How to make plot ideas pop into your head

[Dennis]

Novelists are often asked how they get their plot ideas. I get many of the plots for my science thrillers to pop into my noggin from extensive reading about science and technology. However, sometimes the idea will come before any research, often as little more than a phrase or sentence. I’ve found “What if…?” questions to be the most fruitful.

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[Elizabeth]

I read and watch the news and all sorts of ideas tend to generate.

[Rita]

Especially for crime novels!

[Lexie]

And indeed particularly for crime novels, I find eavesdropping on strangers' conversations on buses and trains very useful - I try not to get caught!

[Justin]

I watch tv and take what I see and hear around me when I'm out but sometimes ideas do in fact just pop into my head.