Blog Chain: Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before

It's blog chain time again, and this round was started by Carolyn who asked

How do you keep from telling the same story over and over? What are your tips and tricks for finding fresh ideas and adding new twists to your work?

You can read Elana's insightful post before mine, and Sandra will share her wisdom next.

I was a bit worried when I read these questions because, like Carolyn, I know I repeat themes. And I don’t think I have completely learned how to keep my ideas fresh. So, I was relying a bit on everyone else’s answer to help me form my opinion on this topic.

Michelle mentioned that there is a bit of herself in all her characters. I know I do that, and that a lot of my characters respond to situations in ways that I would. I am trying to break myself of this, especially because a lot of my characters end up sounding the same in how they talk. She also talked about taking a break to work on something different. Often in the middle of a novel I’ll stop to write short stories because I’m stuck, and I’m noticing that the stories I write on the side are subplots that should really be in my WiP, but I’m having a hard time figuring out where to put them.

Christine said we’re influenced by all we read and see and hear, and I definitely agree with that. If I listen to Sarah McLachlan, I have all these depressed female characters wallowing around. If I listen to ambient techno, suddenly I’m in a sci-fi setting with drugs and an oppressive government. This happens consistently with music, which I guess is a good reason to make a mix of songs that essentially becomes the soundtrack to a story or novel. But at the same time, I become trapped in music-inspired themes.

Elana talked about how changing up the style of her writing helped shape her stories, and I think that’s a great exercise. Sometimes when I’m in the middle of reading an awesome novel, my writing sort of mimics that author’s voice, and it alters the story a bit. I also think it’s good to play with POV. At least for me, my 1^st POV stories feel much different from my 3^rd POV stories, and focusing on the story’s feel can keep it fresh.

Well, okay, so I agree with what a lot of what the others are saying about keeping ideas fresh. I don’t feel like I’ve offered any tips yet, though. Maybe I will look to my writing advice books.

Jerome Stern in Making Shapely Fiction discusses clichés (which is the ultimate form of stale, recycled writing). He says,

Finding out what is a cliché and what is not is a matter of learning. Beginning writers think it’s ingenious to write a story about someone trying to write a story. They are told that the idea is a cliché itself. Then they know. Recognizing clichéd expressions, images, characters, and plots is not in the genetic code. Sensitivity comes from reading and experience.

Thanks, Jerome! Like, half of my story ideas involve a character writing a story or knowing a story is being written about them. Argh! I’m not original! At least not in the way Charlie Kaufman is with Adaptation or Zach Helm is with Stranger Than Fiction. (Sorry I only have movie examples here and not books.) But, those two writers probably didn’t get it right on the first try, either. Like Jerome Stern said, good writing is not part of the genetic code. No one is born a brilliant writer with never-before-seen ideas.

Okay, so, spotting clichés and being innovative takes practice and experience. But I still worry! There are only so many plots in the world, right? Are my life experiences exciting enough to help me come up with my own spin on these timeless themes?

Melanie Bishop said in The Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction: Building Blocks:

Only you have access to the specific details of your life and memory, and the specifics about what you observe about others on any given day.

Well, this is true. My opinions and perceptions are my own. Even among my closest friends, if we’re sharing advice or relating anecdotes, while I may understand and see where my friend is coming from, I have never shared her thoughts 100%. She can give new insight and put a spin on things I hadn’t thought of, but still in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, “Yes, that’s true, but for me it is also different because of this. Because I am me, and I think this, because of everything that has happened to me, big things and small.”

Or, take this blog chain for example. I can understand and agree with where these writers are coming from. When they tell their writing experiences, I can relate, or I can even think, “That has happened to me before!” But at the same time, it hasn’t happened EXACTLY the same way to me, and thus we get an interesting blog chain of honest perspectives from everyone.

So it seems like, even though there are no new stories, and even though themes keep occurring because they have to do with the human experience, as long as you tell a story as honestly as you possibly can, bringing to it your unique perspective, then your story should stay fresh.

I guess my tip is to be honest with yourself and how your stories are shaping up, and keep trying! Like anything you do—driving, cooking, your job, a hobby—practice really makes you better. The more experience you have trying to keep your writing fresh, the easier it will be to write new stories.