I have a coffee cup that has “I Write. What’s Your Superpower?” written on the side. It may seem a bit smug and self-important at first glance, but fiction writers DO have a particular superpower. We can create new worlds, imaginary beings, events that might never happen in real life, and circumstances that would make life more interesting if they ever did happen.
That’s not to say that others in different professions or hobbies don’t possess superpowers of their own, because they most certainly do. If they can do something that most of the population cannot, I would call that a superpower. For instance, if you’re a mathematician, you can do something that a majority of people can’t. Same as if you’re a teacher, or an airplane pilot, or a chiropractor.
But back to writing. How do fiction authors create the worlds and people and circumstances in their stories?
They ask “what if…”
I’ll give you an example from my own writing. Years ago, I wrote a story about two best friends who grew up on opposite sides of the tracks. Everything started off well, but halfway through the story, I got stuck. My pea brain couldn’t come up with a good scenario to finish. In desperation, I finally asked myself, what if one of them had an older brother who joined the army, and then was killed in a fiery helicopter crash? And what if the younger brother became bitter and mad at the world because of it?
With all that in mind, the story took off again. I continued to ask “what if…” at nearly every paragraph. I won’t tell you how the story ends, because you might want to read it someday…or not…but let’s just say everything flowed together well enough for me to feel enough confidence to submit it to Huffingtonpost.com, and they published it.
All that happed because I asked “what if…”
“If.” The middle word in life. (Yes, I know that line was in “Apocalypse Now” originally, and yes, I stole it. But I stole it fair and square.)
So, writers of fiction, keep asking “what if…” If one scenario you dream up doesn’t work well, ask “what if…” about another. And another. And then another.
For instance, what if there was a company that approached book publishing from an entirely different perspective than all other publishing companies? And what if that company had the equivalent of a “signing class” of new authors, like a college football team? And what if each group of new writers became part of an even larger group of writers who supported and encouraged each other to better hone their superpower? Oh, and what if…
Okay, I’d better stop. This is sounding way too far-fetched. Nobody would ever believe it.
And if you’d like to know how my little short story ends, Google “The Deal” by Benny Sims.