Yeah, it happens to the best of us. Life gets in the way and your brain is taken in another direction and before you know it, it’s been days or weeks since you last looked at that book you’re trying to write. You’ve forgotten little details. What eye color did you give your hero? What town was your heroine born in? Perhaps you need to jumpstart your creative mojo, and that's what this series is designed for. Not to explain writer's block, but to help you move in a different direction.
Whether or not you watch The Walking Dead, one aspect that makes it work is that there is no stable environment for the "heroes". The survivors constantly have to move, thus allowing for different types of storytelling.
Think of some of the best selling books out there...Harry Potter for instance. Each book has Harry on a quest, going to someplace. Or The Chronicles of Narnia. Or The Hunger Games. One theme of these is the fact that "home" isn't necessarily the safest place. The hero or heroine have to navigate through a world they don't know in order to survive.
Perhaps take your own hero/heroine out of his or her comfort zone and thrust them into a situation that has them redefining the word "safe".
#26 A House is Not a Home
There is no sanctuary. Things are deeply messed up, and have been for quite some time.
>Imagine one of your hero's allies is lying. What is the lie and how could the hero
> Empty houses burn faster. How can you destroy your hero's initial setting or situation, preventing him from returning?
> Perhaps your hero finds a mid-story safe haven - a place for relationships of relative security. Brainstorm three dark secrets she could discover about it.
On the surface, everything seems normal. But look a little closer, and you realize this is an illusion.
Is your hero's ordinary life a lie? And if so, is she an unwitting dupe (the naive daughter) or complicit in the fabrication (the sleeper spy)?
What does "home" mean to your hero? Is it a sanctuary or a prison? Is it a location or a relationship? Most heroes are either running to or from home.
Thank you so much for visiting every week on this series! It was a joy to blog about it every week. Remember...the first step of writing is not a finished product. It's like building a house, you have to build the foudation first before adding the walls. Happy writing!
***John August designed these cards to help writers fix plot holes, spice up stock characters and
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