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Teymour Shahabi
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How to Get Ideas
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The first 20 seconds have given me my brand new favorite response. It won't even actually matter what the question is. I really love tip 3 - gaining inspiration from the best of the best. It's an awesome motivator as long as I don't let it give me an inferiority complex lol.
Tara wrote: "The first 20 seconds have given me my brand new favorite response. It won't even actually matter what the question is. I really love tip 3 - gaining inspiration from the best of the best. It's an..."
Haha :) The first 20 secs do answer A LOT of questions
When I need brevity and beauty I turn to Mary Renault. When I need beauty in all of its exquisite details I turn to Charlotte Brontë. I learned so much but then I can't write for a week ha ha.
Tara wrote: "When I need brevity and beauty I turn to Mary Renault. When I need beauty in all of its exquisite details I turn to Charlotte Brontë. I learned so much but then I can't write for a week ha ha.":) What a lovely note! I've had Mary Renault on my reading list for years...
Renault manages to write with the academic prowess of a historian *and* the haunting, spare beauty of a poet. I would suggest you start with The Last of the Wine - it will prep you for the Alexander era books, the penultimate of which is The Persian Boy. I go back and forth between Jane Eyre and The Persian Boy for my all-time favorite book.
Excellent, thanks for the recommendations! And being Persian myself gives me even more reason to follow in your reading footsteps :)
I'll give it a watch. I always enjoy your videos Teymour.
Justin wrote: "I'll give it a watch. I always enjoy your videos Teymour."Thanks a lot Justin!
Awesome sauce! Do you happen to be Persian by way of Canada by any chance? You have the same accident as a friend of mine from Saskatoon. I am so random right now.
Tara wrote: "Awesome sauce! Do you happen to be Persian by way of Canada by any chance? You have the same accident as a friend of mine from Saskatoon. I am so random right now."I can't say that I am! You'll never guess where I grew up...
Scranton? Albuquerque? Middle Earth??
Ideas just come to me out of the blue. Then they sit in my brain for months before I start to work on them. For example, most every day I would drive by this little shack near a wooded area and one day thought, "I need to write a story about homeless people". I kept that idea in my head for months, sorting through it whenever it resurfaced in my head until I came up with the "hook" - something that would set the story apart from any other story I'd read about the homeless. Then I set to work on it.
As I fancy myself a writer in the genre of women's fiction, I am often inspired by items in the news which I'll twist and distort to fit my schema of things. I am also inspired by song lyrics which are life's vignettes compelling a writer to extrapolate, expand, and embellish into a full-blown novel.
Yes! Song lyrics are extremely evocative! I have actually rough sketched a collection of short stories based off a favorite album of mine.
Tara wrote: "Scranton? Albuquerque? Middle Earth??"All good guesses, but I'll give you a clue (fine, the answer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTQr0...
Dwayne wrote: "Ideas just come to me out of the blue. Then they sit in my brain for months before I start to work on them. For example, most every day I would drive by this little shack near a wooded area and one..."This is fascinating: how did the thought come to you in the shack?! Perhaps there really are muses hanging out in the woods... :) I also love your evocation of a "hook;" perhaps one of the most important ideas an author can encounter for a book?
Eva wrote: "As I fancy myself a writer in the genre of women's fiction, I am often inspired by items in the news which I'll twist and distort to fit my schema of things. I am also inspired by song lyrics which..."I also love song lyrics -- for my money, every Amy Winehouse song is both a poem and a short story!
Vraiment??! Mais, non! Oui?
Timon and Pumba = dead ha haaa!
I was in France for the first time last spring. It will not be my last, however. Out of all my travels Paris felt the most familiar to me in an instant, inexplicable way. I just absolutely love, love love France - and once I perfect my macarons I will be in heaven :)
Teymour wrote: "This is fascinating: how did the thought come to you in the shack?"I have a habit of writing little stories in my head when I watch people or see something interesting or unusual. Then I store them away for future use.
Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. - Stephen King
For me just carry on as normal. Stories emerge from seeing everyday people doing everyday things!
Al wrote: "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. - Stephen King"Dwayne wrote: "Teymour wrote: "This is fascinating: how did the thought come to you in the shack?"
I have a habit of writing little stories in my head when I watch people or see something interesting or unusual...."
Tara wrote: "I was in France for the first time last spring. It will not be my last, however. Out of all my travels Paris felt the most familiar to me in an instant, inexplicable way. I just absolutely love, lo..."
Allan wrote: "For me just carry on as normal. Stories emerge from seeing everyday people doing everyday things!"
What a wonderful thread this is turning out to be... There's true inspiration in the variety of approaches writers take -- which apparently includes the magic of macarons! :)
I dare anyone to visit Chenonceau or stand on the bluffs above the beach at Normandy and not feel inspired. If anything, my words can never do my experiences justice. But as writers we can't help but to try. Thanks, Teymour :)
Tara wrote: "I dare anyone to visit Chenonceau or stand on the bluffs above the beach at Normandy and not feel inspired. If anything, my words can never do my experiences justice. But as writers we can't help b..."Thank YOU: your words do a pretty good job as it is :)
So I watched the video. Three very simple and reasonable ideas. I will say two things though, some may get sidetracked or confused by the food analogies but that's their fault and second, you sure do talk fast! I don't think you stopped to breath once and if I remember correctly I said that to one of your other videos.So yeah..Teymour..it's okay to take a breather in between talking lol.
