I'm wanting to write another book, even though I've just finished one a couple of weeks ago. From the 4 books I have written, there was always a spark that set them off, never from just sitting down and thinking of an idea. The ideas would roll off from the "spark" or inspiration. Now I'm wanting to write another book, but there's nothing to make my brain roll up any ideas What do you suggest that'll help me light up a story in my mind?
Read, not necessarily in your favored genre. Fiction, nonfiction. Watch science and history programs on TV. Bounce ideas off of friends, even writing friends if you have some close. Daydream lots, and jot ideas down and review them a week or so later. I'm not sure there is any sure-fire way to come up with ideas. I have a whole list of files that I have to fall back on, so ideas are not the problem. It's time to properly attend to them that is.
Think of the final scene. The climax if you will. EXAMPLE - The main character uses pepper spray on the Queen of England. Now think of who these characters are? How did this character get himself into a situation where he is pepper spraying the queen? What events happened that brought him/her to this ultimatum?
I have a file in which I write down all promising ideas that occur to me, at any time. So there's always that many stories I could write next. Give yourself time to think about what topic and things generally interest you, and if there's an idea, consider whether you will be able to stick with it for a while, and not get bored. That way you might be able to find the next story sooner than if you just waited for inspiration to strike.
Can I say, "Cart before horse?" You don't decide to write and go looking for a story. You have a story seeping into your head that demands to be written, so you probe the idea, flesh it out, see if it still has its claws in you. The search for inspiration isn't something you launch yourself into when your hand starts itching. It's a habit you develop. Pay attention to the word around you. Turn news items on their head, and imagine different ways they could play out. When you watch a movie or a favorite TV show, think of different directions you could have taken the story, especially if plot turns in the story left you less than satisfied. Do the same with books. Listen to scraps of conversations and imagine stories around them. There's a local commercial about a local long term care hospital in which a woman is calling her mother from her cell while parked on teh side of w road. It goes something like this: "Mom, hi. You should get to the hospital. It's Dad." (pause) "He's walking." (pause). "I don't know how. Mom. he walked to me. He walked to me." The commercial sets you up for bad news about Dad, and the tone of her voice is flat, almost tense. So you're supposed to think, "Wow, they must be miracle workers!" But when I hear that commercial, my mind fills in a little more of the one sides conversation: "Mom, this is serious. What if he starts to remember?"
Absolutely, I get my hands on any book that interests me, whatever the genre is. Everytime I get an idea, I jot it down in my notepad. Unfortunately, the best of ideas come whilst I'm in bed to waiting sleep, so I've got to hold onto the idea until morning lol I always day dream, thinking about the simplest of things then patching them up to make a great plot. Thanks for all your help guys!
You know, I took a college fiction writing class last term, and we did a pretty good exercise to help us get ideas. This was it: 1) We had to write 1-2 pages about a character in third person. We were supposed to have the person doing something, but it didn't have to be all that important. One of the students in my class had the character going to Starbucks for example. My character was going to church with her parents. Just things like that. 2) Write a different scene in 1st person from the character's point of view. Some people had special ideas in mind when they wrote their pages, but a lot of people ended up developing a character and a plot line just from doing the exercise. Granted, our stories only had to be 10 pages long. But a few did seem like they could have sustained a novel if we'd tried.
Commit yourself to doing something you're obligated to do and then BAM! See how many story ideas come to mind when you haven't the time or ability to write them down. They're elusive, you know, surely some breed of animal related to the snipe. I steal time I don't have away from my other obligations to record their passing and shelve their bios for some future day. Meanwhile, so that your well-honed skills in spotting and trapping the story animal don't wear thin from disuse, be sure and capture the essence of at least one to nurse and coax into a pet of sorts ... just don't over-tame it! It must remain wild and free on the inside to invigorate the imagination of your reader while you whet your passion for words. . Either that or take a shower - I hear showers are the #1 idea generating tool of our generation. . Happy hunting....
Read books and watch TV/movies to get inspired. Have lots of life experiences. Jot down anything interesting. Then think of your idea - plan it out if you want, or write a synopsis- and then start at the beginning and finish at the end. Keep writing 'til it's completed and don't think of doing anything else to that manuscript until it's all down. That's literally all you can do. Good luck!
Ha! That always work for me too. When you're too busy with the rest of your life to even think about writing is when the ideas inevitably show up and you just need to write them down to not lose them.
Where to begin? Page 1, obviously! But seriously, I don't think it could just work that way. You need inspiration; you can't just force an idea onto paper and start writing about it. Even if you could, the story would suffer because there's no real passion or energy behind the idea. Perhaps take a break from writing, or at least serious heavy duty writing. Didn't you say you've JUST published novel #4? Take a rest. Inspiration will come to you.
For me, it's kind of different. I get small inspirations that I combine together over months and months of contemplation. I just keep gathering an idea in my mind and build it up. In the mean time I have school and books to keep me busy. But if I really want to write a novel but have no ideas, I settle for short stories or one of my activities where I just write for 20 minutes non stop, anything and everything that pops into my head...
