As a writer, coming across writing games and understanding their worth can be hard. What is just as hard is knowing how to get your writing unstuck. So, if you’re feeling like you’ve hit a brick wall, this is a blog for you. In this blog, I’m going to break down how writing games can get you unstuck. Ready? Let’s go!
1. Ask Questions
Sometimes our stories can feel a little wishy washy. We might be skirting the plot or the story and describing round it. Yes, this means no “fighting their demons”! So, how can writing games help? There are a few I like to choose from when I feel a little stuck. One that’s more popular is asking why or because.
If you ask why or because of your story points, it pushes you to delve deeper into your story. You can ask the question as many times as you like. You might start with something like “Paddy pulls a team of his buddies together”. Asking questions why or finding reasons because forces you to question the idea. Who knows? You might even find the reason you want to write this idea in the first place.
2. Observation
Some writing games may ask you to think about your characters. Understanding as much as you can about them might just surprise you as to what they can bring to the table. I mean, investigating where a character learnt a skill could help resolve a plot problem of how they get out the mess they’re in.
Sometimes, games on character may ask you to people watch. Sit and watch people pass by. Make up stories for them. Being able to come up with a believable background means you’re able to feed more into making those characters three dimensional. Flat characters won’t convince anyone or make your readers interested in their journey.
3. Set Dressing
Knowing the location your story is set in helps build a picture. Using writing games that ask you to describe the environment allows you to play with character. In some books, the location becomes a character itself. Knowing how your characters interact with that space and why allows your stories to be deeper and more authentic.
There may be locations where characters behave differently from experiences they’ve had or because they’re having to hide something. Understanding what the space looks like and what kind of atmosphere it creates can deepen your story too. A more open space won’t bring an oppressive air to where your characters are like a dark, dank and cramped space will.
4. Structure Swap
If you have an order things need to happen, playing games with moving the order around can unlock your story. Maybe you have points that don’t need to be quite so linear. Having overlapping stories from different points of view can change the order of things.
If you use postits or revision cards, you can write out the actions you want to happen and see what the flow is like if you change the order. Maybe a character does something in the future and it sends a ripple back in time and changes the events somehow. Being able to play to make your story stronger might even help your story stand out for the right reasons when the pieces lock together.
Being able to use writing games to play and unlock your stories can give you a break from the sometimes intense expectation to write a certain way. Playing with questions, characters and locations and structure might just unlock the creative flow that was caught in knots. Have a play. Who knows? You might just make your story even stronger than before.
Happy writing!