Finding Inspration Coming Up With Ideas

[danr62]

I wanted to find out how different members of the forums find ideas to write about. Do you do free writing, have an "AHA!" moment, find things to write about in everyday life, etc?

I am an avid reader of fantasy and have been since I first read Narnia when I was a kid. When I was in my early teens, I started to write a few books but never really saw them through. Ever since then, I have dreamed of becoming an author but never really moved forward with that dream. I figure it's time to start.

So, because I'm not really in the habit of coming up with ideas and writing about them, I wanted to get some of your ideas on how to get started with this. Thanks!

 

[Reaver]

I try to envision a world where I'd like to live, people I'd like to meet, places I'd like to go and creatures I'd like to see. For example: Imagine a world that's almost entirely covered in an ocean the color of polished sapphires. There are only four major land masses, each roughly the size of Australia and everything else is archipelagos or single islands. There are no polar regions and the average global climate is tropical. Now fill this world with as many races, religions, animals, monsters, cultures, etc. as your heart desires.
Hope this helps.

 

[Shadoe]

I have developed a filter in my mind. Everything that happens around me - dreams, current events, movies, tv, music, friends, Facebook - it all goes through the filter which asks, "Would that make a good story?" Most is filtered out, but anything that might be interesting goes into my idea file. Eventually, several ideas get together and gang up on me and create a story idea.

 

[ShortHair]

"Where do you get your ideas?"

If you are truly a writer, ideas will come to you. You shouldn't have to chase them and wrestle them to the ground. As Shadoe (and many others) note, the ideas will cluster together and reach critical mass.

If you are truly a writer, you have finished many books and thought, "I could do better than that." I write stories that are like the stories I enjoy reading, with all the parts I enjoy but without the parts I don't. As Reaver notes, it's selectively editing fiction and reality to construct your ideal world. Wouldn't you want to live in a world where you define everything?

 

[Reaver]

"Where do you get your ideas?"

If you are truly a writer, ideas will come to you. You shouldn't have to chase them and wrestle them to the ground. As Shadoe (and many others) note, the ideas will cluster together and reach critical mass.

If you are truly a writer, you have finished many books and thought, "I could do better than that." I write stories that are like the stories I enjoy reading, with all the parts I enjoy but without the parts I don't. As Reaver notes, it's selectively editing fiction and reality to construct your ideal world. Wouldn't you want to live in a world where you define everything?

Thanks for backing me up on this point with even better points, I really appreciate it.

 

[Shadoe]

If you are truly a writer, ideas will come to you. You shouldn't have to chase them and wrestle them to the ground. As Shadoe (and many others) note, the ideas will cluster together and reach critical mass.

I don't think ideas just come to you. Or they might, but you still have to train your mind to recognize them when they do. And you have to train yourself to develop the ideas you get. Anyone can have an idea. That and two bits will get you a candy bar, but not a novel. I used to wait until ideas just came to me, but I ended up with very few ideas. Getting the ideas, recognizing them when they come, and especially developing ideas when you have none is a learned skill.

That said, once you've trained yourself to get these ideas, they come to you all the time, from everywhere.

 

[Reaver]

I don't think ideas just come to you. Or they might, but you still have to train your mind to recognize them when they do. And you have to train yourself to develop the ideas you get. Anyone can have an idea. That and two bits will get you a candy bar, but not a novel. I used to wait until ideas just came to me, but I ended up with very few ideas. Getting the ideas, recognizing them when they come, and especially developing ideas when you have none is a learned skill.

That said, once you've trained yourself to get these ideas, they come to you all the time, from everywhere.

This is especially true in my case. It's certainly an innate ability that all writers possess, but like any ability worth having, you've got to hone it and refine it. Think of your creativity and ideas as gold going trough the crucible, once it's gone through that process, it's something very precious and beautiful.

 

[danr62]

Of course I do have a few ideas. They are however fairly broad concepts for a story. I don't really see these different ideas interacting together within a single novel or world. I suppose I'm looking for ideas on how to take these concepts and start expanding on them until I get a world, characters, and/or plot worth writing about to begin to take shape.

Here are a few ideas I have:

A slave must uncover the secrets of ancient magic in order to rescue the daughter of his master and win his freedom, and her love.

Magic is a fairly new force in the world in is poorly understood. Mages mostly figure things out on the fly which is very dangerous due to unpredictability. A band of mages come together to try to formalize the study of magic and come up with a way to teach it in a more systematic manner.

