How do you come up with quick story ideas?
Lani Lee 
asked:
I’m not asking for some, but how do you come up with them? Because I know some people that just get a great story just by typing. Like, it comes to them automatically.
But how can you get a good story idea right away? What is your strategy?
asked: I’m not asking for some, but how do you come up with them? Because I know some people that just get a great story just by typing. Like, it comes to them automatically.
But how can you get a good story idea right away? What is your strategy?
They don’t come to everyone quickly. They certainly don’t come to me quickly. You may have to learn to adapt to the slower method of coming up with ideas.
When I *have* to come up with something quickly, though, like for an assignment, I’ll look at a picture or painting and write a story based off of that.
this is easy when your bored just think or it can be about a dream youve had or when your out and driving just jot down notes just feel free when your sleep and bored or sad its so amazing trust me youll have alot of ideas and examine people around you they could give you ideas
I boil it down to who, where, what and how.
Who is the lead person in the story?
Where does the story take place?
What is the main character’s problem?
How does the main character solve their problem?
Life, pure and simple. Take a walk down the street, or search for photographs online. You can turn up thousands of hits for a single little word on Google Images (provided Safe Search is on *ahem*)
It’s what I’ve always done. The most beautiful things just pop out to me. My biggest problem is recording them, or remembering them so I can incorporate them into my story later.
Well, ray Bradbury says he just lists a series of nouns, and once he’s done brainstorming, he picks one out of the list and sees where it takes him. Ex: The Ravine, the Skeleton, the Carnival. All of these eventually became titles and inspiration for some of his most famous stories.
David Morrell (man who created Rambo) has a written conversation w/ himself. that’s how he eliminates writer’s block.
He also writes that the only thing u need for a story is conflict. His formula is “plot= conflict + motivation”. that’s all there is to it. Someone has a desire–doesn’t matter how trivial–and someone or something else tries to stop them from achieving it.
It’s just that simple. a man wanting to paint a house can be as compelling as a woman wanting to be the first astronaut to land on Mars so long as you dramatize how important the goal is to that person.
most other good stories start w/ a secret that someone is trying to not reveal. think up a secret that someone told you, fictionalize it, then write about it. change any telling characteristics, of course. or just come up w/ something that if it happened to you, you would want to keep secret
For me, I try to think of places I’ve always wanted to go or things I’ve always wanted to do, whether they are realistic or not. Also, do things completely unrelated to writing. Play a game of ping pong. Walking around in public really helps me too. I like going to the mall in particular. I always see things I want. Look at people and imagine what they are thinking. Think of a story for their life. Why are they doing something on that particular day.
I usually take my two favortie books and meld them together. Like my favortie books are Harry Potter and Twilight, so I make a secret city of creatures like wizards, werewolves, and vampires. This one girl, named Bella, has to get married to a guy named Harry, so she tries to escape to this magical city and stumbles upon a vampire whom she really likes! See how easy that was?
-jess