Ask any author how they come up with their ideas, and the reflexive response is likely to be, “It just comes to me.” That’s not helpful, however, if you’re having to ask yourself that question because your idea-well has temporarily run dry. It can easily happen at the start of a new year when you’ve made the decision to begin something new, or write a sequel to last year’s novel, or you just want to enter a writing competition. Often our brains are terrible teases, serving up numerous ideas that are completely “wrong” in the moment – wrong genre, wrong book series, wrong historical period, wrong age group...
Discovering how your mind works, how the spark of a story begins to flicker into existence for you, will allow you to light the flames of your creativity whenever you like, and fan them in the direction you need them to go. Browse through the 24 sources of inspiration listed below and see which of these resonate with you, and whether there are a few unexpected options you’d like to try out this year:
24 Sources of Story Ideas
- From other books/movies: where you didn’t like part of what was done with the story – come up with your own version that “corrects” the issue you have with it.
- From other books/movies: where you loved one or two particular themes, plot threads, characterisation elements, or other little nuggets – develop your own unique characters and play around with how you can use the ideas you love with your particular cast.
- From other books/movies: turn a tragedy into a comedy or vice versa. A romance into a horror story. A fantasy into a hard-boiled crime drama.
- From blurbs, teasers, posters, or trailers of books or movies you haven’t seen yet: what do you think the story is here? Who are the characters? What is going on? What do you think the mystery could be?
- From book/movie reviews and critiques: imagine these are describing a book you’ve written – what is the story that has resulted in these comments? As above, it’s best to work from reviews of books/movies you haven’t read/seen yet, and which don’t give away any spoilers or many details.
- From music: lyrics are often cryptic. What do you think it means? What story does it evoke for you?
- From music videos: these sometimes tell a different angle to the story of the lyrics.
- From something currently popular: how can you change it and make it your own. Remember that surfing trends is difficult unless you write extremely fast and are able to publish and launch on an accelerated schedule. Instead, consider twisting the trend and coming up with something a little different. Is the world into Vampires? Distil what a “vampire” is or means to you (supernaturally powerful, immortal, questionable morals, dealing with a curse that makes having a normal life impossible but perhaps desirable) and apply the criteria to something else, perhaps even a character or species of your own invention.
- From your own experiences: did something happen to you that you can barely believe? Did you develop a particular philosophy after a specific chain of events? Change the details, invent your own set of characters, and let them play out the important aspects of something with a grain of truth to it.
- From the mouths of babes: children come up with delightful and crazy stories sometimes. Just listen. Or engage and run with what they say. Make some notes. There might be something you can use in there.
- From conversations: talk to other people about their favourite books and movies, and about what they’re currently reading or watching. When you hear what other people like, and express what it is you enjoy, and then give yourself room to ruminate, your mind will offer up ways to incorporate a few choice elements into a story or two.
- Eavesdrop: sometimes you can pick up snippets of interactions between strangers and your creative mind will fill in the blanks in the most intriguing way.
- Observe and invent: watch people (but not in a creepy way). Imagine what their lives are like and what makes them tick. Make some notes about different types of characters, write snippets of description, and then incorporate these when you need a sidekick, love interest, or other supporting acts.
- Brainstorm a list of character traits and a separate list of motivations, behaviours, or plot threads, then use a randomiser (dice, draw out of a hat, or ask Siri/Google) to connect these in various ways until something jumps out at you.
- Revisit life stories told to you by elder members of your family (or other people’s families). An anecdote you’ve always loved to hear about can be drawn out into a full story with a cast of relatable characters with conflicting motivations and interests. Do change all the details, of course.
- Visual prompts: browse pre-made book covers for sale – when you find one that sparks a story idea, buy the rights to the cover and start planning and writing. The bonus is that your cover is already sorted. You can do the same with stock images, if you don’t immediately find a cover that works.
- Keep a dream journal.
- Do something else. Often the best ideas come to us in the shower or while washing dishes or sitting in a conference on money management.
- Read/watch the news. Current events are great fodder for stories. If you write historical fiction, then news from the same time period is invaluable. If your chosen era is further back than the 1600s, then look for writings from the time (if that’s possible) or credible authors writing about the era. Pan through books about archaeology and anthropology for historical idea-gold.
- Keep a folder of old ideas, deleted scenes, and characters who didn’t make the cut. You never know when you might be able to revive something you wrote long ago.
- Make a list of things you know – you can mine your own knowledge and experience and incorporate this into a story. The level of detail you can add will be a great asset.
- What don’t you know, but wish you did? Research time!
- Make a list of your loves, likes, hates, hopes, and fears. Be really specific, even if it means repeating line items with only slight variations. Anything spark any story ideas?
- Make unusual connections between things not usually found together. A political issue paired with… the Easter bunny? A dead body found on a tropical beach dressed head-to-toe in snow gear?
Bonus option: Have a “chat” with an AI about what you’re trying to achieve.
As you draw inspiration from other creative sources and from the world around you, remember that it is your own unique insights and experiences that turn an idea from derivative to distinctive, and result in a story worth reading more than once.
How about you? What is your favourite way to come up with a new story idea? Let us know in the comments!
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| Elle Carter Neal is the author of the middle grade fantasy The Convoluted Key (first in the Draconian Rules series), the picture book I Own All the Blue, and teen science-fantasy novel Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin (first in the Grounded series). Elle is based in Melbourne, Australia. Find her at ElleCarterNeal.com. Author photo by Amanda Meryle Photography |
Lightbulb image by Colin Behrens from Pixabay
Great list of places to get story ideas, Elle. My story ideas come primarily from what a character tells me when they appear. That is usually the start of a short story or a novel. Sometimes, though, I do have something I want to say about relationships or a social issue that is important to me.
ReplyDeleteSometimes characters feel very real and alive to us, don't they? Secondary characters, especially, can be very cheeky about trying to grab the limelight by getting up to interesting mischief... ;-)
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