We do a lot of things every day. Some we want to do, others not so much. Whatever the activity, there is potential for things to not go as we planned.
The Activity
Think about an activity you do that has the potential for things to spiral out of control. This could be driving to work, dealing with customers, picking up your kids from school, etc. We do plenty of things every day on auto-pilot, so these activities are a good place to start.
The Exercise
Picked an activity? Great. Now, write a list of every possible situation or scenario that could go wrong while doing this particular task. It can be a minor inconvenience or one that’s exponentially catastrophic. No matter what it is, write it down.
If you have had bad experiences in that situation that you can utilize, that’s even better.
Once you have a reasonably long list, pick out the ones that could be placed in order of escalation from minor to major. Now you have a rough outline to work with.
Create a short story using the scenario and these escalating elements. It can be comedic, it can be tragic, and it can be hyper-realistic. Whatever tone you want to use, take advantage of your list of bad things that could happen and have fun with it. If you come up with new things that can go wrong as you write, feel free to add them!
The Example
So, I drive on the 405 in L.A. every day to work. There is potential for many things to go wrong in this location. If I chose this as my activity – Driving to Work on the 405 – I could come up with some things that could go wrong based on my own real-life experiences:
- Car breaks down in traffic during heatwave
- Car’s transmission dies in traffic
- Hay truck on fire shuts down freeway
- President Obama leaves LAX, freeway closes
- Car chase
- Multiple lanes closed during afternoon for cleaning
- Roadwork
- Car accident – three cars or more
- Car fire
- Multiple cars on fire
- Plane does emergency landing on freeway
- Big rig tips over
- Rock smashes windshield
Next, I would take the list and figure out a way to incorporate as many as possible into a short story.
Final Thoughts
When we get stuck as writers, it’s important to brainstorm many ideas to help our characters get into or out of challenging situations. This can help keep your writing interesting and keep your reader engaged and interested.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
