How to think of idea? (1 Viewer)

[Mrs-Darcy]

I am going to do Ext 2 this year but am pretty worried because I really don't know what my short story is going to be on.. I seriously have no ideas or anything!? It's hard because obviously you want your major work to be good - the topic has to be something you're really into - or you won't want to work on this one thing all year. But what happens when you just don't know what the hell you're going to write it on!?
How did you other EE2ers out there get your idea? Any tips for discovering mine lol?

 

[jess39]

I'm having the same problem... the others in my class already have their ideas. I'm starting to stress out.

I always thought it would just come to me when I had to start it... but it hasn't.
:[

 

[metalheaven]

I agree with CaptainNemo. If you consider concepts that are important to you the whole process can be easier. You'll have passion for it, you'd probably have prior knowledge of your concept, therefore less tenuous research.

But I reckon mostly relax, do some reading, sit out in a park, whatever, and the ideas will come, don't worry
I got the inspiration for mine whilst listening to one of my favourite jazz albums.

Good luck 09ers

 

[alcalder]

AND, think of a few "What If?" querstions that are related to your area of interest. As everyone knows who studies Specualtive Fiction, that's where it all starts.

eg. What if the Nazis actually took Russia?
What if no nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan?
What if Einstein had not existed?
What if TV had never been invented?
What if mobile phones were never given SMS capability?
What if Dr Who were real?

Some silly ones to start you off.

Take a notebook with you everywhere and just jot stuff down. Even the most innocuous writings could trigger something.

 

[icecreamk3]

haha 'what if' questions are good =) my friend told me to do that too!
i wanted to do a feminist piece relating to power and the conspiracy theory but then i didn't realise i had to link it back to prelim and hsc eng/ex1 courses =/ so now i'm trying to figure out how it relates at alllll D:

and now i don't know what my area of studies were ;___; and i don't get how the syllabus thing works on bos =( someone help meeee T___T

 

[ekoolish]

I have been thinking about mine since i chose Ext1 last year. I've chnaged my ideas so many times in my head and have finally came to a conclusion. You still have several months to ponder your thoughts, not to mention the entire xmas break.

 

[marcquelle]

since the start of the term i have changed my mine about 6 times (video-speech-critical responsex4) til i have come to my decision now, it came to me in a dream (really it did). Just o as some one said above and take a notebook around with you and write down random thoughts.

 

[metalheaven]

Yeah that's one thing I did (the notebook idea). Another thing that can be helpful for making your story feel real to the audience is to not just write down your random thoughts in your notebook, but also your observations of your surroundings at a given time. Try and notice things about the things around you - the aspects pertaining to your reality - and it'll come out in your writing.

 

[Elly!]

I'm doing EE2 this year too, and i keep changing my mind about what on earth i'm going to write about...i propbably should have thought of something by now so i was worried if its even worth going through with, but my EE2 teacher told our class about a student a few years back who completely changed ideas half way through and did really well, so it's reassuring - ish. so GOOD LUCK everyone!

 

[gibbo153]

our teacher said that a student is most convincing when writing about something that they have experience with. so maybe develop or expand on an experience you've had already =]

 

[taper-jean-girl]

You have to do something you love. That's all there is to it.
For me, art was my favourite thing to research and think about so I explored absolutely everything about it and in the end my story was so special to me because of it.

You have to pour everything into your journal, even if it's mindless doodles or even random words that hold some appeal, they do all help in some way. Whenever you feel blank or empty (which will undoubtedly happen constantly) you need to go back to your journal and remind yourself of everything that inspires you like that.

Forming some kind of intelligent concept and plotline is really daunting but if you just reduce the task down to doing what you are interested in or simply being in it for the love of words it'll all be a lot easier. Just don't think about the markers or whoever because if you're just in it to please yourself, your work will show that dedication and the marks will come.

Good luck! And don't get scared because at the end of it all (no matter how much stress or doubt you went through) you'll feel so glad you did it..

 

[snowconesyum]

Well if it reassures you at all, I don't think I ever fully came up with 'an idea' - really once it was written I still struggle to say what it was really about, in a literal-plot-sense, there really was no plot... random snippets of experiences really, and only once I started writing the Reflection Statement did I realise what I had been trying to get at the whole time.

