Anyone who has ever tried to write a story, whether it was a short story, a novella, or a novel, whether it was for your eyes only or had plans to be published, has always wondered if the idea was a good one. We all struggle with getting new ideas for stories and that’s O.K. It is a part of a writer’s life…and much better than having writer’s block.
In this post, I will discuss the ways that new ideas come to me and hopefully, one or two of these will connect with you and help you in your writing process. Feel free to use them as you wish.
The Natural
Some of you fall in this category. You don’t have to do anything to get a new story idea. One day, you’re lying on the couch or just woke up from a dream and BAM! The new story idea jumps into your head and you run with it. This is one of the most exhilarating ways to discover a new story idea. There is nothing quite like having a thought blossom into an idea and then grow into a story.
This is how I came up with the idea for the story of Tammuz and his adventures in The Battlemage Trilogy To be honest, I don’t remember what I was doing that day. I was at home on a day off from work and wasn’t being very productive. The thought just jumped right into my noggin, like it was begging to be turned into a story. You want to run and tell everybody about the idea you came up with, but hold on to that idea for a little while longer. This leads us to the next method.
Day Dreaming
This is by far one of my favorite methods. I don’t have the best attention span and my mind tends to wander if I’m idle. My favorite time to day dream is when I am driving. I used to commute two hours round trip for a job several years ago. This is when the idea for Reborn was blossoming. As I drove the hour to work and back, I wouldn’t turn the radio on. I would think about my character and story and just let my mind wander, just thinking about all the adventures he could have and people he could meet.
I recommend having a notebook or some way to take notes nearby if possible. When you let you mind wander and think of all the possibilities, story ideas will flow from everywhere. Some will not be any good, but some will be golden. Write them all down. You can go over them later and hash them out.
What If?
Have you ever played the what if game? It’s actually quite fun when trying to discover new story ideas. You take your infant idea and begin to ask questions. “What if my main character learned of an ancient secret? What if something bad happened and they were forced from their homes and had to live on their own at a young age? Just keep asking yourself what if questions and use some of those to further develop your stories. Write the answers down to all of these questions and see if you can use them in your story.
What Now?
Here comes the fun part. Go out and use these techniques on a story idea that you have or come up with a brand new idea and try to expand on it with one of these methods. See which one works best for you. Take those ideas and write a short story. Once you’ve finished the short story, post it in the comment section below and I will read them.
As always, if you ever need to ask me a question and just want to contact me, you get reach me on any of my social media profiles, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or you can comment on the blog post. I always answer back. Need to send me an email? Click on the link to reach the contact page.
Here is an example of the notebook I use to keep all my story ideas, synopses, and outlines in.
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