Finding Your Ideas
I’m often asked ‘how do you come up with your ideas?’
Actually, being a fantasy writer, I’m almost never at a loss. But I know other folk aren’t as lucky (or as unlucky, it’s a real pain sometimes, all these stories sloshing about inside). Here’s some tips to help you find your ideas, with examples of how these have worked for me.
6 Ways To Generate Ideas
Inspiration. This doesn’t actually happen that often. It was how I wrote A Necklace of Souls though – I had a dream, and scribbled it down.- What ifs. I tease out an idea I’m interested in. I did this for Inner Fire, because I was interested in the idea of facial recognition technology, and what might happen if someone might be able to change their face at will.
- People I meet. My boss’s daughter works in a shoe-shop, and somehow that morphed into a Cinderella remake. Go figure! (That’s in Upon a Time, in case you’re wondering.)
- Family stories. I once wrote my grandfather’s story – he was a conscientious objector in World War One. This was published in The School Journal, Feb 2012, which made my entire family very happy!
- Change up an old favourite. – That’s my entire Upon A Time collection, as they’re all retellings of fairytales.
- Look online. There are some great ideas on this tumblr blog (Writerswrite.org). I’ve also pinned images on my pinterest boards to act as story inspiration.
Special (new blog) Bonus!
I know a lot of teachers and students visit my site, so I’ve made a special resource called 6 Ways to Find An Idea.
These are printable, totally shareable charts for school/university/college (or just for general fun). You can download them here, or click the box above.