & Place. One of the first things you want to establish in your scene is the time and place.
  • A Clear Goal. Something needs to be accomplished during the scene.
  • Conflict & Action.
  • Emotional Change.
  • A Page-Turning Ending.

How do you write a depressing scene?

6 Tips for Writing a Sad Story

  1. Tap into your own emotionality.
  2. Know the difference between sentimentality and truth.
  3. Leave room to be surprised by specific detail.
  4. Pair strong emotions with ordinary ones.
  5. Use backstories to add weight.
  6. Use sad moments to further character development.

How do you write a touching scene?

3 Tips for Writing Heavy Emotional Scenes

  1. Reader Emotions and Character Emotions Don’t Have to Match.
  2. Tip #1: Use a Less Deep Point-of-View for Uncomfortably Heavy Scenes.
  3. Tip #2: Emotional Doesn’t Mean Melodramatic.
  4. Tip #3: Don’t Skip Scenes that Are Part of a Character’s Emotional Journey.

How do you write a violent scene?

6 Essential Techniques for Writing Violent Scenes

  1. Keep It Simple. Life comes at you fast.
  2. Serve Your Story. Something a lot of inexperienced writers forget is that fight scenes are just that: scenes.
  3. Fight in Your Genre.
  4. Treat Violence Like Dialogue.
  5. Consider Your Deeper Goals.
  6. Do Your Research.