compendium_of_techniques

Multiple techniques can be used to draw inspiration for characters, settings, plots, or even just to kick - start your writing off. Here is a list of user submitted ideas.

1. Caffeinate yourself! - A good cup o’ joe sometimes is all the caffeine punch that can make yourself focus on the task at hand, the personal favorite of many an ADD keyboardist and W.O.W.’er. Good Colombian beans can make the difference between playing minesweeper for 15 minutes and getting that crucial last page done.
2. Go to a thrift store and leaf through old magazines or books until something grabs you, a picture, word, or phrase. Then let your mind go wild
3. Make a specific free-write screenplay. Come up with the most creative, dull, boring, or eccentric title for a Screenplay, then, everyday when you start to write, do a freewriting exercise on that Screenplay. Not only will it let you free your thoughts to the task at hand, it usually eliminates those two or three pages of ‘warm-up’ that can happen
4. Looking for a name for a character? Browse the Obituaries and randomly pick two names out. Imagine from there. Still don’t like the name? What would those two name their child if it was your character? Still Don’t like the name? What unusual event or trait does this character have that could’ve spawned a nickname during childhood?
5. Change your Scenery or Time. You! Go write somewhere else than your normal haunt. Write at an unusual time. Meet people at this new place. They might have something wonderful for you to draw from. Inject this newness into your script. Renewed energy might just be the thing you need to get out of the second-act-slumps.
6. What kind of new experience have you had lately? Has your character had a new experience lately that they are struggling to come to terms with?
7. Do a timed free writing. You might find that the frantic pace lets you jump over your internal good/bad filter. Remember, writers write, editors edit, a good writer writes and then edits. I recommend http://oneword.com/index.html
8. Go read a random wikipedia article. All of it. Don’t just skim it. Get excited about it. excitement is a characteristic that can only help your script. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

Good luck!

-Created on 11/29/2006 by J.M. Moeller with a nod to all of John August’s wonderful advice.