Where do I get my ideas?
People ask this all the time and I tend to be flip because it's a complicated question to answer and to many authors, it's such a beginner question. Most of us have TOO many ideas, not too few, and we'd like to get rid of them. Nonetheless, I do remember a time when I didn't have too many ideas, so here's a hint of where you might go to find some if you need them.
Authors with too many ideas--look away!
Other novels that you wish you could change or twist in some way
TV/movies that you want to translate to a different medium
Emotions you want to create through your story
News, whether tragedy or sensational, feel good, science, history
Random people’s conversations you overhear
Friends/family lives (this is why it’s dangerous to have a writer in your circle—nothing is sacred to them).
Passions/obsessions (yes, you can write about this weird stuff and your work will be better for it).
Your own life history (though it can be tricky to be able to analyze and change it in the way necessary to make good fiction)
Fairy tales/folk tales/religion/myth
Questions you have about life
Mix and match genre tropes
Write what people tell you not to write
Be defiant, gloriously in love, angry—on the page
Authors with too many ideas--look away!
Other novels that you wish you could change or twist in some way
TV/movies that you want to translate to a different medium
Emotions you want to create through your story
News, whether tragedy or sensational, feel good, science, history
Random people’s conversations you overhear
Friends/family lives (this is why it’s dangerous to have a writer in your circle—nothing is sacred to them).
Passions/obsessions (yes, you can write about this weird stuff and your work will be better for it).
Your own life history (though it can be tricky to be able to analyze and change it in the way necessary to make good fiction)
Fairy tales/folk tales/religion/myth
Questions you have about life
Mix and match genre tropes
Write what people tell you not to write
Be defiant, gloriously in love, angry—on the page
Published on May 01, 2015 08:52
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