Coming Up with Story Ideas & Beating Writer's Block
Many people who are not writers think that writing a novel is just the easiest thing in the world. Though every writer has a different approach, most people don’t realize 1) the amount of planning that goes into a novel, and 2) that writing is freaking hard. First, you have to actually come up with a good story idea. Then, you have to create complex characters, avoid plot holes, establish conflicts, maybe do a little (or a lot) of research, all while making it enjoyable to read. Never underestimate a writer. We can work some freaking magic.
If you’re a writer, then there are a lot of things we can commiserate over, but the worst is trying (and struggling) to find good ideas. You wrack your brain for some semblance of a plot that hasn’t been done 10,000 times, but all you hear is the dried remnants of your creativity rattling around between your ears. It’s frustrating, and it can really put a damper on your writer-ly confidence.
Luckily, every writer’s brain is different, and there are so many things in the world that can inspire you. They could show up in so many random places. That being said, my first piece of advice is this:
1) Pay attention
You never know when seeing/hearing/reading something with smack you in the face with an idea. Be prepared for things to pop into your mind at any second. I usually carry a journal around with me, just in case I find random inspiration, but if your cellphone has an application to take notes, that works just as well. Write things down, because it’s surprising how quickly ideas can be forgotten.
Some of my ideas have come from the most random places. Once, I was reading a used book I had ordered from Amazon, and as I was reading, a receipt from the first owner’s original purchase fell from between the pages. Amazingly, that receipt gave me an idea (that I really want to write but writing is so intimidating). Seriously, though, a receipt was all it took to get my creative wheels turning. Look through your bag, go people watching, go outside (I know. Gross). You never know what will inspire your next story.
2) Sleep
I know. For some of you, sleep is, at worst, a myth, and at best, an inconvenience. Unfortunately, I require an asinine amount of sleep to function. With that said, I am also an active and vivid dreamer. So vivid, in fact, that I have nearly full sensory function in my dreams, including taste and touch. Which is great until the nightmares roll around. Some of my best ideas have come from my dreams, and they are all incredibly different. It can be a blessing and a curse. Recently, I had a nightmare that left me running around the house, hyperventilating, and looking out the windows to make sure the world wasn’t on fire. Once I had calmed down, my first though was, ‘There’s a book in there.”
3) Media Overload
This is another case of ideas just popping out at you, so open your eyes and ears, and take it all in. Read. Watch movies. Listen to podcasts. Watch/read the news. I am NOT telling you this so you can take an idea that has already been done and tweak it a bit. However, you never know what you will come across. That random extra in a movie might inspire your next crime thriller. That off-handed reference to a mythical creature in a podcast might inspire your next fantasy novel. Maybe you’ll learn a new bit of information that will come in handy one day. Right now, it might feel like you’re filling your brain with useless information, but you never know what that information will grow in to.
Nothing is worse than writer’s block. You have a great idea, but you can’t seem to string any semblance of a decent sentence together. Sometimes, it blocks the flow of ideas all together. Luckily, all the methods mentioned above have helped me get over writer’s block in the past. There are many other things you can do as well, and it all depends on how your brain works and what gets the creative mojo flowing. I would also recommend simply taking a break. If you’ve been working on the same project for a while, and you’re feeling worn out, it might be a good idea to just walk away from it for a while. There was a project I was working on that I didn’t touch for a year, because I was not in the place to do the story any justice. Just set it aside for a while, even if it’s just for a few days. Let your brain recharge. Just like a strained muscle, that powerful brain of yours needs some rest and time to recover.
What do you do to find new ideas? Where have some of your best ideas come from? What strategies do you have to get over writer’s block?
