Creating Storylines

Sometimes people find it hard to come up with interesting plots for either role-playing storylines, or for fan fics. I created this page as a way of coming up with ideas for plots and storylines.

To me, there is no greater way of releasing the imagination than to ask a simple question of only two words ~ "What If…" By adding whatever you think of to the end of that question, whole new worlds and adventures can flash through your imagination. Let me give you a quote to show as an example:

"What if you slept,
And what if in your sleep, you dreamed.
What if in your dream, you went to heaven.
And there you plucked a strange and beautiful flower,
What if you picked that flower and you woke up?
And what if when you awoke you had the flower in your hand?
Ah, but what then?"

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge (as taken from the book: The Little Book Of Dreams) Thank you to Maxine for finding the correct quote and authorship.

Ask yourself all kinds of questions.

What if two characters who thought they were sisters, really weren't?
What if your character was able to walk through a rainbow?
What if your character found an unusual metallic disk?

You can use follow-up questions to expand upon your original inquiry.

What would the 'sisters' do? Would they still be close? Would they search for answers?
After walking through the rainbow, would he/she be a different color? Would he/she be in a whole new world? Or would he/she not be affected at all?
Would your character just leave the metallic disk alone, uninterested? Would he/she find writing on it? Would there be a history to the disk?

There is no limit to one's imagination. All you have to do is to tap into it and discover a whole new world of wondrous things that only you can see…that is, until you write it down for other's to see.

Still can't think of something? Try thinking of a favorite movie or novel. See if you can mimic it's plot, yet twist it slightly to make it different. Or you can ask others what they would want to see in a plot. An another option is to find someone else and write your story together. Think of something that happened to you in the past and base your plot on that. Or, perhaps you can think of something you wish would happen to you. One more option is to watch the news.

Whatever you choose, just take your idea and run with it. Don't be afraid to let other's read it. Be willing to accept criticism. That's how we learn and grow. And eventually become better writers.

Example of a Thought Process
The Elements of Fiction