Generating Concepts - What If?

What if?

Really, what it all comes down to when writing is the writer asking themselves this question. What if a tornado carried a runaway teen over the rainbow to a magical land of Munchkins, wizards and witches? What if an orphaned boy who was forced to sleep under the stairs suddenly discovered he is a powerful wizard and gets invited to study magic in a castle school? What if a wolf’s bite cursed you into turning into a wolf every full moon?

What if? coupled with And then what? Over and over again…that’s where a story develops. And most writers probably do this subconsciously as they go about their day. The trick for generating concepts doesn’t need the And then what? Just the What if? And the trick is to make it a conscious exercise.
​

• What if the barista poisoned my Mocha Latte? Why would she do that? Was she targeting me, specifically? How could I survive?
• What if my house was burning down and I called 911, and when the firemen arrived they refused to get out of the truck? Why would they do that? Is my house really on fire? Am I hallucinating a fire? Maybe it’s a premonition.
• What if the morning radio host began speaking directly to me? And he could hear me talk back? Could everyone hear our conversation? What would we talk about? What would be so important to trigger this phenomenon?
• What if my dog swallowed my cat whole? What would the cat do?
• What if my daughter was an elf at the North Pole who hated making toys? How would the other elves treat her? What would she rather do than make toys?
• What if I was secretly running from a demon who expected my daughter as payment for a debt incurred when I, myself was just a child?
• What if that Nigerian prince really did give me a fortune?

​

• What if I jokingly responded to that Nigerian prince’s email and got sucked up in some international scandal?
• What if the reason my doctor was making me wait for so long was that the patient before me died, and he was trying to hide the body?
• What if, while researching details for a story, the FBI and NSA showed up at my door because my searches eerily matched an actual crime scene?

Seinfeld is famous for being “a show about nothing,” but Seinfeld said it was more accurate to describe his sitcom as “a show about anything.” They made the mundane funny and entertaining. I once had a Driver’s Ed teacher who turned just about every boring thing into a causality that usually ended in some tragedy. “If you forget to bring your pencil to the final, you can’t take the final. If you don’t take the final, you fail Driver’s Ed. If you fail Driver’s Ed, you can’t get your driver’s license. If you don’t have a driver’s license, you probably won’t be able to work. If you can’t work, you won’t be able to buy food. If you don’t have food, you can’t eat. If you can’t eat, you’ll die. SO BRING YOUR PENCIL TO THE FINAL TOMORROW!” It was ridiculous, and he was probably serious. But it’s the same sort of exercise…What if you didn’t bring your pencil to the final tomorrow? A pretty mundane detail that ends in your death.

What if?

​Go about your day and just ask that about anything, no matter how mundane.