Ideas

If you have other things in your life – family, friends, good productive day work – these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer. David Brin

People are always asking where I get my ideas for stories as if, perhaps, the alchemical process is easy to wrestle into words.  I try to explain that ideas sometimes pop into my head when I least expect it, like mushrooms in a lawn; other times they sneak up on me, troubling at my consciousness until I spend a little time figuring out what exactly I’m planning to write.  Some ideas go the distance and turn into long stories or novels, others peter out leaving me with half finished narratives and tears of irritation.  When an idea seems so perfect that it has to be written down but comes to nothing on the page is when I feel worst as a writer, even worse than when I get rejection letters or unkind reviews (more about those in a later post!) 

But there are some places which I find are gold mines for ideas and so here are my top four for you to get inspired and get writing. 

1- Listen to conversations people are having around you.  Snippets of overheard dialogue can send your imagination on a terrific journey.

2- As yourself WHAT IF?  What if the sun didn’t come up tomorrow, what if your boss fired you in five minutes, what if you could fly?  What if is a key question for a writer, making you rethink your world and the world of your characters.

3- Think about the angle you need to tell your story from: by chosing the right perspective and the right opening you can discover new ideas and ways of looking at something that might have seemed too tired or boring before.

4- Read.  Read.  Read.  I could say this all day.  Books are like art galleries for aspiring (and established) writers, giving a space for the imagination to view and discover new work.  I don’t mean for you to copy what you’re reading, but I do mean let it inspire you and inform your dreams.