I’m not completely sure where ideas come from but I’ve learned that one of the fastest and most reliable ways of generating lots of them is to get into the habit of asking ‘what if?’ as often as possible. This simple question is a surefire generator of story scenarios. A lot of my stories—especially those in the Just series—are developed by asking a series of what-if questions, as the following examples show.
‘Are we there yet?’ (Just Annoying!)
WHAT IF your parents threatened to stop the car and make you get out and walk home if you didn’t stop being annoying, and WHAT IF you didn’t stop being annoying and they really did stop the car and made you get out in the middle of nowhere and then drove away? And then WHAT IF a bikie picked you up and rode after your parents to try to catch up with them but they didn’t stop because they thought they were being chased by a mad bikie and then WHAT IF you tried to jump from the speeding bike onto your parents’ car?
What if your parents made you get out of the car and then drove away?
‘Mudmen’ (Just Crazy!)
WHAT IF you got locked out of the house with your dad and you were both in the nude? And then WHAT IF you both covered yourselves in mud and ran through the neighbourhood to get to your dad’s office to retrieve the spare house key? And then WHAT IF it started to rain and all the mud washed off? And then WHAT IF your dad’s boss and his wife saw you?
What if you got locked out of the house and you were naked?
‘Just nude!’ (Just Doomed!)
WHAT IF for your next family holiday your dad accidentally booked you all into a nudist resort? And then WHAT IF your family all decided to stay and started taking their clothes off right in the reception area? And then WHAT IF you ran out of reception with your clothes on and were chased by a whole lot of angry nude people?
What if your dad accidentally booked a family holiday at a nudist resort?
Terry imagines a WHAT IF scenario in The 13-Storey Treehouse.
TRY THIS
Create your own WHAT IF story outline
Fill in the blanks of the following WHAT IF outline. You can use one of the ‘What if?’ scenarios below or come up with one of your own. Maybe you’ll get a scenario or an idea that you can use as the basis for a story or cartoon like the one on the previous page. Or maybe you’ll just have a bit of fun. Either way you’ll get invaluable practice with the what-iffing technique.
• What if you discovered that your parents were zombies?
• What if storms could come inside and into your bedroom?
• What if you woke up and found yourself transformed into a giant stick insect?
• What if you accidentally un-invented gravity in your science class?
WHAT IF_______________________________________________
and then WHAT IF_______________________________________________
and then WHAT IF_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________?