We’re all familiar with that feeling of ‘I want to write but I don’t know where to start’. It can be very difficult and intimidating to come up with new ideas.
It can be frustrating when you hear an author asked where they get their ideas. The answer will often be ‘Oh, from anywhere really, stuff that happens’.
I’ll be honest and say that, if you’re struggling for ideas, this is not a particularly helpful thing to hear. But it’s true that ideas are all around us and all you have to do is spot them.
But there are times when inspiration just will not come and it can be very frustrating. However, there are some very simple tricks to help you get started:
1 Written prompts – sometimes these come in the form of a sentence to start you off – for example ‘In my experience, those who beg for mercy seldom deserve it’. That was from a short story competition on the TV channel Alibi many moons ago. I entered the competition (didn’t win and so far haven’t used the story) and so did a number of my crime writing buddies given the number of short stories I’ve found using that opening line! Take that as a first line and see where it takes you. You could also use it as the last line of your story instead. You’ll see a few prompts popping up on my Twitter timeline in the next few weeks if you need a bit of help. Apologies that they’re likely to be most suited to crime fiction.
Is it a shipwreck or a ghost ship?
2 Pictures – I love using pictures as prompts. I’m currently writing a short story based on the image I’ve included here but you can use anything. There are so many photographs around on the internet or in magazines or anywhere really, so just pick one that appeals to you. When you look at the picture, ask yourself a few questions – who, where, what, how, why and what if. The last question is by far the most important and has served me well in generating ideas in the past. I’ll be putting some on my Instagram account this week, so pop over and check that out.
3 Games – A few years ago I attended a creativity in writing course. I’d been struggling with ideas and was feeling generally lethargic. We played word cricket, which gives you a one line prompt (as discussed above) and you just start writing (sounds scary, eh?) with a 10-minute time limit. However, you need a helpful friend to then fire random words at you every minute or so and you have to incorporate them into your story. I’m also currently working on a short story which is based on a game from Writers’ Forum magazine. Using a dice, you choose a two characters, two traits, a conflict, a location and an object to use as a basis of the story.
4 News stories – again, this sounds really bland, but if you approach stories with the questions ‘why’ and ‘what if’ in your head you’ll be surprised how far you get. For example, when I was writing A Deadly Rejection while working as a news reporter, the scenario I had playing in my head was ‘what if I got onto a story that someone wanted to hide – what would they do to stop me publishing it?’ If you’ve read the book you’ll know that it’s a bit more complicated, but that was my starting point.
5 Music – I have been known to base stories on the lyrics of songs. Not using the actual words themselves – you need permission from the artist to use them in your story or title – but more the story that they tell. For instance, as a crime writer, I look for the darkness in everything and even an (apparent) love song can become creepy.
The important thing is to keep the ideas coming. Even if you don’t use them straight away, make a note and pick them up again later. Then you’ll always have an idea waiting in the wings.
In the meantime, if you’re struggling for ideas, pick one of the points above and try your hand. It may feel like a really struggle at first, but if you get stuck, always remember to ask yourself ‘what if?’ That should help you get along.