Welcome back to Flight School:
Konrad has done extensive research about medieval medicine, Berber-Arab conflicts, and historical context spanning centuries. His what-if exercises walked us through all this fascinating background material.
Mary listened, polite, but then leaned in when Konrad mentioned what happens at the end of his book: Dr. S partnering with a historically unwritten midwife at a hospital.
"That's what drew me in," Mary said. "Not the background."
The What-If Questions Solution:
Konrad's experience revealed what happens to most writers, which is that they get stuck, bogged down, or feel tired because ideas about the story have crowded out the action. What-if questions are a simple fix because they break ideas down into concept mini-bites.
Instead of "I want to write a story about a woman who got a diagnosis of stage four cancer and searched for experimental methods and did so successfully to live for her family,” which is three ideas in one big sentence, start first by creating a concept by adding “What if… ”
What if a woman gets a diagnosis of stage four cancer and searches for experimental methods and does so successfully to live for her family?
Now cut down the complex idea to one idea at a time, making them subparts of the overarching idea:
* What if a woman (Annie) is the sole provider for her children?
* What if Annie’s husband died three years prior?
* What if Annie was pregnant when her husband died in an accident?
While the idea above was excellent, it was too far from the actual experience of a living, breathing person. The application of the What-if process shows how to draw closer to an actual person in an actual situation. It’s a slight shift but an important one that brings instant fresh energy into the whole of your work.
What-if is great for writers who tend to get lost and are rather dreamy.
An Alternative Technique: Image Only
For more heady writers, I offered up Robert Olen Butler's technique called Dreamstorming, where the writer enters a liminal, meditative state and “asks” for images. No thinking, just relaxing and trusting images will arise and then jotting each image down on a note card. A match striking. White subway tile. The tip of a burning cigarette. This exercise leans into the reality that the image is king in all stories. It also teaches writers to trust the image more than the busy mind.
✍️ A Simple Assignment that Can Change Everything
Spend 30–40 minutes this week doing the what-if exercises for your current project or the Butler Dreamstorming method. Share the results in the comments. I’m listening.
Coming next: The Seven Sacred Plots
Which plot is calling your story home?
Every story—memoir or novel—contains one of the seven fundamental plot structures. With detailed handouts and examples from today's bestsellers, I'll show you how to identify the story spine that’s waiting to be seen.
📆 Monday, September 8, at 10:00 a.m. PST
Sign up and get your advanced video/handouts to help prepare.
Thanks to everyone, and I'll see you live next Monday.
~ Jennifer, 🐦⬛
