Where Do I Get My Story Ideas From?

Ideas can come from anywhere. The important thing is to capture those ideas when they hit you. The problem I find is that ideas have this mean habit of landing on you in the most inconvenient places. I can be there in the shower and a great thought flits into my head, or I'm in the middle of a run and there it is, an idea bouncing around inside my brain.

There have been times when I wake up with a sentence or even a paragraph, and I have to capture it straight away. If I don't, it's in danger of doing a kangaroo hop into the world of forgotten words. I now carry a notebook with me everywhere - just a little one.

Then when I'm watching TV, overhearing a conversation, reading an article, or just finding something weaves itself into my mind, I can capture enough to be able to work it up into a usable titbit later.

Where, then, can you get your ideas from? Here's a few thoughts that might help you:

A news article - the website kind that is used for click bait is good, as well as any story that feels a little unbelievable.
A documentary - reality or American ones are great for throwing up a story that you can work with.
Listening in to conversations that are happening around you in cafes, on public transport or standing in queue. There's some great little moments, motifs of life.
Things that have happened in your family in the past - they can influence a story without having to be the story.
Asking philosophical questions such as 'what would life be like if you couldn't see?' 'how would people react if the prime minister turned dictator?' 'what kinds of people use coercive control?' and so on.

Jot questions down, keep cuttings out of newspapers and magazines, keep a list of names you like for characters, buy postcards that inspire thoughts for you. I always feel output is influenced by input, and so writing the kind of novel you want to create will be influenced by the kinds of things you watch, read, do. And they'll be sitting there ready for you if you store them.

By the way, if you're someone who likes to work completely digitally, try Evernote. It's an app and software that allows you to create the online version of a set of filing cabinets for all those things you come across and want to keep.

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