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Asking the “What If?” Questions
Newsletter
Recently at my launch for Sophie and the Giant Boy, I asked the children on the Zoom call if they’d ever imagined “What if?” I could tell by their expressions on screen that they were thinking.
That was how my Sophie book got started. What if there was someone climbing over that expressway wall? If so, that person would have to be very big.
If you’re writing factual articles, you might not ask the same question; you’d be searching for other answers, such as the date of an event or the reason someone started it.
In writing fiction, there’s room for all of that imaginative work. In a novel, you’ll have characters interacting and you might create a fantasy world where they live. Even if you’re a planner, you’ll sometimes find that the characters want to take you in a different direction.
My character Sophie just happened along my journey of writing. She was the little girl on one side of the large fence hearing the fence post creak. The thing that surprised me most was what happened next.
If you’re writing a novel for adults or children, what sort of questions do you think of? What do the characters ask you? Do they want to write their own story?
Do you read plenty of books in the same genre as you write? And other genres? Do you imagine characters in your dreams or as you go walking? Where do your ideas come from?
Do you keep a notebook handy or use the note app on your phone to record ideas that come to you? How do you track ideas?
Story prompts from the internet or a book can help, but prompts are all around you in real life. Pay attention to dreams, and what people say. It might be some small thing that catches your attention. Write it down. You never how some small piece can lead to your next piece of writing.
Today as you go about your chores or work, carry a notebook and pen and pay attention to the world around you for that next spark of inspiration, however small.
Until next month, stay safe, stay well… and keep on writing!
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Carolyn R. Wilker is a writer, editor, writing instructor and storyteller from Kitchener, Ontario, with publication credits in articles, op-eds, devotionals, poetry, and her books, Once Upon a Sandbox, Harry’s Trees, Les arbres de Harry, Piece by Piece, Travelling Light and the most recent Discover Your Story, and the newest picture book, Sophie and the Giant Boy.
Carolyn is also a contributor to anthologies including Grandmothers’ Necklace, Wisdom of Old Souls, Hot Apple Cider with Cinnamon, and Good Grief People.
Carolyn is a member of the Editors Association of Canada, The Baden Storytellers’ Guild, the Energetics Toastmasters, and Tower Poetry Society.
She blogs at storygal.ca
