Before your story exists, it’s just a notion that you have. A spark, which at some point ignites.
It’s here where many stories are doomed from the start. Not every idea is of equal value. To find the best story ideas, you need to come up with hundreds of ideas, and then choose the best ones from those to develop.
The absolute best way to find a story idea is to go deep into your own heart and soul.
You’ll find a fountain of ideas to write about, and your writing will come alive.
Your stories will have the chance to truly move your readers. However, to write who you are, does not mean producing a fictionalized autobiography.
All writers have one autobiographical novel inside of them, and that is usually a great place to leave it.
These days, publishers are wary of autobiographical novels because the prospects of turning them into good sellers are practically zero.
The market does not want cliche fiction, standard characters or the same old tired plots. The key to satisfying this market, is to make your fiction sing with originality, and to write who you are.
Take a Look Inside
All writers should periodically take a good look inside themselves. Before you develop your next story, take some time to answer the following questions.
This creates what I call a “personality filter,” through which you’ll be able to generate original stories full of interesting characters:
- What do you care most about in this world?
- If you were to write your own obituary, how would you want it to read?
- What is your physical appearance? How do you feel about it? How does it affect you?
- What do you fear most?
- What are your major strengths of character? What are your major flaws?
- What are you good at? What do you wish you were good at?
- If you could do one thing and know that you would be successful, what would you do?
- What are three events from your childhood that helped shape you into the person you are today?
- What are some of your annoying habits?
- What secret in your life do you hope is never revealed?
- What is your philosophy of life?
By answering these questions, It’ll open up a door into your soul. From that viewpoint, you can better evaluate story ideas. Is the story your considering hitting a nerve inside of you? If not, why write it?
Here are 10 simple, fast and fun ways to develop your own unique story ideas:
The What-If Game
This is the oldest, and still the best creative game for the story writer.
Originality is nothing more than connecting familiar elements in unfamiliar ways.
The what-if game gets our minds thinking in such a way as to make those connections. The what-if game can be played at any stage of the writing process, but it’s especially useful for finding ideas.
Train your mind to think in terms of what if, and it will perform marvelous tricks for you. For example, when you read something interesting, ask yourself, what if? Let all sorts of connections burst forth.
- Read the newspaper asking “What if?” while reading each article.
- For every TV show or commercial you watch, ask, what if?
- Let your mind roam free.
- Write down your what-if questions on the master list.
Put the list aside and come back to it a few days later. Take what sounds promising and jot it down, and some more notes about it.
Your next story could start here.
Make a list
One of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury, made a list of nouns that flew out of his subconscious.
These became the fodder for his stories.
Start your own list.
Let your mind comb through the mental pictures of your past and quickly write one or two-word reminders.
Issues
What issues push your buttons?
Outrage is a great emotion for a writer. So start an issues list. Yours could include:
- Abortion
- Environment
- Gun control
- Presidential politics
- Talk shows
- People who text and drive
One way to write who you are, is to find the issues that press your hot buttons, then press them!
If you embody your moral viewpoint in a three-dimensional character who takes vigorous action to vindicate his cause, you’re virtually guaranteed a story packed with emotion and dramatic possibilities.
Character first
One of the best and fastest ways to get a story idea is through a character.
The process is simple, develop a dynamic character and see where he leads.
Visualizing
Close your eyes and see the first person who pops into your mind.
Describe this person. Put him down in a setting, any setting and see what develops. Later ask yourself, why is this character acting this way? What pattern of character is developing here?
Recreating who you know
Take a fascinating character from your past.
Don’t try to copy him, recreate him.
Give him a different occupation. Even better, change his sex. He becomes her. What would your crazy uncle be like if you were really a woman?
Obituaries
Everyday the newspaper runs obituaries.
These are character biographies there for the taking! Adapt them.
Take the interesting parts and apply them to a character of your own choosing. You can alter the age and the sex of the character and see how things play out.
The Worst Thing
Once you have your character, ask yourself this question—what is the worst thing that could happen to this person?
Your answer may very well be the start of a suspense story the reader just can’t put down.
Steal like Shakespeare
Yes, Shakespeare did it. The Bard of Avon rarely came up with an original story.
He took old plots and weaved in his own particular magic.
Now that’s a lot harder to do today. You can’t lift plot and characters wholesale, and pretend it’s an original story. But you can take the essence of another story and weave your particular magic into it.
You can switch key characters and conventions, you can follow the same story movements even as you add your own original developments.
Genre Adaptation
All genres have long-standing conventions.
We expect certain beats and movements in genre stories. Why not take those expectations and turn them upside down?
It’s very easy to take a western tale and set it in outer space. Star Wars had several Western themes (remember the bar scene?)
The Sean Connery movie Outland is like High Noon set on a Jupiter moon. Even the classic TV series The Wild, Wild West was simply James Bond in the Old West.
Brilliant genre adaptation has become part of our popular culture. Play with genres, conventions, and expectations.
Mix them up.
There are hundreds of ideas out there for you to make your own. Take advantage of that inexhaustible supply of story ideas, and use them on your next project.
Need editing or publishing help with your fiction story or memoir? I offer free consultation and personalized quotes. Let’s connect. Send me an email: griffinsmith74@gmail.com
