And then I realized “Something or Nothing?” could work for my writing—and that maybe it can work for you. So today, I shall illustrate this exercise using zombies because really, what’s more fun than zombies? (Except maybe my teams winning.)
PREMISE: Is it Different Enough?
You have come up with a brilliant premise: Zombie invasion! The world is under siege, the zombie virus spreading, and your protagonist is going to save the day!
But now you must ask yourself if your zombie concept stands out, if there is something in your idea that differentiates it from all the other thousands of zombie invasion stories out there.
If you can somehow get Brad Pitt to star in your story, you may have something. But as your idea stands now, you have nothing. Either move on to the next idea, or consider another element. Like your characters.
CHARACTERS: Do You Have a Unique Character or Characters?
Your zombies are pouring over the wall and your protagonist has just stepped into the scene and it’s…Bob Smith, the bookish, reference librarian. And hold on! He’s brought along his friend, Sarah, the spunky girl who loves to read, with an imagination big as all outdoors! This team of unlikely heroes will save the day!
Or not. It’s true that unlikely heroes can be interesting. But the characters themselves must be interesting, and you must capture their unique voice. Readers want more than stereotypical, cardboard cutouts that you’ve propped up trying to do the job of carrying the story.
Think Johnny Depp, sashaying about in an outlandish piratical get-up, chasing the undead. He’s something quite different. But if your characters are ho-hum, you have nothing. Move on to the next idea or try the next element.
SETTING: Is It Out of the Ordinary?
Watch out! Your zombies are running amok in the…suburbs.
The suburbs? Really? That’s not saying that you can’t take an ordinary setting and use it; Stephen King is the master of this technique. But if you want your setting to be something, you have to think of it as a character in your story. Give it special significance to the plot, like a Civil War zombie infestation (Though you may still end up with nothing.) Time to move on again.
TWIST: Do You Have a Surprising Element?
So, you have zombies invading a suburban neighborhood. Your protagonist is a regular Joe, an unlikely hero, who runs down to the local bar whereupon he makes his stand.
It would appear that you have come up with a big fat nothing of a story. But wait! What if you add humor, dry, British wit, in the most unexpected places? Then you might have something. Specifically, you have Shaun of the Dead, which just happens to be one of my favorite zombie movies, when the comedic twist makes all the difference between something or nothing.
So that’s it, class. Have a little fun with “Something or Nothing?” the next time you start to write a story and go from boring to brilliant!
~ Cathy C. Hall (Shout out to the Atlanta Braves!)