I read things that have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm writing. It's amazing when will spark your creativity.
Justin wrote: "So I watched the video. Three very simple and reasonable ideas. I will say two things though, some may get sidetracked or confused by the food analogies but that's their fault and second, you sure ..."Ha, good advice :) In videos... And in life?! ;)
K.D. wrote: "I read things that have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm writing. It's amazing when will spark your creativity."Nice! What's a good example lately?
I always say this, anytime you have an idea for writing or think of an idea for something practical and useful....WRITE IT DOWN!!I can't tell you how many times I've thought of something, came across a great idea for a story or found a good site all to not right it down and hours later I'm like wait didn't I have something good to look up or have a great idea? Crap I can't remember! I do it constantly although lately I've been trying to get better.
It seems silly but I think we all do it at one point or another. We think we'll remember but then when time passes and we remember that something good from hours ago we only remember that there was an "idea' or "to do something" but can't recall what it was.
Also aside from not remember there's the ole gathering information or an idea to use and putting it aside and before you know it you have too much info and don't know how to go over it all. Still just me? I assure you I'm a very organized person but when it comes to marketing lately I'm like a free book collector, I have no problems picking up the latest free book(marketing tactic) only to put it with the rest so it accumulates and I have every intention of getting to it...eventually.
Justin wrote: "I always say this, anytime you have an idea for writing or think of an idea for something practical and useful....WRITE IT DOWN!!I can't tell you how many times I've thought of something, came acr..."
This is GREAT advice. I couldn't even tell you how often I forget ideas -- because I just can't remember how often it happens ;) What's your method: carry a notebook at all times? Notes on the phone?
K.D. wrote: "I read things that have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm writing. It's amazing when will spark your creativity."When I have writer's block, I'll seriously save it, completely get away from it for a little while and become immersed into one of my many Kindle books. A lot of my family thinks that this is a bad idea, telling me "It's going to make you forget what you were writing about" or "Your going to start confusing that story with your own", but honestly, that has NEVER happened, and it is very useful. After being away for a little while, I go back to it and it's like a vacuum cleaner took all of the random thoughts from head and solely left the book there.
Teymour wrote: "Justin wrote: "I always say this, anytime you have an idea for writing or think of an idea for something practical and useful....WRITE IT DOWN!!I can't tell you how many times I've thought of some..."
Just to comment, usually I don't have a notebook on me. I have four kids, and there's enough to carry between their juices, the diaper bag, and anything else they decide to bring along when we're going somewhere. BUT, if I'm able, I'll type a note out on my phone and save it, or if I can't type because I'm walking through the store, I just leave a voice recorded message to myself in the phone and play it back later.
Teymour wrote: "Hello authors / readers,I'm an indie author living in NYC, and I just made a video with 3 tips on how to get ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5EKT.... (I share my life hacks on writing,..."
If I'm being honest, a lot of my ideas do come from other books I've read. Though this sounds like I'm stealing their work, I'm really not because I create my own fantasy out of what I read and twist it up a lot. Reading others works does wonders for your creativity and helps with writer's block significantly.
K.R. wrote: "If I'm being honest, a lot of my ideas do come from other books I've read. "I think we all do that to some extent. There's no such thing as a completely original story. We all borrow from other sources.
Dwayne wrote: "K.R. wrote: "If I'm being honest, a lot of my ideas do come from other books I've read. "I think we all do that to some extent. There's no such thing as a completely original story. We all borrow..."
I agree Dwayne!
K.R. wrote: "Dwayne wrote: "K.R. wrote: "If I'm being honest, a lot of my ideas do come from other books I've read. "I think we all do that to some extent. There's no such thing as a completely original story..."
At the very least, I may copy YOUR idea to take notes on my phone!
Not wanting to be unduly influenced by voice or story elements in my writing genre of Women's Fiction, I won't read any books in that category. To be truthful, my reading has gone by the wayside ever since I embarked on a writing career, save for research to nail down subject matter or marketing strategies.I get most of my ideas from the news, and often a song will inspire me to weave my own webs.
Eva wrote: "Not wanting to be unduly influenced by voice or story elements in my writing genre of Women's Fiction, I won't read any books in that category. To be truthful, my reading has gone by the wayside ev..."What kind of music do you listen to??
I also find that it's hard to read when I'm deep in a writing project. Perhaps the exhaustion of all that time spent with words?...
Eva wrote: "Not wanting to be unduly influenced by voice or story elements in my writing genre of Women's Fiction, I won't read any books in that category. To be truthful, my reading has gone by the wayside ev..."I think I can pick up good influences from other authors without losing my personal voice. I notice transitions between scenes, the way subplots are integrated, things like that. I get my ideas from life around me, people and places, local gossip ...
I'm an indie author living in NYC, and I just made a video with 3 tips on how to get ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5EKT.... (I share my life hacks on writing, creativity, and perseverance in weekly videos at www.youtube.com/PageWingChannel.)
I'd love to hear your thoughts (authors, readers, or both!) on how YOU get your ideas!
Onwards!
Teymour Shahabi
www.teymourshahabi.com