Thinking Exercise · 10:00pm May 26th, 2014
One of the things I really enjoy doing in my spare time is exercises in out-of-the-box thinking and one of the simplest ways to do that is to set myself a challenge and then solve it.
Here's one I thought up in the shower and just had to offer other people a chance to try:
Task: Construct a story using Roxette's "Fading Like A Flower" as a musical synopsis of either the plot or the conflict.
Rules:
1. You must concoct enough detail to prove that the story would be an interesting read
2. To avoid making it too easy, you must take the bold parts of the following stanza literally
3. The goal is to challenge yourself, not to "get the right answer". Follow Pixar's 12th rule of storytelling and ignore obvious answers.
In a time
where the sun descends alone
I ran a long, long way from home
To find a heart that's made of stone
Tips:
1. The key to out-of-the-box thinking is building a habit of questioning everything. ("That depends on what you mean by 'is'.")
2. Metaphor is your friend when trying to make things fit song lyrics. (eg. "I ran a long, long way from home" doesn't need to be taken literally.)
Aside from that, you're free to develop any solution you want. While the requisite skills differ, believably shipping Celestia and Discord before Luna's return is probably just as difficult as making the reader care about a romance between an OC and a golem (or Severus Snape).
Great profile pic, 10/10
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Sadly, I can't take credit for the brilliance of the idea. It was one of those ICQ/AIM/YIM/etc. avatars that were floating around back in the early 2000s when I was just getting out of high school and I liked it so much that I haven't changed it since.