I like to come up with an idea, let it ferment and breath in my mind for a while before committing anything to paper. This way I can get a clearer picture of what I want from the story without fretting over the gritty details.
I get most of mine out of deep thought or combining two things together. It comes natural for me, really. It's like waking up in the moring for me. That easy.
I'm quoting Cognito in this post to help hammer home the point he has made. There isn't a book that doesn't borrow, or have an idea from another one. It's how YOU write it that matters. Everyone raves about The Hunger Games, and I've read it over and over in the spirit on honesty, but it's a rip of 'The Running Man' by Stephen King with different character and slightly different format. The background of my MC came from an idea I saw in a Star Trek novel in Middle School about a Klingon chess game played with living people as players. It's not the idea that matters, it's how YOU write it and your skills as an author.
I put on some music, sit down, and just think. I mostly think about stuff I have learned recently, then apply it to certain writing goals I have. Eventually things start clicking and ideas start forming.
Honestly, I just daydream and it comes out of nowhere. If I start doing something mundane and let my mind just wander off, I get little movies that start playing inside my head and just use those. I'm sure it all comes from somewhere, like stuff I've seen on tv, read about in an article, or people I've met. But it all comes together in my head and just plays itself out for me.
i don't 'find' them because i never have to go looking for any... they simply 'come to me' from what i see, hear, know, experience, imagin... or, sometimes, even dream...
I do the same. I try and notice everything that's going on around me to the smallest detail. The world provides me with some excellent inspiration!
I've been going for walks every night in an attempt to get in shape, thinking about serious stuff like "What am I going to do tomorrow?" or "How will I pay my bills?" would be terribly boring and depressing making me not want to walk anymore. So, I just think about the craziest weirdest things possible and that gives me ideas.
Usually I'm inspired by other peoples work or dissatisfied with the route other writers have taken their stories. I sit down and say this is how I would do it. By the time I've added my own angles , characters, twists and turns, it would take a mind reader to discover where the idea orginated from. Voila , my own 'original' idea.
From regular everyday life events, the news, historical events, walking, daydreaming, or from the work of others. I often think "What if..." and come up with crazy scenarios and then mold them into stories. Some of my ideas will suck, some turn out to be great.
I do agree with the people that have said that there isn't any real original modern novels, I mis-typed. But I meant how do people come up with a unique idea, which could be borrowed, but its unique... just making sure everybody understands that.
I tap into a something that happened me. Whether it was a pleasurable or a tragic event I just have to be the mood to write it out. I also listen to music while writing - I am not sure if that is a good idea! But it helps.
Honestly, I don't have a set way I come across ideas. Heck, I feel like I'm just as likely to discover some amazing story staring at a blank wall as I am jogging in the morning or reading a new book. It's spontaneous, really - which is a bit unfortunate, as I never seem to have a paper and pen handy when I find an idea I like. Music is probably where I pool most of my inspiration. I spend way too much time going through my music library, listening to whatever I can get my hands on. I'll try to match up the tempo of the music to an idea; for an upbeat tune, I'll come up with a cheerful scene; for a slower, more melancholic song, a tragic one. Occasionally, I'll attempt to match songs to characters, or to a setting... really, if I get any inkling of an idea, I'll try to put it to music.
Most of my ideas come from dreams, but when I write them, they don't turn out right, so I just get my ideas from movies and then write them from my own perspective. I woud sometimes write based off some stories other people write on here but in a new direction. Wouldn't that constitute a copyright infringement? Or I would use that movie and turn it into a vampire story, for example.
It's not writers block, but just writing in general. I had a job opportunity for this Solar company and I read an entire book on solar electricity. Ever since I did that, it has been incredibly difficult for me to get back into reading my classics and writing. Any ideas, exercises, or words of encouragement?
I would just sit down and try to write something. It doesn't have to be perfect or even a great story, but just something to start working your writing muscles again. Whatever pops into your head, make a story up about it. Maybe something that has to do with solar electricity/energy, since you probably know a lot about that now.
just go back to reading fiction, if that's what you want to write... i don't get why that should be hard for you to do... what am i missing?
Indeed, we think that reading short stories regarding your favorite topic; the matter that will re-encourage writers read larger books. Also, reading magazine articles on the topic would give new ideas on scientific development regarding it.
I have since an early age read anything and everything that looked or sounded cool.I relised from an early age i had good ideas that would make intresting storys.I tried to write them down but just don't have the skills.I do all the charicter development give the main person in the story a name,a complete back story/history make up all the other people in the book give them history and link them to my main c.I can timeline my story from page one to end of book including plot and twists even little c. traits and humourous situations i just can't write it down me and gramar are not the best of friends i would love more than anything someone to write the story out into a novel.I'm willing to share some ideas if you have incomplete storys or writers block i can help you. Nice to meet everyone hope you don't mind slightly strange first post and terrible grammar?.
Don't edit while you write, no matter how hard resist the urge. The first time you put your thoughts done on paper you won't have your dream novel, so don't try to do so. If it helps write on something other than a computer, assuming that is your prime method, if you can't edit your thoughts you will end up writing more. You can change everything later if you so choose, just think of the first draft as an egg. Crack it in the next drafts to get the concise story you are looking for.
Yep this. I used to be the same as you. I had all these great ideas and could come up with characters, cultures, creatures, and all that, but as far as putting it together in a cohesive story that's where I stumbled a lot. The solution is to just write and not look back. Who cares about grammar/spelling mistakes or even sentences that make absolutely no sense. Here's one I picked out from a story I'm doing now: She sat down with me on the couch with one leg over the told. Spell check probably changed told from another word I would have liked, and quite frankly it's an embarrassing mistake. But you know what, that's okay, at least I know what I meant to say. If I revised this it would be "She sat down on the couch, crossing one leg over the other." Here's a quote from Stephen King that has gotten me over this problem. "Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open." What he's saying is that on the first revision only write for YOU. The stuff that you're putting down on paper, it may not be coherent enough for anyone else to understand what you're conveying but YOU know exactly what it means. Like that sentence I picked out from my story, no one would know what the hell I was trying to say there, but I did.
The skills to write out the ideas into stories doesn't simply materialize. You have to practice them to develop them, and continue to learn until the day you hang it up fo the last time. So don't worry because you feel lost, and non of kt seems to fall together for you. We all start out that way. A lot is said about talent. But the truth is, talent or no, it's a lot of hard work and persistence.
no professional writer could/would do this for free, as it is a major commitment of time and effort... ghostwriting fees are well into the tens of thousands... and cutting a deal with non-pros for payment after the book is published is not a viable option, since even with the best writing possible, there's still very little chance of the book being published, or making enough on sales to pay the writer for his/her time and work, if it does make it into book form... so your only real option is to learn how to write them yourself, terry...
