Calling Down Lightning - It Worked!

[Arathe]

Calling down lightning tends to give me a lot of trouble, if only because my Me is a chatterbox like none other. I have a hard time hearing the muse because the left side of my brain never shuts up!

After a bit of waffling I decided that I didn't need any cool new ideas right now, since I have a hard enough time sticking to one project as it is without deliberately tempting myself into something new. I still wanted to participate in this part of the walkthrough though, so I decided to try calling down lightning for an issue that's been plaguing me on my current project, my antagonist. All I'd managed to come up with so far was some nebulous sort of bad for the sake of being bad kinda dude, and he was seriously lame.

So I cracked open a notebook, scribbled down the title and put -Antagonist?- beside it.

I wandered off for a while; did some laundry, played games for a few hours, took a shower.

In the middle of my shower, I got my first prod.

Ghosts?

Now, I wasn't sure if this was my left brain pitching me ideas on the sly, because I was thinking about the story (just not my antagonist), and ghosts do feature. But I decided to roll with it because hey, left brained or not, it was the first thing I'd gotten.

So I said "Maybe. What about them?"

A minute or two passed.

Zombies?

No. Not for the antagonist.

A few more minutes went by.

What about ghosts that...

And then I had this strange feeling, like trying to remember something you know you know. Like a word that's escaped you, or what you had for lunch. And then, BAM!

Ghosts can sense Chase's latent powers as a necromancer, and even if he isn't aware of them, they are very aware of him. One of them orchestrates his meeting with Remiel, thereby forcing Chase into a situation where he must learn to use his powers. Abilities unlocked, Chase becomes aware of the ghosts around him, and is subsequently tricked into bringing this very nasty individual back to life. Bad news for everyone.

First prod to synthesis in about five minutes. I don't have all of it yet, but this has so much potential and is worlds away from the direction I was going before. I couldn't stop grinning, it was awesome!

Even better, my Muse is already pitching me ideas about the who and why of the big bad (dubbed The Dollmaker for now).

I haven't been this excited in ages, and it's an amazing feeling.

[Irionuib]

That's so cool! I never considered using calling down lightning for aspects of stories I'm already working on. Wow. My Me is so completely flabbergasted (in a good way) that words really aren't working for me right now, but my Muse is definitely cheering you on! Way to go!

[Lynette]

Yay!

That is very cool. And it sounds like an amazing antagonist.
Keep it up!

[Arette]

Congrats on the lightning! That is an awesome story seed you got. I'd love to read it.

[Cat-Gerlach]

Congrats. That's such an inspiring story. I think, using lightning for parts of a story is a very inventive way to use this technique. I'll definitely try it when I'm stuck again.

[FeliciaFredlund]

Cool! I love lightning and it sounds like you got an awesome one.

And a cool way of using lightning, I'll see if I won't try that later.

[Arathe]

Thanks guys!

Holly mentioned in the walkthrough that you could use the technique for generating ideas for an already existing story (I think? Unless I'm crazy), and it certainly worked for me! I'll definitely be trying again the next time I get stuck. Because I will definitely get stuck again.

Man, I'm still totally jazzed. I loved my characters and their personal journeys, I had a pretty cool world shaping up, but without an antagonist I had no overarching storyline. It feels like the whole thing has been derailed for ages and I just got it back on track.

Of course, now my standalone won't be so standalone since the book is going to be all about getting the bad guy back in the action, and that would be a silly place to stop. But that's a worry for later.

[Irionuib]

...Holly mentioned in the walkthrough that you could use the technique for generating ideas for an already existing story (I think? Unless I'm crazy), and it certainly worked for me! I'll definitely be trying again the next time I get stuck. Because I will definitely get stuck again. ...

Yep, it's there in the walkthrough. I just checked. Silly me for not noticing before!

[jollygreen23]

Wow, that's awesome! And inspiring. Makes me want to run and grab a few ideas myself.

[Holly-Think]

In the middle of my shower, I got my first prod.

What IS it about showers? They're like the ATM of ideas for me. Stand in warm water. Close eyes. ZAAAaaap! Your idea experience sounds like a repeat of a lightning bolt I got just yesterday.

And then I had this strange feeling, like trying to remember something you know you know. Like a word that's escaped you, or what you had for lunch. And then, BAM!

Ghosts can sense Chase's latent powers as a necromancer, and even if he isn't aware of them, they are very aware of him. One of them orchestrates his meeting with Remiel, thereby forcing Chase into a situation where he must learn to use his powers. Abilities unlocked, Chase becomes aware of the ghosts around him, and is subsequently tricked into bringing this very nasty individual back to life. Bad news for everyone.

First prod to synthesis in about five minutes. I don't have all of it yet, but this has so much potential and is worlds away from the direction I was going before. I couldn't stop grinning, it was awesome!

You're right. That is as AWESOME idea. Huge congratulations.

Even better, my Muse is already pitching me ideas about the who and why of the big bad (dubbed The Dollmaker for now).

I haven't been this excited in ages, and it's an amazing feeling.

Cool. So very, very cool.

[BklynWriter]

That is soo cool.

Maybe I need to take a nice long shower when I get home, see if that makes my muse relax.

[andtheCreativist]

Badabing badaBam!
That's what I call a happy ending's beginning!