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Story Ideas – Starting and Finishing
By Deb Gallardo
Scott replies that the problem is a common one, and it occurs because we often start writing before we have thought through the story completely. He says, in particular, that story ideas need to “resonate deeply” within us. In his view, we can finish because we haven’t truly started the real story yet.
To solve this dilemma, he likes to use two ideas that he has been toying with, that are unrelated to each other, and then allow the tension of their juxtaposition to create new questions in his mind. The answers that the subconscious comes up are often surprising and lead to more inspiration. In his story Hart’s Hope, he combined three ideas, each of which, if I understood him correctly, were originally conceived to stand alone. By weaving these disparate ideas together, he created a multi-layered story that resonated with depth on many levels. Just his description makes me want to read it.
His pithiest statement: ” Ending problems are almost always solved by fixing the opening.”
Read Inventing Stories at Uncle Orson’s Writing Class. (All links open in new windows so you don’t lose your place here.)
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- Story Ideas – Asking Why? and What if?
- Orson Scott Card on Story Ideas
- Stories and Our Inner Critic/Editor
- Story Ideas – Lost & Found
- Story Ideas – Orson Scott Card Interview
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