Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-28718262-20170614172107/@comment-26399604-20170615202049

It's hard to say what's too far-fetched in the realm of horror. For the most part, you can get away with anything; that's what makes the genre so special. These are questions I usually ask myself when an idea sparks in my mind:

+What kind of story am I aiming for?

Basically what will be the backbone of your plot? For your particular example, is this going to be a twisted experiment type of story? A Dark comedy? Lost tapes? Etc...

Also where you do want to take the story? The worse thing to do is try to execute a story without a plan. Know what you want to do and how you want to do it. Sometimes the story can write itself, however, if you're still unclear about 70% of your story then you might want to continue developing your plot. Starting without a plan can interrupt the progress and can lead to early writer's block if you're not careful, especially once you get to typing. I'm speaking from experience on that one.

+Has my story been done before?

For the most part, many stories have been written before in some form or fashion. You might get a few gems that are completely original, but still you're bound to find a piece or two within them you can relate to something else. This isn't a bad thing because many stories derive inspiration from others.

So for yours, if you're leaning towards the concept of tapes, then an ideal move would be to check out other stories that have used a similar method. Study and see what those stories did to make that concept work, and see what you can add that's fresh or different to make it work for yourself.

+Do I even have a enough to make a story, or better yet, is the idea even good?

You can do this in two ways:

1) You can leave all this up to brainstorming -- write-out an outline of the beginning, middle, and end and see if you can fill the meat in-between to create a full cohesive plot. To start small, you can focus on one scene at a time and see if you can build them up to connect and make sense.

2) Actually write the story (suggest including bullet #1 with this one). If you write-out the story, regardless if it works or not, it still equates to practice for you in the long-run. There's a ton of stories I've started but never finished because I realized the idea either sucked or I didn't know how to go-on.

The beauty of this is you can still take away the techniques utilized and apply them to another story. I try to challenge myself with something I have never tried before in each new story. Even if I don't follow through with that particular story, I can just count the moment as practice. You can never practice enough!!

If you find yourself knocking on the wall of writer's block, you can easily take a break and when you least expect it, inspiration will find you later, and you can finish when your ready. The thing about writing is: there is no set timer. Don't feel like you have to get your story out now! Don't force it and don't rush it.

If you really have the urge to spit something out, then use the time to practice (I'm seeing a reoccurring theme here) creating a random scene, that doesn't have to be related to your story, to strengthen your skills or read someone else's work -- it just might help.

Again, these are questions and techniques that I found useful when nurturing a new idea. Hope this helps!