Thursday, June 10, 2010

The really big question

Sometimes they come to me in a dream. Sometimes I wonder what if? Sometimes I see something on TV, or at the movies, or online, or on the street. The voices in my head tell me. If you’re a writer, these are all perfectly acceptable answers to the BIG question: Where do you get your ideas?

Roz over at Nail Your Novel has a great post here about getting story ideas for free. Check it out and tell me: Where do you get your ideas?

15 comments:

  1. Listening to people talk? Yeah, I've done that...on accident! At the park, at the dentist office, at the vets. Crazy conversation turn into to story ideas!

    ~JD

    ReplyDelete
  2. Listening to my characters, staring at the sky on a starry night, dreams, other novels. People in general can create the best stories just by watching them! You never know what you'll end up with!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi,

    More often than not an image I've seen lodges in the subconscious and the subconscious then builds on my interpretation of that image = in a dream I see the characters from my own imagination in cinematic glory (movie format), which I then have to put into words!

    I've made mention of one such novel on my blog inclusive of the picture that inspired the writing of the novel. It's a historical.

    best
    F

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mine just sort of happen. I can't ever claim inspiration. A random thought pops into my head so I jot it down. Sometimes it becomes a story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I get my ideas from fantasy art, movies, walks with the dogs, and driving in the car.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Frankly, it's a mystery. Sometimes it's something more formed, like seening a character in a book or movie, but often it's just a spoken line or a concept/problem that pops unbidden into my head.

    I really love it when that happens. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nothing fancy from me. There's an ever-flowing fount in my head, I guess...

    ReplyDelete
  8. My last big idea came while drying my hair and asking myself what if questions:) It turned into a 3 book series, so I think I'll stick with this method.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good question. Like Misty, I often get an idea while doing something mundane (vacumming, showering, drying my hair).

    Sometimes it's just a sentence that pops into my head. Sometimes a song. Sometimes a story I've seen somewhere else but want to spin another way. Sometimes it's a mash up of two stories...

    ReplyDelete
  10. For me it is almost always a 'what if' while I'm doing something ordinary and as soon as I ask myself that, characters pop in and take over. If it festers in my pea brain long enough, I put it in my Idea Notebook. If it keeps festering and niggling, then it gets written.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I typically write YA, so when I'm looking for a new idea I often ask my teenager what would make an awesome story. She is great for inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mine are almost always based on true events that I've felt, seen, or experienced. N

    ReplyDelete
  13. Weird as it might sound, my best ideas come to me while I'm driving.

    Stalled traffic, the mind that wanders a bit helped by some music, and some interesting item often pops up.

    The real trick is to keep hold of it until I can get home... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Silly question.

    The right question is where DON'T I get my ideas. ;P

    ReplyDelete
  15. I hate to admit it, but my best ideas come from dreams and long soaks in the tub. Silly, I know. But there it is!

    ReplyDelete