What if…

Post date: Feb 2, 2018 12:42:51 AM

What if…

“What if”, it is a fantastic question! It helps you to dig deeper and imagine beyond the normal. Nobody likes normal, especially in stories.

Let’s take the story from Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer. And let’s take it further and ask, what if?

If you recollect Tom Sawyer was assigned the task as a punishment to white wash the fence. Tom was able to manipulate other kids into white washing the fence for him.

Ask some simple questions about this whitewashing event:

Why whitewash the fence? Perhaps it was to cover up some graffiti. If so, what graffiti were they covering up? Who wrote the graffiti? What was written or drawn? Was it an explicative? Was it something derogatory? Was it a term that one did not say in polite society? Was it a political statement? Was it the N word?

When you mull over those possibilities it takes that one portion of the story and extends it into areas unexplored.

That is the mark, that depth and even deeper that your mind needs to extend to, to project beyond the norm, the rational, what may distinguish your story above the normal imagination.

Performing “exercises” like this for your brain is great. It uses your imagination, you creative ability and your brain in ways that it formerly was not used.

Extending and stretching and forming strong imaginative muscles is essential for us, Dear Readers and Dear Writers.