A magic Matrix for when you're stuck in a story? #writingtools #fiction

Hello writers! What do you do when you're stuck? Where do you get your inspiration? How do you come up with a story? How do you get a character to be a 'real' person?

Do not despair! There might be an easy solution. (Yeah, right!) It won't fix anything, it might only create a mess. (But chaos is good for invoking creativity, right?) At least it will get you out of the box, a box also known as writer's block... (not to be confused with the amazing @thewritersblock!) Okay, well, at least it is a lot of fun, that I can assure you.

The only thing you need, is...

The Matrix

Yes, not the actual Matrix movie, but a matrix, a spreadsheet, that let's you list random things. Best to fill it out without thinking too much! Six character names, four locations you know well, eight of your current obsessions (yes, only eight, unfortunately), etc. But also, you name four books you recently read and liked, and you name one thing you liked about them (style / setting / POV / genre / etc).

And once you're done filling it out (will take you less than five minutes, I promise), you throw a die, use a number generator, whatever. And for each column you get a result. Combine those results and you have one full character, with hopes and dreams, hobbies and some weird obsession. (My Claire was living in New York, a babysitter whose biggest problem in life was that tarantula that was sitting on the road while she was driving during a holiday somewhere in Nevada, who has this crazy skill of knowing random historical facts, but is very worried about being strange, and who is simply obsessed with whiskey sour.)

This already definitely leads to a vignette, a short something that is happening to this person. When in walks person 2 (throw those die again, please!), his name is Fynn, a receptionist who feels completely misunderstood, who is constantly reading but is worried about meaninglessness, and is obsessed with making lists...

Well, you get the point, probably?

Idea by Scarlett Thomas

So I got this matrix from Scarlett Thomas, who has written her quite fantastical and fictional books by using this method. She explains using matrixes and writing in general in her book, which is the result of many years of teaching fiction writing to students: Monkeys with Typewriters. I recently followed an interesting Twitter-experiment she organised: a creative writing course on Twitter - yes, that social media thingy. Once a week we would meet for one hour, with people from all around the world, to discuss the homework she gave (she made us read, write, think, etc). We didn't keep it up long, but it was very interesting. Scarlett Thomas, btw, is one of my favorite authors - go read her 'The End of Mr Y'!

Does it work?

Go see for yourself. (Here is the link to the Matrix by Scarlett Thomas.) I found it very enlightening to take things that I might find rather mundane, and use them as an interesting fact. Another advantage is that it makes you write about what you know. Not to say this is always necessary. But especially for people just starting out, or being stuck, or not getting it quite right - why not write about something you know? Follow your passions, write about what experience in life you have. It makes for an authentic feeling. Of course not every character is you or even resembles you, but there will be a part of you in them, no matter whether it's the greatest villain or the most beautiful princess.

As Nietzsche said, all writing is autobiographical. Well, if that is true, than this Matrix will be able to bring out more of you, more random things you might not consider important enough, and use them to bring your characters alive. In combinations you would probably otherwise never had thought of.

And of course you can add new columns as you please. For this week's write prompt of the Write Club (see for info this post by @jayna) I'm going to add a column of 'things I value more than my own life', or perhaps a column of 'most expensive gifts I've ever gotten'...

The possibilities are endless.
And isn't that what writing is all about?

Of course, this is only one step in the whole writing process. If you are interested to learn more, and learn with and from other writers here at Steemit, I suggest you head over to @thewritersblock on Discord!

Read more: About why I'm crazy to write - Small Steps, my latest short story in response to an Art Prompt - on writing philosophy and hardcore philosophy on Steemit

Photo Credit: Sharon Drummond Flickr via Compfight cc.