It’s the question every writer gets asked, whether it’s at a holiday dinner or happy hour. Where do you get your ideas?
I enjoy Neil Gaiman’s response to this question the best:
I’m convinced that story ideas are everywhere around us, much like The Force in Star Wars—they surround us, penetrate us, and bind the galaxy together.
Humans crave narrative forms. Whether it’s bedtime stories or the tales of past youth every older person tells us over and over. Which means we are all familiar with ideas as well. Story ideas bombard every one of us daily, whether it’s a scene you observe at the office or the supermarket.
What I’m trying to say here is that all of us are capable of recognizing the ideas that are staring us in the face. The problem is that we’re not always attuned to it. As writers, we’ve learned how to stop, look, and listen to the story idea presenting itself to us. All it takes is a lot of curiosity and a little bit of patience.
Of course, just because you have an idea doesn’t mean it will make a great story, or novel, or screenplay. Ideas are a dime a dozen and not all of them have legs. I’ve had my fair share of great story situations, but without interesting characters, tension, or something at stake, it’s tough to craft an interesting narrative.
So how do you learn which story ideas can go the distance? It’s all trial and error. Learning by doing. Not every story you write will be a winner. But after you’ve been writing for a while, you can just feel it happen. The elements of your story will lock into place, just like an Autobot transforming into a giant robot, ready for battle. And the only way to find out how to do this is by writing, and then writing some more. The cycle never ends.
Some of my best story ideas come to me when I’m not even thinking about them. For me, this typically happens when I’m performing the most mindless tasks. Taking a shower or taking a walk. These are the times when I come up with an interesting story idea or plot twist. That’s your unconscious mind, working behind the scenes to solve the problem you’ve thrown at it. Just make sure you write these ideas down before you forget them. Don’t tell yourself you’ll remember this great idea, because unless you write it down, it may be lost forever. Trust me on this one.
How about you? How do you manage to capture your story ideas?
What I’m Reading:
I’ve always been a fan of crime and detective fiction, I began reading classic writers like Chandler, Hammett, and Graham Greene in college. More recently, I’ve been following indie crime authors and discovered that many of them got their start in a great publication edited and published by the Big Daddy himself, Todd Robinson. That publication was called ThugLit, of course, and introduced the next wave of talented crime fiction authors including S.A. Cosby, Jordan Harper, and Nikki Dolson. Check out all of the back issues of ThugLit here. You won’t be disappointed.
What I’m Writing:
Speaking of detective stories, I’ve been reworking a story of mine that started out as a coming of age story. Now it’s a teenage private eye story that ’s been influenced by Chandler and Rian Johnson’s film “Brick.” Stay tuned for that one.
What I’m Listening To:
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I love music videos. Especially those from the 80s, when MTV actually showed them and they had stories to them. More recently, I’ve been posting movie music, another great love of mine. Here’s one of my faves, from the great British gangster film, “Get Carter,” starring the awesome Michael Caine:
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Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.