writing tips

Tip #1: IDEAS!

Where Are They, How Do You Get Them, And How Do You Keep Them Flowing?

By far, the single most common question asked of professional writers is, “Where do they get their ideas?”

For many writers, it can be difficult sometimes to find inspiration. Ideas seem to be like mining for gold. A lot of hard work, sweat & tears, with very little yield for the effort.

It’s often when we stop mining, however, that ideas shimmer right there before us. Whether the ideas are more akin to fool’s gold or a genuine nugget, only time will tell, but the less you try to “find” ideas, the easier they are to discover.

While we’d all like to think we can generate our amazing ideas within, a writer doesn’t always need to look inside for those ideas of gold. More often than not, it’s in the outside world that is the perfect place to source great ideas.

And without doubt, the two single greatest reserves in the world for ideas come from:

Media
People

Media

Modern media is a flood of ideas, and in this information age, you have absolutely no reason to draw a blank. Ever!

Anything from books, magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, interviews, podcasts, social media, internet search engines, movies, documentaries, Wikipedia etc, are all great sources of inspiration. Tune in. Learn. Discover. Create.

People

People provide so many ideas. Best of all, they’re walking and talking everywhere around you. From phone calls with friends, interactions with a handyman, retail staff, your spouse, child, boss, neighbour — they are all giving you ideas, whether they’re ranting, discussing or gossiping.

They are all constantly telling you what they, or the entire world, needs. You don’t have to have great ideas if you can hear great ideas. All you need to do is listen. It’s that simple.

Take Inspiration From Songs

Tune into song lyrics, see if they inspire or ‘speak to you’ enough to expand upon to tell a fantastic tale. There’s so much great music out there, with equally striking lyrics to match, that even a simple line could lead to a potential book/screenplay/blog post idea to easily manifest itself.

Read Books/Passages

Like music above, read a good book or look for passages or topics to inspire you. Any powerful words can easily generate so many story variables. Often a strong, well constructed, thoughtful sentence is enough to conjure up some incredible visual imagery.

Investigate Historical Events and/or Tell Stories with New Perspectives

There will always be a demand for tales told from new perspectives, whether writing about history or fiction set in an historical background. It doesn’t have to be a famous historical event either (though that helps). Find any relevant, known or unknown historical event that an audience will deeply care about and become invested in.

Stories, past events, people’s thoughts and emotions, it’s all there to be mined.

Summary

Ideas are out there in every way possible. Use and engage all your senses (Sight, Sound, Smell, Touch, Taste, ESP). Before you know it, like most established, professional writers, you’ll have a folder brimming with ideas. One that will invariably overflow, and one where you’ll need at least five lifetimes to get everything written down.

The truth is that you have more great ideas than you could ever write. Really, you do! The problem isn't a lack of great ideas; it's that you just have to listen, observe, be mindful, discover, and research things around you. It’s that easy.

If you still can’t find an idea after all those endless possibilities, then you could always write about a person who couldn’t find ideas. Happy writing!