Answer This

Take that image or dream or character that's been kicking around your imagination. You know the one. "Jaded New York cop vs. dragon." Or "zombie army." Or "talking butterfly." (Hey, it's your freaking imagination, not mine.)


Let's work that baddie into a story. You just need to answer the right questions.

We recently heard these from Brian McDonald, the keynoter at Write On The Sound. They are however, immortal. You've probably heard them before (they are oddly popular with improv groups).

Ready?

Once upon a time...

And every day...

Until one day...

And because of that, ...

And because of that, ...

Until finally...

And every day thereafter...

Hey, nice story. Now get writing.

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Oops, wait. We're not done yet. There's another type of "creative" questions that I enjoy, besides the "prime the pump" type I listed above.

And that's the type that ask, "Are you sure you're ready to start writing?" In other words, if you don't have the answers to these babies, you'd better take some long walks before you put pen to paper.

My hero, David Mamet, says:


Who wants what from whom?

What happens if they don't get it?

Why now?

If you have the answers to these, you might actually write something that's useful to somebody. Now... get writing.