I think the most important thing to base everything off is to understand what sort of short story you're trying to write - is it in a particular genre? marked by conventions? naturalist, pomo, historical, blahblah? what tone are you looking to write? quirky/fun (if so read jasper fforde!!! brilliant at that!), pensive, honest, angsty, witty, detached, warm... what?

cos i reckon that if you've got that, you know how you want it to sound, what effect you want it to have... then you kind of know what you want to do. or it at least makes the decision come a lot more easily.

also, something i really regret not doing... eng ext 2 is such a huge opportunity to just dive into any english theory that you've always been interested but never touched!

don't get too concerned over not having an idea if it gets late, just start writing and usually something will come of that that you really like.

 

[nrs1990]

I think the hardest part of coming up with an idea, for me, was the whole sense that it had to be good and literary -- that it had to be the sort of thing that English teachers would like, rather than the sort of thing that I enjoy writing. I remember at the beginning I was freaking out, and struggling to come up with something, and getting nowhere.

In the end, I went against my teacher's advice and did a fantasy major work, because that's what I'm into. Once I made that decision, everything seemed so much more fun and less frustrating.

I think the important thing is coming up with an idea that you feel passionate about, or that you think that you'd really enjoy writing. If you do that, you'll be happy to spend the hours it takes to create a good major work. Sure, listen to your teacher, and take in their advice, but also be willing to do what you're interested in doing because it is your major work.

I ended up finding a compromise with my teacher -- while it was still fantasy, she was cool with my concept, and I've ended up with a major work that I'm happy with. Remember, while you're trying to come up with the seed of your major work at the moment, it'll still grow, adapt and change as you write it. I'm probably one of the few who kept the same basic concept from start to end -- but my concept was quite open, and how I wrote it changed significantly throughout the year.

The main advice I have is to stick with what you're interested in -- what you love to write. Come up with an idea that you'd enjoy writing. The quality -- the literariness -- of your major work is something you can work on, but only if you've got something that you're gonna enjoy writing. Don't panic about making it perfect now, or that'll just paralyse you. That's something that can only come with time.

 

[accio.brain]

I think the hardest part of coming up with an idea, for me, was the whole sense that it had to be good and literary -- that it had to be the sort of thing that English teachers would like, rather than the sort of thing that I enjoy writing. I remember at the beginning I was freaking out, and struggling to come up with something, and getting nowhere.

that's exactly what it's like for me... =(

and have any of you guys heard others say not to do romance or similar type storylines? do you know why that is?

I've come up with several ideas but i keep changing them, i get sick of them so quickly and none of them are good enough!

 

[nrs1990]

that's exactly what it's like for me... =(

and have any of you guys heard others say not to do romance or similar type storylines? do you know why that is?

I've come up with several ideas but i keep changing them, i get sick of them so quickly and none of them are good enough!

I got told not to do fantasy, so I guess all teachers have a genre they don't like. I've seen some well done romance major works (I'm pretty sure I came across one that got a 50 once, though I never read it in full, so I'm not sure). I think the genre itself is less important than what you do with it. If you do want to do a romance, perhaps try asking your teacher why he/she doesn't the genre's a good idea, whether it's something specific, because if it is, maybe it's possible to work around it.

 

[sixdemondag]

i need some ideas! my teacher said "remember, allegory, embellish". go from a memory, but i have no life. I'm absolutely shitting myself over this.

 

[alcalder]

Fantasy is hard to do, because you have to build a whole, believable world is such a short space. But if you do fantasy you will find that what you submit will be only a small percentage of the writing you need to do in order to get your new world in your head.

But, certainly, people have preferences for genres. If you teacher is not a sci-fi or fantasy fan, they will not have the know how or ability to help you with your work. But, if you want to go in that direction, the NSW Writer's centre has some great courses to help!

In terms of ideas, if you are like me and have very vivid dreams, then you can work with those. As soon as you wake up, write down any and every detail you can remember. Then remember, allegory and embellish (and get out into the world later and uild some memories ).

 

[L]

take the script from a sampsons episode

 

[alcalder]

And that is not blatant plagerism how???

True, there is nothing new under the sun, but you have to at least attempt to be original.

 

[lullaby.0716]

Yeah that's one thing I did (the notebook idea). Another thing that can be helpful for making your story feel real to the audience is to not just write down your random thoughts in your notebook, but also your observations of your surroundings at a given time. Try and notice things about the things around you - the aspects pertaining to your reality - and it'll come out in your writing.

That's a pretty useful thing to do, actually.
Thoughts generally come to me when I'm travelling somewhere or having a shower (which is pretty annoying as I need to remember them till I get out the shower) lol.

Oh, and pick several books/films of your interest to read. You always get ideas from other's works.