Idea Generation

Where do you get your ideas?

I get that question quite a bit. If you’ve read my author blurb, you’ve seen this:

His books reflect influences from novels, comic books, manga, and other cartoons/media, and he joys in blending in these elements in his books.

And that’s true – where my influences have come from.

But we’re talking ideas. Ideas are everywhere. It can be anything. Literally. From something your kids say, to somebody you see that looks kinda squirrelly while you’re on ay run, to someone who cut you off on your commute to work.

Anything in your daily life can generate an idea.

With regards the fantasy, the key that I’ve found is to take those little occurances and make them extraordinary. That guy who cut you off? Well maybe he was a goblin who just had an issue with a pixie who’d double-crossed him on a deal for some moon nectar and had to flee the scene.

See what I mean?

Or maybe when your kid says you they want a dog, maybe when you actually picked it up it was a shapeshifting Martian creature who’d escaped his old owner’s ship while he was vacationing in your little town.

It could happen.

The key to ideas is writing them down and having a place to store them (I use Evernote, word documents, and spreadsheets). Then you have them, and you can always refer back to them, pull out an old idea, and put it in a great new book.

Another thing that has helped me, is silent time. Sounds counter intuitive, but your brain needs that ‘reset’ or ‘refresh’ to get really creative.

Ever come up with a great idea in the shower? That’s cause your brain has had time to catalog what you’ve learned/been thinking about, and now you can connect the dots easier when your doing a ‘non thinking’ activity. Something where you’re on autopilot. Like a shower!

I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts and hear some podcasts on the value of meditation, or even not true meditation, but just being quiet where you don’t have the thousands of distractions that is our modern life right now. They have said, and I have also found, that when you quiet your mind and your surroundings is when you get some of the best ideas.

For me, it may not be and idea for a whole book or story, but for a scene in the book I’m writing. Or how my magic system would work (maybe how it would break). Or where in the world would a goblin who’d been double-crossed by a pixie be going in such a hurry?

If you’re still stuck, or want to have some fun and stretch your skills, there is a ton of resources online for ideas.

Some are writing prompts, others are story ideas that give you a place to start, or random name generators – all kinds of those things that can help get your juices flowing.

A fun exercise is to find one of those writing prompt sites (or Google it, or go on Pinterest), and find a prompt that jumps out at you. If you need more of a push, pick the third one you see, whatever it is.

Then write a story about it.

Doesn’t have to be long/good or anything you’ll publish.

But it will make you a better writer. You’ll be thinking better and more creatively.

Don’t think much at all actually, just write. And see where that character goes. Aim for short, maybe 500-1000 words. And have fun!

So be on the lookout for ideas. Everywhere!

Next post: Outlining. My favorite!