fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2597 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2597 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

__________________________________________________

08.

__________________________________________________

09.

__________________________________________________

10.

__________________________________________________

11.

__________________________________________________

12.

__________________________________________________

13.

__________________________________________________

14.

__________________________________________________

15.

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 047 secrets from Secret Submission Post #371.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - titc ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I have to write a short story for a class, and the deadline to have it started is Thursday. I'm probably the only one who has no idea what they're doing for it. And I just figured out why. I write papers, which I hate, and I write fanfiction, which I love, but both are relatively easy for me. Original fiction is not. I have no original ideas. That's what it is. That's why this is so hard. I just can't think of any ideas without taking them from somewhere else.

I know I could probably get away with veiled fanfic, especially in a more obscure fandom, but I'd feel cheaty. :/ I have too many anxiety problems to let myself get away with that, harmless though it might be. (Professor has explicitly said we shouldn't be submitting fanfic as our assignments without consulting him first.)

Talk to your professor about it and request to write fanfic or a creative retelling of something. If he says no, maybe he can point you to someone who can help you come up with an original idea.

I'd recommend checking on suddenlyprompts on tumblr. They're top notch as far as prompts go, you might get a cool idea from something there.

I'm not the ayrt, but I'm really glad that you mentioned that tumblr. I'm gonna make good use of it!

Good! They update pretty frequently too.

You can try out some prompt generators to see if any of those can spark your creativity.

Another thing you can try is to start the story out as fanfiction in the planning phase, perhaps as an AU story, just to what kind of story you want to tell, what kind of characters you want to write about and what kind of dynamics between characters you want. For example, if I wanted to write a dystopian story with a main character with some of Harry Potter's traits who hangs around with a Naruto-like character. And from there you have a starting point from which you can try to make the material your own.

Or you can write fanfiction and just scrape off the serials. It may not be exactly the way your professor want you to do the assignment, but it's most likely better than not doing it at all. And as long as it doesn't nod to canon too much, some name changes can work wonders, so your professor might not even notice that it is really fanfic. (This is for example one of the big issues with 50 Shades of Gray, because if you have read the Twilight books you recognise a lot of shit from there all the time) Just remember that if you do this, present the characters properly, cause you know, unlike in fanfic the readers of original fiction has never met the characters before.

((All of this might be a bunch of nonsense as it's 5AM here, but I wish you luck, OP, whatever you decide to do! I'm sure you'll do brilliant!))

SA

Also, if fanfiction is the only thing you get inspiration for, consult with you professor. Explain to him that you find it difficult. After all, from what you said it seems as if he is willing to accept fanfiction, if only as a last resort, as he has the option of consulting with him about it.

I just can't think of any ideas without taking them from somewhere else.

All literature is borrowing from something

Here is an outline of some of the basic plots.

Some suggestions:

- Write 'fanfic' of something that's public domain. Greek mythology is a good one, if you like it. If it's too close to the original, change some things. Write the story of Persephone and Hades except make it about a guy in a rock band and a girl in Catholic school. Or make Cinderella a mad scientist.

- find a picture that strikes a chord with you. Think about what's going on in the picture, what are the people in the picture thinking about, what happened right before this picture, what happens after. Basically, 'fanfic' about a picture.

- free write. I'm sure you're capable of having ideas. If you start writing out your feelings and observations about people, politics, nature, religion, space, etc. you might hit on something that you can eventually turn into a story.

- go somewhere public, observe people, write about them

If you like robots, roboticdreams has a bunch of cool robot ideas that you might find inspiring

Chaotic Shiny and Seventh Sanctum have random generators for worldbuilding/character stuff.

Here are a few ideas from my own list of vague ideas that I someday want to turn into stories but haven't yet:

-Four space-travelling teens with amnesia. Where are they, how did they get there, just what the devil is going on?

-So what's going on in that empty, fenced-in lot with overgrown grass and a single tree?

- Two monks with opposite personalities are forced to go on a road trip.

- Two sisters and the fiance of one of them have an adventure at the beach. May involve possession by a sea creature but you don't have to go there if you don't want to.

- An alien race of matriarchal slugs that share a brain. One of them befriends a human. Oh no how is this going to turn out?

- That girl spends an awful lotta time in the town pool. And her eyes sure are green and glowy. Man what's up with that?

All of this.

I find, in these situations, a good place to start is to write about what you're feeling at the moment. So, start off by writing how it feels to have no ideas. Write about a character who has writer's block. Write about your breakfast in great detail. Write about the color orange. Literally anything. Then try and expand on that. It doesn't have to be a great, unique starting point, it just has to be there. You can do it!

[ SECRET POST #2597 ]

Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing

Re: Writing