Beat Writer’s Block in Easy Steps
How to Become s Generator of Ideas?
“ Everything begins with an idea,” said Earl Nightingale.
Everything is made up of ideas. They are the heart, the mind, and the soul. The same is true in life and perhaps even more so in storytelling.
Writing blocks are one of the worst nightmares of writers who are so afraid of being trapped in a prison of old ideas or even no ideas.
John Maynard Keynes said, “ The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones.” Ideas are exactly like the magical house we read about in Hansel and Gretel’s fairy tale. For those who don’t recognize it, it’s that tale about that beautiful house made out of candy and cake. We ( the writers) are curious, enthusiastic, and passionate creatures who want to be locked forever like naughty kids inside this house. This is where you can find giant cakes with the idea written on top in chocolate, caramel, or possibly in flavors no one has ever heard of before.
What is the best way to be always at that house and come up with NEW ideas and NEW stories?
Here is an exercise that I have invented. I called it quinque x quinque(5*5 in latin ). It is pretty straightforward. Write the first five words that come to mind. Use five minutes to make your first draft and voila…..you have a story.
Regardless of the nature and the connection between the words, choose five.
As an example, I will use tango, Russia, the war, Samy, and Sara…
The next step is to create connections between the words. As a result of those connections, the stories are born:
#1
Samy and Sara are partners living in France. Every year, they argue over where to go on vacation
All his life, Samy dreamed of going to Buenos Aires in Argentina to take a tango class. She always insisted on visiting her father in Russia who had dementia. It was difficult for her to visit her father this year and Sammy didn’t want to ask her to go to Argentina, so they decided to go for a yoga retreat in the south of Portugal so both of them could relax and deal with the stress.
Make another story from the same words using a different same set of words. There are some tweaks to the first one that could result in a different scenario, such as:
#2
Samy is considering going to Argentina after two years of Covid, but Sara refuses as she is worried about her family in Russia, which results in complicating the relationship.
#3
Samy, the famous Argentian dancer, was always proud of his ancestors who came from Russia after the First World War. Matryoshka dolls and a picture of his grandmother Sara were the only things that connected him to that land.
#4
It was the Tango Course that ignited the crazy flame of love between Samy and Sara. Her ancestors immigrated from Russia after 1991, or better said the former Soviet Union, and settled in New York where the Samy family has lived since they emigrated after the great famine in Ireland. This beautiful love would not have existed without the pain of ancestors of war and famine.
#5
Samy was so proud of his 6-year-old daughter Sara who won the international tango festival held in Russia. This story took place before the war, of course. Samy and Sara still talk sweetly about those 6 days they spent in a beautiful hotel near Red Square in Moscow.
The stories we have seen all have different plots, but the words were our common starting point. It is this matter that makes stories more valuable than gold.
According to Greek mythology, Midas was a king who wished everything he touched would turn into gold. That wish turned into a curse, but with stories, it’s so different. When you have the ability to turn small words into stories, then you are the new King Midas, but with no curse and only blessings.
This technique works for me whether I’m telling stories to my niece or improvising a goodbye speech for a colleague.
It is advisable to use paper and pencil for this exercise, but if you do not have them, it is still good mental exercise.
Through this approach, I have created countless stories while walking, waiting for the bus, and sitting on a crowded train. I have even used it to create my own kingdom of words while being in a boring lecture or presentation.
Subhi Najar is an Alchemist of words, Little Prince, Public Speaker, storyteller, content Creator, and war survivor
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