<\/p>\n
Sometime in January of 2016, I saw an ad for an online writing class. I signed up. As I go through the course work, I came across the following lesson:<\/p>\n
\u201cStory ideas<\/p>\n
When you’re looking for story ideas, it’s helpful to understand something about plot structure.<\/p>\n
The simplest way to look at plot structure is like this:<\/p>\n
***** A character struggles to overcome a problem. *****<\/p>\n
This “formula” has infinite possibilities. HAMLET, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and THE HUNGER GAMES are all versions of this “formula”. So is just about any other story you can think of.<\/p>\n
The character’s struggles against the problem determine the story’s events. The reader turns pages to see if the character will succeed in overcoming the problem, or not. \u201c<\/p>\n
And that was my AHA moment. I remember going to the bagel shop that morning, while sipping my coffee, something clicked in my mind. I realized that I am a writer. I am a writer all along.<\/p>\n
I am the character above. I struggled to overcome a problem. The problem is that I wanted to go to Taiwan and study Chinese literature in 1978 after I graduated from high school. My father said no. I was mad. I was angry at him all these years. At one time, after I got my diploma from medical school, I wanted to give him the diploma and pursue my writing career.<\/p>\n
What do I know about life at the age of seventeen? Nothing. I only utter words I read. It was the rebellious attitude of youth.<\/p>\n
Now that I have been a physician since 1987, I have been with life and death up close and personal. I am in the best training ground for becoming a writer. I have been a writer all along.<\/p>\n
It is time to write. It is time to write what has been stored in the past many years. It is time for the seed to germinate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometime in January of 2016, I saw an ad for an online writing class. I signed up. As I go through the course work, I came across the following lesson: \u201cStory ideas When you’re looking for story ideas, it’s … Continue reading