Scott Snyder is another comic book legend with a newsletter I recommend. He's very invested in the craft of writing; in fact for a fee you can "join" him in a series of classes on writing. I haven't done that as of yet, but I suspect it would be well worth the $7 or whatever that you pay.
I guess some of his subscribers have been asking him for writing prompts. And so in this issue, he gave one. And I just think it is outstanding. It's all about starting from your fears.
Here's what he has to say:
I think the best kind of prompt is to say to you, pick one of your deepest fears. Think of something that really keeps you up at night, whether it's something everyday like public speaking, or it's something deeper, like fear that we're in the last stages of civilization. But something that you worry about for yourself, for your kids, whether it's a fear of heights, a fear of getting murdered, to something like a fear that that you'll never get to say the things that you want to your parents, of fear that there's no afterlife. Whatever it is that you're afraid of in a really poignant acute way, find something that you said, these are my top three biggest fears. And then what I want you to do is try and write a story with that fear realized.
So, for example, if you're afraid of heights, I want you to write a story or start to construct a story about being trapped in the tallest building in the world and the only way out of that is to go even higher or something like that. Or if your your fear is not being able to communicate something to your parents before they die, then I want you to write or start or begin to construct a story about getting a call that your mother, your father, whoever it's about, or both, are in critical condition or are about to pass away and you have to travel to this place or your character has to travel to wherever it is they are to help them or to say goodbye or that kind of thing. And that might be just too right up the middle for you, but it's a start.
What I'm saying is, what I want you to start with is the core heart. I want you to start with the thing that's the hardest, to start with the thing that is purest, start with the thing that you're afraid to look at in some way. Because your process might wind up being different than this, your process might be something where you more slowly wind your way in. And you start with a premise or a plot and you discover what it's about for you as you go. And if that's the way it is for you, that's totally cool, you should do that. But if you're asking me (and I've gotten like at least two dozen requests) for a prompt and you want to see how I think of them, I think of them this way.
I think of prompts starting not from way outside the Venn diagram of what you want to write about premise or plot engine. Instead, I think about it as starting right at the center of that Venn diagram and working outward. What is the thing you want to write about right now? What is the thing that matters to you? What is the fear you have? Things won't change, they can be political fears, they can be personal fears, they can be giant, expansive fears about the future. Whatever it is, try and figure out a way to make your main character confront that thing so that what you're working with is stuff that resonates for you off the page and feels energized, okay? That's sort of a quick version of a prompt in my world.
Snyder's entire run on Batman, in fact, was built from this exercise; he's talked about that a lot, including here. And the run was pretty fantastic.
If you're looking for some motivation during this three day weekend, why not try Snyder's idea of listing some of your deepest fears and then write a short story that forces a character to confront one of them. I'm going to try and do the same.
Going where you feel uncomfortable--it's never easy, but often leads to some great stuff.
Have a great weekend. I'll be back Tuesday with more!
