SCAMPER Writing Outside of the Box

 Introduction

It’s been said many times that there are no new stories, especially in the romance genre. I strongly disagree, because this is where creativity comes in. One of the best creative skills you can develop is the art of stealing ideas. Yep, you heard me right. I am a confessed thief and I encourage others to be also.

We all have a debt to the writers who have come before us. As the saying goes, we stand on the backs of giants in our efforts to get published. But there is a huge difference between copying or borrowing and outright stealing, and there is a definite art and ethical obligation to stealing. 

When you copy or borrow from another author’s work, you infringe upon the copyright. You plagiarize. If the idea is borrowed, if it still looks like the original, then it still belongs to the original author. However, if you steal from more than one source, it’s more like research and is the first step to making the ideas your own.

Here’s where the art and the ethics come in! If you take inspiration from another, have the integrity, courage and courtesy to develop the idea, to invest in it, to reinvent it, to make it more than it was. In the business world, it's called "best practices benchmarking." It's a formalized method of identifying successful tactics and strategies used by other companies and (and this is an important "and") modifying them to best suit your needs. 

To put it in the simplest of terms, Steal the best and leave the rest. Stealing the really great ideas, twisting them, bending and breaking and reassembling them, then applying your own style and experience and heart is called writing outside the box.

I’d been struggling to create a synopsis for my second book, YOURS IN BLACK LACE, and not getting very far. I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated when it hit me. (And didn’t I feel stupid for not figuring it out sooner). I’m not a linear thinker. Trying to act like one was making me crazy. It just isn’t possible for me to sit down and create a plot from start to finish so I decided to stop trying.

While searching for some creativity tools, I came across something that changed my writing life. S.C.A.M.P.E.R. is a mnemonic or acronym for a business technique created by Bob Eberle and Alex Osborn. It’s a checklist of questions applied to an isolated challenge that generates alternative solutions. First you identify the problem, then ask the questions and see what new ideas you can come up with.

This article is the result of my trying to figure out how to use the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. method as a writer to first think up and outline a story and later to revise a manuscript. P.L.O.T. stands for Preparation, Lightning, Organization and Transfer. I’ll explain what S.C.A.M.P.E.R. means in the Organizing section.

Preparation

Read. Read some more. Keep reading. When you come across something that makes your skin tingle and sends a shiver along your spine, pay attention to this visceral reaction. The

ideas that thrill you are the ones that you’ll use best. Now analyze the idea until you recognize exactly what it was that thrilled you. You’ll have to be careful to separate your emotions from the analysis to make sure you’re getting to the core of the idea and not unintentionally borrowing the original work.

Now look at the idea and summarize what premise is at the heart of it. A romantic suspense about two people trapped in a snowstorm? A sensual romance about a heroine who wants to have a vacation fling? A traditional romance about reunited lovers? Before you can begin outlining the plot for your story, you need to know:

Who are the characters? What are their names, jobs and backgrounds at least?

Their Goals- what they want, Motivations- why they want it, and Conflicts- why they can’t have it

Can you describe the story idea in 35 words or less?

Next, decide how you work best. Are you most creative when typing at the computer or when writing longhand? Do you want to use index cards or a MS Word file? I prefer a combination- I put all of my ideas into paragraphs on the computer then print out the document and cut each paragraph into a strip of paper.

The most important step is to make time. Close the office door, send the kids outside to play or wait until they go to sleep. Do whatever you have to create quiet time for yourself. And no thinking about the laundry, the bills or the in-laws during this time! You’re supposed to be tapping into your creativity. 

Our minds form first impressions of a problem that tend to be narrow and superficial, therefore our first solutions are equally limited. When you look at a problem from different angles, you increase the probability of discovering a unique perspective that leads to a breakthrough idea. [May I suggest my creativity workshop?] 

Lightning

Now that you've had time to think about the premise, think about your characters and your story. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind. You certainly don’t have to know every single thing that’s going to happen in the book, but try to keep a few things in mind:

Hook (how the hero and heroine meet/ reunite)

First Turning Point (what might force your characters to make a decision or take action)

Midpoint (this is the point of know return, perhaps where the characters realize they’re in love, and this point should also set up the black moment)

Black Moment (remember this is the emotional point where it seems like the relationship is over)

Climax (this is the external problem or situation that has to be resolved)

Resolution (how the characters might recognize or acknowledge their commitment)

Don't hamper yourself by wondering if your ideas are good enough. Trust me, they are. Imagine your story as a road or as a film or whatever helps you to generate ideas.

New ideas are formed by deliberately combining things in ways you don't normally come across or think about. C.G. Jung said, "The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."

Take a break and when you come back; think about the story as a whole and the scenes and ideas you already came up with. Let the scenes come to you and write them down. Don’t worry about how you’ll make them fit into your story, just write them down. 

Brainstorm all of the possibilities, no matter how farfetched or silly they seem. And don’t worry about the details- we’ll get to that later. When you’ve gone as far as you feel you can, either brainstorm with critique partners or call it a day [week, whatever].

