Where do ideas come from?
Writer’s block is the bane of a writer’s existence. Fortunately, ideas are available in abundance if you know where to look. Idea generation starts with picking relatively small details and building on them.
Ideas come from the world around us
Check the news and you’ll see that the world is full of interesting happenings, both good and bad. Imagine the events that lead up to the stories we hear about on the news. Imagine that a crash happened on the highway that’s causing massive travel delays. What caused the crash? Who was involved? What was going through the mind of the driver? What were they rushing towards? Or were they rushing to get away from something? Asking open-ended questions like these can enable you to invent stories based on the mundane (or not-so-mundane) news you hear about every day.
Ideas come from other stories
Think of all the “retellings” and “remakes” of popular stories, movies, and games. It’s easy to take an existing story and twist it in a different direction. What if the bad guy won? What if a side character was the main character? What if the story took place in a completely different location and/or time period? Changing one detail can completely change the trajectory of an existing story and result in something else entirely.
Ideas come from characters
Try starting with the people that make up a story. What backstory does a person bring with them? What would a person do in a particular situation? How would they interact with this person or that person? Imagine a young man fresh out of school leaving town to start a new job. He’s conflicted about leaving his younger sister behind with their dysfunctional parents. What would he do if he suddenly found himself at a crime scene? How would he interact with an off-duty police officer who’s caring for an aging parent? The mashing of distinct personalities with driving backstories in specific scenarios can spark scenes that lead into full stories.
Ideas come from writing prompts
Writing prompts are one or two-line ideas designed to get you started writing about any number of topics. Prompts are a dime a dozen (or even free), but they can at least give you a starting point. Find prompts online or in prompt books, such as mine.
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