Writing - outside the box

Need ideas for thinking outside the box in order to jumpstart that book? Try these tips:

Open the box and dump everything out. In other words, regroup. You have a bunch of great ideas but they’re all jumbled inside the box. Get them out and sort them, so you can see clearly what you have.

Decorate the box. See how many ways you can change the box to look  like something else. Perhaps you’re stuck with a dull setting. Change the location to add color, interest, and new ways of thinking about the idea. What would Gone with th Wind be like set in Alaska?

Flatten the box. Let the ideas run around wild and free. See which ones stick around, and which ones run off to “find” themselves.” When there are no limitations, ideas tend to multiply like rabbits.

Shake up the box. Put a snake in there and see what happens. Or put a new idea in there and see what happens. Then shake the box and  find out what you’ve got.

Kick the box. Not the bucket, just the box. Does the box go flying away—and good riddance to it? Does the box get a big hole in it that needs fixing? Is the box filled with lead weights that hurt your toe? Does the box like being kicked and keeps coming back for more? The box is a metaphor for ideas, in case that hasn’t kicked you in the head yet.

Demolish the box. Go ahead. Jump on it. Slam it. Run it over with your car. Who needs a box anyway? Do you think J.K. Rowlings had a box where she found Harry Potter? Did Stephanie Meyers keep Edward and Bella in a box? Did Amada Hocking write in a box? Did E.L James hide things away in her box? (That didn’t come out the way I intended…)

Do as Dr. Seuss says, since he’s the expert on all things that rhyme with box -- you never know what you'll find inside:

             Thoughts in box, with blocks, and locks, sir,

              Unlock box, our game is done, sir.

Comments

[Ann]

All really great ideas, Penny. One more: Curl up in the box for a nap and see if anything useful rises up from your unconscious in dreams. Sometimes dreams will suggest ways to move forward. :-)

[rita lakin]

Delightful, as usual
Loved the DL James innuendo. Someone had to box her in some way.

[Michael A. Black]

Gone With the Wind set in Alaska? I could see it. At the end Rhett could say, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. It's too cold."