IZIZA Publishing

Here is an interesting innovative thinking concept that you can use to enrich your character...

Exercise – Animal association.

Take a wild animal of you choice and follow the steps below:

[*]Draw the animal of your choice
[*]Highlight specific characteristics about this animal (at least eight). These characteristics don’t all have to be physical.
[*]Your character is either a teenager or a grownup (you decide). Innovate your chosen main character by forcing your animal characteristics onto this person. It may not always be physical and can also be emotional, psychological, etc.

Innovative thinking in your writing..

Ask “What if”?

Can you propose a hypothetical situation and then imagine what the implications could be. “What if” the angels sprinkle stardust over your house every night in winter? What would happen to you? What if your antagonist manufactured a new dog food containing non-digestible additives that contaminate the world? What if….?

Innovation means to start or make something new … for the first time.

“TWEAKING” IS THE BROTHER OF INNOVATION.

Let’s have some fun with SCAMPER and innovate a story:

Substitute something
Combine it with something else
Adapt something to it
Modify or Magnify it
Put it to another use
Eliminate or minify something
Reverse or Rearrange it

Your story is about the journeys of a butterfly - for the kids, this can be a real butterfly and for the grownups it could be a lady that is a true butterfly. However, you decide… You have written the first two chapters but now you have writers block and need some help…. You pick a random word … ASHES… come up with ideas by using this word either as a theme or concept to continue your story…

Tips to help you with this exercise:
-Think of various things associated with the chosen word. Example - the selected word is “bottle”. What are the characteristics of the word “bottle”? What does a bottle do? It contains. What can you do with a bottle? Cork it/empty it/fill it. Bottles can have a label, are made of glass or plastic.
-What immediate thoughts do you have when you hear the word ASHES?
-Can you come up with the attributes or characteristics of ASHES?
-Is there a theme associated with the word ASHES?
-What can you do with the concept of ASHES?
-Can you come up with any philosophical ideas associated with ASHES?
-Link any of the above to your butterfly story….

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Did you know that they found approximately 3600 notebooks with ideas in Thomas Edison's house?

Try this excercise:

History books are loaded with ideas that can be
combined with the present or the future.

History is rich with interesting analogies that can be
creatively moulded into new and unusual stories.

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Exercise: Find an extraordinary event of the past and extract ideas from it (Group), then combine it with a present or future thought or something that you are passionate about (Individual).