A Great Story Can Be About Anything
Have you ever watched The Brave Little Toaster? It’s an animated film from 1987 about a singing toaster who sets out with her friends (other musical household appliances) on a trek to reconnect with their prior owner.
Between the characterizations, the music, the artwork, and the deeply explored themes of companionship, loss, longing, loyalty, determination, faith, service, and sacrifice, The Brave Little Toaster is not just one of the best movies I’ve ever seen — it’s one of the best stories I’ve ever come across in any medium.
Let me reiterate: this is a kids movie about a singing toaster. And it is one of the best stories ever. Period.
Well — according to me, at least.
Now, I don’t expect people to necessarily share my love of The Brave Little Toaster. But I bet that I could go through a list of anyone’s favorite books, movies, television shows, games, or any other media and find examples of weird, goofy, off-the-wall ideas, stories, and characters that, distilled down to a single sentence on paper, should not work. And yet — somehow — they’re fantastic.
Great stories can come from anywhere, and they can be about anything. They can be completely conventional — hitting all of the tropes of their genre and taking zero risks — or they can be completely bizarre, mixing old genres to create new ones, breaking rules, and kicking acts and taking names.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with the weird and the wonderful when it comes to your writing.
Find ways to give yourself the opportunity to step into oddity and knock around for a bit. Nothing has to come of it — not a published piece, not even something you’re willing to show to others — but you might learn something that you can bring into your other work. If nothing else, working with the wacky can serve as a great palate cleanser before getting back to your Great American Novel.
