There are writers who outline, weigh, and assess every thought before writing the first draft.They have biographies for each character and timelines extending well into the past and long beyond the length of the story.
I’m not one of them. I’ll use a few of those techniques when I need help remembering details and linkages.
As to the scenes, the arc of the story, and the details – I usually see mental movies, often beginning as a dream.
Here’s an Example:
Steve Jobs standing in front of a blackboard in his study
picks up a piece of chalk and carefully speaks each letter as he writes, “N…G…O.”
The chalk breaks while on the last letter.
Steve looks at the remaining chalk and speaks to it
in that loving voice he has when he’s bending reality during a sales pitch
saying, “Please …. Don’t do that.”
He continues looking at the chalk,
reflecting on his life noting, “I’ve accomplished a lot…”
then begins singing an impromptu piece It’s Great to be Me.
– Opening scene from Steve Jobs – The Musical
That’s the way I dreamt it in mid-November 2011.
I don’t dream of famous dead people often. It’s surprising who shows up when it happens. Sometimes it feels like a real visit. Other times, as in this instance, it was an obvious dream.
The trigger for this dream was from an article I read a couple of weeks prior that which mentioned a whiteboard in Steve Job’s office with notes specifically like “NGO” that might have stood for a number of things, asking the reader to speculate on what ground-breaking ideas might have been represented in those cryptic and incomplete thoughts.
In my dream, after the above scene, I was in a hallway outside Steve’s study, opened the door and walked in. I was supposed to be there, but still a little nervous someone might discover me. My empathy was strong. I felt the impressions he left behind as I looked around the room, studied the board, being careful not to touch anything. It was important I not disturb his legacy.
Turning back to the whiteboard (no longer a traditional blackboard) I saw it was gone. The outlines of his writing and shadows of pieces of paper that had been stuck on the board remained. Someone had taken them away while my back was turned. Apple curators, no doubt. They couldn’t take the things I saw.
I felt a little guilty being in that private place and began to get nervous again, knowing it was silly. I belonged there.
So, now you know a little more of where my ideas come from. As to why I’d make up something like this, something so far away from my usual writing? That’s a mystery!
Do all of my scenes begin as dreams? No, though all of my good one’s have started as a dream or a waking vision. When my unconscious presents me with a scene, it’s left to my conscious mind to fill in the gaps and link the product to other scenes in the larger story.
Each person who creates an idea, be they mechanic, engineer, artist, scientist, or from any other role in life, will have his or her own methods for pulling new thoughts from their source.
If you’re looking for ideas, the best thing to do is begin using the medium of your craft. Write. Draw. Shape. Find a problem and play with it until you find a solution. Do it a few times and you’ll know how to organize your life so you can count on the technique to tap into the source of your ideas.
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Do you know a playwright? Please feel free to share the scenes above with them. I won’t have time to expand on it and don’t plan to write the play. I’ve released this idea to whoever wants it.
Have Fun!
– Jeffrey A. Limpert
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Image Information:
Steve Jobs R.I.P. 1955-2011
By Cain and Todd Benson (Todd Benson)
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/cainandtoddbenson/6221863383/
Amazon – Unfolding: Awakening