A magical spy/assassin discovers a dark plot by a group of cultists to replace the king with a doppleganger and has to thwart it.

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[Reaver]

Yes, but they're ideas for my stories. But I'll be glad to try and help you expand on yours, which are, by the way, excellent. You could have your slave character go on a quest to find a talisman or other object of immense magical power and along the way he learns through trial and error, about this new mysterious force. Perhaps he has or meets someone (from another time or world where magic is better understood?) to help him along the way.

The group of mages--what's their motive behind formalizing the study of magic? Is it for the betterment of all or for their own personal gain (i.e. power, wealth, absolute rule)?

The magical spy/assassin...what's his motivation? What does he gain by stopping the cult? Does he want to stop him because he's a good guy only interested in maintaining the stability of the kingdom or because he wants to gain favor with the king?

Have you tried fleshing out these players with some short stories or bios? It's something that I try to do when I need to figure out what makes a character tick. Try starting out with some standard D&D character sheets...or make your own to better suit your needs.
Hope this helps!

 

[danr62]

Thanks for the input.

With the group of mages my initial thought was that they would be doing it for the betterment of all. I would say that making at least one of them ambitious with the idea they could essentially control the future of magical learning is an interesting one.

As for the magical spy/assissin, he could hate his profession (especially if I go with the assassin idea) but be trapped in it. For instance, maybe everyone with magical ability in this kingdom is forced into this role? Instead of a cult with a dark plot, maybe he discovers a group of rebels that can somehow help him break free?

 

[Reaver]

Thanks for the input.

With the group of mages my initial thought was that they would be doing it for the betterment of all. I would say that making at least one of them ambitious with the idea they could essentially control the future of magical learning is an interesting one.

As for the magical spy/assissin, he could hate his profession (especially if I go with the assassin idea) but be trapped in it. For instance, maybe everyone with magical ability in this kingdom is forced into this role? Instead of a cult with a dark plot, maybe he discovers a group of rebels that can somehow help him break free?

I think you're on the right track with developing your ideas. I like that you're thinking of bringing some potentially serious conflict between the mages. The idea that anyone with magic ability being forced into a role (kind of like how China and the former Soviet Union does with people with certain abilities or aptitudes does) is very cool.

 

[Erica]

A lot of my 'ideas' have been buzzing around inside my head since I was a kid/young adult. They are the 'imaginary friends' I once had and the made up worlds I imagined when I build lego castles/cities as a child. They are the people/places I've visited and been when I have trouble falling asleep at night (hmm does insomnia trigger imagination or does imagination cause insomnia). Over the years, they've grown and changed, and I finally decided I should stop procrastinating and start writing about them.

The great thing, is once you start writing them down, you get new ideas and some of the 'minor players' assert themselves and become major characters/themes in their own right.

 

[Spring-Gem]

Of course I do have a few ideas. They are however fairly broad concepts for a story. I don't really see these different ideas interacting together within a single novel or world. I suppose I'm looking for ideas on how to take these concepts and start expanding on them until I get a world, characters, and/or plot worth writing about to begin to take shape.

Here are a few ideas I have:

A slave must uncover the secrets of ancient magic in order to rescue the daughter of his master and win his freedom, and her love.

Magic is a fairly new force in the world in is poorly understood. Mages mostly figure things out on the fly which is very dangerous due to unpredictability. A band of mages come together to try to formalize the study of magic and come up with a way to teach it in a more systematic manner.

A magical spy/assassin discovers a dark plot by a group of cultists to replace the king with a doppleganger and has to thwart it.

Anyone have any other ideas?

Have you tried clustering/mindmapping? When I have a story idea that needs fleshed out, I start clustering around the various elements of the idea usually starting with the characters. I use a 12x18 sketch pad so I can doodle and make lists on the side of the page. I put down anything that pops into my mind no matter how ordinary or ridiculous it may seem. The page gets very messy, but this process lets my subconscious mind play until things start to click together. I tend to ask a lot of questions either within the cluster or along the side of the page. It's often helpful to set each cluster aside for a day or two then revisit it to see if anything else comes to mind. Sometimes a cluster will spill over onto a second page. I use a new page for each character, worldbuilding, conflicts, etc.

I bought Inspiration, a mindmapping program several years ago. There are also free mindmapping programs you can download. However, I find that using pen and paper works better for me.

Hope this helps.