“Want to know one of the fastest ways to beat writer’s block? Copy your favorite novel.”
Wait.
Don’t close this page.
I’m not telling you to plagiarize someone else’s work. I’m talking about one of the oldest creative exercises writers use to understand story structure and spark new ideas.
If you’ve ever stared at a blank screen wondering what to write next, this technique can get your imagination moving again.
Why Blank Pages Are So Hard
Most writers think they’re struggling because they don’t have enough ideas.
That’s rarely the problem.
The real problem is that our brains aren’t very good at creating something from absolutely nothing.
Give your imagination a blank page, and it often freezes.
Give it a starting point, however, and something interesting happens. Your mind immediately begins asking questions.
“What if this happened instead?”
“I’d make that character funnier.”
“Why didn’t the ending go this way?”
That’s where original ideas begin.
Copy the Story… Then Change Everything
Here’s the exercise.
Take your favorite novel.
Write down every major plot point.
Not to publish it.
Not to imitate it.
Just to see the skeleton underneath the story.
Once you can see the structure, start asking questions.
- What if it happened in another time period?
- What if the villain became the hero?
- What if the setting changed completely?
- What if the genre shifted from western to science fiction?
- What if the ending became a tragedy instead of a happy ending?
One change leads to another.
Before long, you’re no longer looking at the original story.
You’re looking at yours.
The Sticky Note Trick
Imagine placing your favorite novel on a wall using sticky notes.
Each note represents one scene.
Now create another row underneath it.
Each time you have a better idea, replace one sticky note with your own.
Then replace another.
Then another.
Eventually, every sticky note belongs to you.
Take away the original row.
What’s left isn’t someone else’s novel.
It’s your story.
Why This Works
Creativity rarely appears out of thin air.
It grows through transformation.
Artists have always learned by studying artists they admire.
Songwriters learn other people’s songs before writing their own.
Painters copy masterworks to understand composition.
Filmmakers analyze movies frame by frame.
Writers are no different.
The goal isn’t imitation.
The goal is understanding why something works—and then using those lessons to build something completely original.
One Practical Exercise
The next time you finish reading a novel you love, don’t immediately start another one.
Instead, write down the ten biggest events in the story.
Then rewrite each one using the words:
“What if instead…”
Do that ten times.
You’ll probably discover three or four ideas you’ve never had before.
Final Thought
Every writer has stories that changed the way they looked at storytelling.
Don’t hide from those influences.
Study them.
Take them apart.
Learn why they moved you.
Then rebuild the pieces into something that could only have come from you.
That’s the difference between copying a story and being inspired by one.
One creates a duplicate.
The other creates the next original novel.
you might be interested in these blogs…
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T START AT THE BEGINNING
HOW TO CREATE A POWERFUL STORY WITH 6 WORDS
YOU REALLY NEED APPS TO WRITE A NOVEL?