 

 Organization

It’s time to storyboard or put your ideas together. Don’t put a lot of effort into this initial shuffle since it won’t be the last time. Just arrange the ideas into a sequential order that makes sense to you. If you’re using the computer, print off a copy of the ideas you created and read it through. Mark or number as you go and then cut/paste the paragraphs in the computer file. If you’re using index cards, lay them out on a table or on the floor and pin them to a corkboard.

Take a good look at what you have. Get familiar with each scene and try to imagine it connecting with other scenes. If any of your ideas seem like they won’t work, put them aside or into another file, but don’t delete or discard them yet. You’ll need them for the next part.

S.C.A.M.P.E.R. stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate and Rearrange/ Reverse. (I’ve marked each part with a P for plotting or an R for revision, though you may find ways to make it work for both.) Now, look at your computer document or your index cards and apply any of these tactics until you're happy with the initial results.

Substitution [P, R] is replacing one character, place, emotion, conflict, etc. with another. Choose one idea or scene and ask the following: What can be substituted? For what else that you have? For what else you don’t have yet? Can you substitute part instead of the whole? What other approach can you take to the scene?

Combination [R] is putting together previously unrelated ideas, settings, purposes, goals, etc. Pick a scene and decide: What ideas can be combined? What else can be added? Can they be blended or only linked? Can more than two be put together? Does combining them change the purpose alone or also the goal or conflict?

Adaptation [P] is copying from one idea and applying it to another. Pick one of your ideas and ask the following: What else is like this? What part could be emulated if not the whole? What other ideas can be incorporated? In what different contexts could the original work?

As I said at the beginning of this article, in referring to adaptation I’m not talking about plagiarism. I’m talking about using the same method another writer used and changing, adjusting or tailoring it to meet a need. 

For example, in one of my favorite Nora Roberts books, HOT ICE, the characters meet when the hero, who’s running from the villain, tries to car jack the heroine’s car. What follows is a really funny scene where the heroine refuses to relinquish control of the car or the situation. 

In YOURS IN BLACK LACE, I didn’t duplicate or copy word for word Nora’s scene. What I did was figure out a way that my heroine could take my hero’s car and then found a way to add a car chase to my scene.

Modification [P, R] is completely altering all or part of an idea to make it better. Choose one of your scenes and decide: What can be exaggerated or overstated? What can be added or reduced? How can it be carried to an extreme? How can some element be twisted into something new?

Putting to another use [P, R] is taking parts or elements of your idea and utilizing them somewhere else. Choose one of your scenes and ask the following: Where else can I use the whole? What else can parts be used for? Are there other ways to use it as is? What else can be made from this?

Elimination [R] is minimizing parts or getting rid of the whole to gradually focus the idea. To determine whether to scrap your idea, ask: Does it enhance the story? Does it move the plot? Does it serve a real purpose? Choose a scene that you intend to keep and decide: What can be omitted? What can be split up or divided? What can be streamlined? Which elements are unnecessary?

Rearrangement [P, R] is rethinking the approach to the idea and coming at the idea from a different angle. Pick a scene, or look at your synopsis if you’re revising, and ask the following: What other arrangement might work better? How can the order be changed? What elements can be shifted around? Can anything be interchanged rather than substituted?

Reversal [R] is changing perspectives about the idea and using opposing elements to create something new. Choose a scene and decide: What are the opposites? What are the negatives? Has the sequel come before the scene? Can the points of view or roles be reversed? What can be done that’s unexpected?

Transfer

Once you have the story laid out the way you want, the way that makes the most sense or that is most satisfying, start writing. Pick a card, any card. (While linear thinkers will probably start with the opening scene, you could really begin with any scene that calls to you.) Begin to flesh out the ideas in the scene and see where it goes.

Begin adding details, either to the computer file or on the back of the index cards. For each scene, decide on the setting and environment; the characters involved and whose point of view is critical. Now do some more brainstorming and decide:

the purpose of the scene (what do you want to accomplish?)

the conflict (what is stopping a character from getting what they want?)

the sequel (how can this scene move the story forward?)

the cliffhanger (what unanswered question will lead to the next scene or chapter?)

 Keep reminding yourself- as I have to- that your first draft is not going to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be perfect, so stop stressing out trying to make it perfect. If you feel you're ready to tackle the synopsis, take a look at my notes on quick plot sketches.

S.C.A.M.P.E.R. can also be used at the revision stage. If a scene or chapter isn’t working, ask yourself what can be replaced or combined. How can you modify the scene? If you can’t, can it be eliminated? Can you keep the scene if you rearrange the sequence of your plot?

At this point the storyline and plot belong completely to you. What’s that? Yes, I know you stole the original idea, but you’ve flipped it upside down, turned it inside out and given it a half twist in the middle. Trust me on this- it’s all yours now. 

What you're writing bears no significant resemblance to the source from which you stole the core idea. You’re creating an altogether different, original, fresh work that, hopefully, will someday inspire another writer to steal from you.