Last week, I had dinner with a friend of a friend who wanted to write but didn’t know how to start. Among the things we talked about was starting with the “what if…”
What if your head was a literal watermelon?
What if a girl with severe social phobia was forced to run for class president?
What if every time someone said “barge” the streets realigned?
And then from that what if – be it a character problem or a world building detail – you start filling out the bones.
Who wanted to turn your head into a melon and why?
How will the girl either get out of running – or win the election?
How would the world be different if maps were good for no more than a few minutes?
My own stories have started with either a character speaking to me, like Effie, or a big what if:
The Engine Driver – What if emotions were dictated by music?
Hot Ticket – What if “cool points” weren’t figurative? How would that change the social hierarchy?
Some of my works-in-progress also started from “what if…”
Pudding Boy started with a sketch and a what if.
Luminary with a quote from Walter Benjamin and a what if.
How have you used the big “what if?”
I used “what if” a beauty queen was burned? Great post!