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Erika Wassall, the Jersey Farm Scribe here with…

Alternative Endings… for someone else!

One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever received as a writer was so simple.

Write every day.

Every. Single. Day.

It’s not an easy feat. Even if you don’t count Sundays, because… well honestly, because it’s just a good excuse to have a day off… that’s still a LOT of writing.

Whether I’m freelance writing for a catalog or magazine, polishing up a short story, working on a manuscript or even just writing out a letter to a friend, I make every effort to put the pen to paper every day.

And yup, you read that correctly. I write letters to friends. Like actual on paper letters. Stamp. Mailbox. The whole bit. LOL. And I think it counts. It’s writing! It’s stretching and exercising those creative muscles.

So today I thought I’d tell you about my favorite creative exercise that I go to on those days when I don’t have a deadline. Or maybe I only have 20 minutes, and I need to find something I can dive into quickly and easily that will get the creative goo in my mind bubbling. (I see it as a sort of neon blue slime in a cauldron)

Re-write Someone Else’s Work!!

Have you ever watched a movie or TV show and find yourself devastatingly disappointed? They had such a great idea, a really unique and intriguing concept, but they just didn’t come through like you thought they would. And you had SUCH high hopes.

Here’s your chance to fix it!

There’s no need for an explanation or backstory. All that work has already been done for you. All you need to do is jump in on the “good parts”. Re-write the horrible romantic scene from your favorite chick-flick. Give that psychological thriller a twist that you DIDN’T see coming. Write an ending for a Steven King novel that you thought fell flat.

It opens up a lot of doors and can be a really fun exercise. Plus, when I’m watching something and the end really disappoints me, I can tuck it away to fix later that week.

Anyone else watch the sitcom How I Met Your Mother? The series ended a few months ago. Loved the show. Hated the ending. So I decided to fix it.

For those who know the show: in my ending, Robin and Barney ended up secretly together. Not “dating” so much. But let’s just say more than friends. This gave me a chance to play with elaborate-scheme concepts and their dynamic personalities without what I saw as the show’s weak effort at sudden “deep realizations”.

Lilly and Marshall: Happy ever after. You just don’t mess with some things.

And Ted? Ted and their mother got divorced and he became a very successful architect. Single. And happy. His big character change became realizing that not everyone has to be in love to be happy!!!

And in all honesty, to me… that’s how it happened. So instead of it ending with me rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I was able to get the bad taste out of my mouth and settle into an ending that mades me both laugh and smile.

My favorite thing about this exercise is that my brain starts to automatically do it when I watch TV. I’ll be sitting on the couch, and I’ll say to myself… ech… that scene could have been better! And instead of just criticizing it, I immediately start daydreaming about how I could make it better.

It makes me less lazy!

Instead of being disappointed, I get creative! Here’s some other movies or TV shows that I’ve created alternative scenes or endings to:

LOST

The Cell

Vanilla Sky

The Little Mermaid – (my favorite character was Ursula. So she wins in my version)

Got any endings you think you could do better, or scenes that really left you wanting more? Scribble down some notes when you’re watching. And then give the exercise a try sometime when you’re stuck or looking for something different to do.

Did reading this make you think of an ending that’s always disappointed you? Let us know what it is! It’s always fun to hear what other people are thinking, and helps us spark our own ideas.

The creativity and written word this can inspire can indirectly breathe life into your manuscripts. And you know how strongly I believe that they are worth it!

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Erika Wassall is a writer, a farmer and a liver of life. She is a member of SCBWI and a proud Mad Scientist, bringing science experiments right into children’s classrooms, and hearts. She has a small farm in New Jersey with sheep, chickens, pigs and vegetables. Check out her new website at www.TheJerseyFarmScribe.com where as a first generation farmer, she often takes the long way, learning the tricks of the trade on The Farm. On her website is also The Shop page with tips and a free Q/A from her husband’s mechanic shop, and The Writer page where she shares stories, experiences and characters from the heart. Follow her on Twitter at @NJFarmScribe. She’d love to hear from you!

Thank you Erika for another great post. Lauren Oliver says she did this for many books and it helped her improve her writing skills. It is referred to as Fan Fiction. I know there have been a lot of books I threw down in disgust after reading their unsatisfying ending.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

It's becoming somewhat of an obsession but one in which Joe McKenna and his friends would most likely approve.

Added some more dialogue to "Old Soldiers" play today, although the ending is still up in the air. Wondering if it will ever have any solid substance.

"Really, Eleanor - we deserve better than this," Joe would comment upon my somewhat limited progress. "How much longer do we have to wait. It's been almost four years, now."

It's not for lack of trying. During sleepless nights, Joe and his friends plus the other characters pop in to say hello. Too bad that can't offer advice.

I'm fortunate to be a visual writer and see my words actually come to life and play out in the various scenes. Problems arise when I re-read the existing story line and the realization that something is awry. For example, my dilemma today was whether or not it's logical for a young character to be a great grandson and how old should he be? Then there is the issue of which war Joe and his friends were in.

This is followed by the dreaded 2-R's - Re-write and a Re-thinking - after which ennui sets in accompanied by self-doubt as to whether it will ever be finished. The problem is that I can't let it go for whatever reason. In writing my two other full plays that took approximately a year and-a-half to two years to complete, they seemed to write themselves. The two are so familiar to me that I can quote lines and passages from both.

One of my biggest concerns as expressed on numerous occasions that may be a contributing factor to the delay, is using the format for radio. The issue of having sufficient sound effects is always there. The dialogue is strong and if it was performed on stage would offer an interesting piece of theatre. However, my main objective is, as it always has been, to finish the play once and for all. And therein lays the problem.

I’m writing a picture book that I know should work. But it’s not.

Consider the Picture Book Audience

Part of the problem with this story is that it’s set in a commercial kitchen and I have a kid who wants to cook. Critiquers tell me that the writing is great, the kid is great, but they wonder about that kid in a commercial kitchen.

Wouldn’t it violate child labor laws?
Wouldn’t the kid be in danger of getting burned?
Would a kid even WANT to be a cook? Why?
How old is this kid anyway?
Why is the kid even in this restaurant, so he gets hooked on cooking? Maybe, it’s his uncle’s restaurant and his parents work and he has to go over there after school and study.

ARGH! No!

Obviously, the adult audience for this story doesn’t connect. What about the kid audience?

At nine or ten, I was baking birthday cakes — from scratch — for my six brothers and sisters. One of the few dissenters in the group of critiquers says that her kids LOVE to make her coffee (Obviously, she lives in the great NW.) It just seems natural to me that a kid would want to cook! I’m convinced the story will work, if I can get around the adult objections.

And I do understand the objections. And I will address the objections. But it will mean starting from scratch and reconsidering both audiences for picture books, the adult and the child.

Research, then Revise

I decided to research. I’ve read through How I Learned to Cook, edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan. This fascinating book is first-person accounts from some of the world’s greatest chefs on how they fell in love with cooking as a way of life.

Many of the accounts are about a chef’s young adult years, or about some mistake s/he made during chef school or at a first job. But a couple were about falling in love with food and cooking at an early age. I’m also doing free-writes about why I liked cooking as a nine year old. And I’m reaffirming what is the heart of the story for me, remembering why I wanted to write this story.

A new draft will come. And it will be better.

Post from: Revision Notes Revise Your Novel! Copyright 2009. Darcy Pattison. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. The Dual Audience for Picture Books
2. Audience
3. Audience