I often get asked where I get my ideas for stories, and how hard it must be to think of things. My problem isn’t coming up with ideas it’s finding the time to write them. I find ideas for stories everywhere: a snippet of conversation, an image or scene, news article or straight imagination.
I have a book where I jot down things I overhear, or cut-out articles from the newspaper, or images I’ve printed from the internet. I’ve had to stop doing it for a while because it’s easy to get distracted by the next shiny thing when you are struggling with the one being written.
Maybe that’s the difference between writers and non-writers – we see stories in everything. What do you think?
June 12, 2019 at 9:37 pm
I definitely agree that’s the difference between writers and non writers. My problem isn’t the lack of ideas either, I have tons! It’s the execution in getting them out. Like I’ll have a great idea and then when I go to plan it out it’s the stupidest thing in the whole world. Or I’ll start typing and I have the whole thing kind of planned out but the details evade me.
June 15, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Ah, see I’m a plotter and I see the story as images in my head so the details are never the problem =)
June 15, 2019 at 10:00 pm
For me, it’s more like I see one scene in my head, one pivotal moment in the character’s story, or like a few chapters or something. But it’s the surrounding details that mess me all up. Maybe that’s why I’m doing so well on this series I’ve mentioned on my blog, each installment is a short story in itself and they don’t really connect together lol
June 13, 2019 at 8:07 am
Isn’t it funny how easy ideas are? Non-writers don’t seem to get that. I’ve had people (I’m sure you have too) that tell me, “I’ve got a great idea for a story. I’ll tell you, you write it, and we’ll split the profits.” I always tell them to write it themselves. I’ve got plenty of ideas, thanks. (Harder when it’s my father, but still doable.)
June 15, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Oh yes! The writing is the hard bit!!
June 13, 2019 at 8:48 pm
Agreed, Liz! And the one time when a friend actually did have a great story idea, I told him – truthfully – that I valued our friendship too much to do a story with him. He knew he was no writer and I knew that when you use someone else’s idea it will end badly.
June 15, 2019 at 1:16 pm
That’s so true, Sue. Using someone else’s idea opens a whole wormhole of potential problems.