Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Continuing a short story

We cannot tell you what to write or help you brainstorming - that's your task as a writer. However, we can try to assist you with how to brainstorm. It is very helpful, looking at a situation, to ...

posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:33Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41771
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:45:21Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41771
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:45:21Z (over 4 years ago)
We cannot tell you what to write or help you brainstorming - that's your task as a writer. However, we can try to assist you with _how_ to brainstorm.

It is very helpful, looking at a situation, to ask questions. How does your character feel in the situation? What is she thinking about? Why is she there? Going forward, what does she find? Etc.

The question I find most useful when I'm stuck is **what would make the most trouble for my character?** Stories strive on tension. You want tension, you need trouble. Keeping in mind who your character is, what her goal is, and what kind of story you want to tell (horror, humour, etc.), what would cause the most trouble?

Then, of course, you would need to resolve whatever trouble you've landed your character into. Or not resolve it - she might succumb to whatever. Either way, you'd need to wrap up whatever is happening.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-01-30T21:21:58Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 3