How do you come up with ideas for chapters?

[Netardapope]

Greetings, Scribes, I think this is a question that's hounded by a certain degree of mysticism in the way it can be answered. This is one of those that can only have a subjective answer rather than one that is objective. So I was wondering how all of you guys get the inspiration to write a chapter or particular moment in your story?

I hear that many writers get inspiration from the themes that they're trying to build upon or maybe a desire to see their characters in a certain scenario. And while I do get these from time to time, most cases in which I'm writing fun scenes usually occur because a random, vivid, and atmospheric image just pops into my mind. For example, in my second novel, my inspiration for the first scene was just this idea of a cloaked figure dashing through the moist alleys of a port city during a storm. I hadn't known what character I wanted to take the role yet, nor had I known why they were running. But I could see it as clear as day in my mind.

It wasn't so much the potential it had for a plot that enamored me with the scene, but rather the "vibes" that the scene was giving off. I could feel the raw emotion of my frantic hypothetical character running through the night, being chased by guards and the like. I could see the pale moon cloaked behind grey clouds, and the shadows of buildings hiding my character's flight. All in all, I felt this sense of immersion that you only get when you first start your manuscript.

I don't think I'm alone in this way of thinking, and I'd be happy to know of any particular images that got you head over heels for a certain chapter or scene. And if you don't think the way that I do, I would love to hear about the ways that you personally come up with scenes.

 

[evolution_rex]

Similar to you. Certain images come to me, and every once in awhile I jot them down and I'll see what fits together and see if I can't make a story out of it. Other times it's a simple premise I come up with like 'what if some guys who do a podcast on paranormal internet phenomena discovered an ARG that actually had something nefarious behind it?' or 'What if you mixed Jurassic Park, Pokemon, and 1984 together?' My current WIP came together after reading a ton of creepypastas on the internet one day, and that inspired me to come up with some of my own ideas which I wrote down, and then mixed it with other ideas and turned it into a completely different beast.

If I want to invoke a specific feeling when writing, the only way I know how do that is to surround myself with something of the same genre, style, and subject matter. I've been reading and watching a lot of horror because my WIP is horror, and I often look at a lot of creepy art. I feel being surrounded by what I'm writing just helps me understand it, and then hopefully that understanding comes through when I write.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I know what you're talking about in terms of images coming to me that inspire scenes, but not quite in the same way. I'll just get an idea I love, sometimes an image or just a feeling, and i know it belongs in the story. Sometimes i get an idea for a few snippets of dialogue (I act them out in the shower on occasion) and i have to write it down as soon as possible. Sometimes a scene comes from a setting I want to use. In each case, the scene sort of...comes together in my mind, unbidden, and I roll with it.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Sometimes I get these vivid images or ideas that i cant get rid of an i have to try to use them in a story. For example, i have this vision of a girl with one green eye and one yellow eye. Her hair is tangled and she's holding an antique-looking lantern. There's a wolf at her side. Who is she? I don't know yet.

 

[Netardapope]

I know what you're talking about in terms of images coming to me that inspire scenes, but not quite in the same way. I'll just get an idea I love, sometimes an image or just a feeling, and i know it belongs in the story. Sometimes i get an idea for a few snippets of dialogue (I act them out in the shower on occasion) and i have to write it down as soon as possible. Sometimes a scene comes from a setting I want to use. In each case, the scene sort of...comes together in my mind, unbidden, and I roll with it.

There's something magical to it too, this feeling that you need to write it before it goes away from you. In my experience, I have to run to the laptop before I miss even the smallest detail of a scene. It's both wondrous and frustrating at the same time!

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[DragonOfTheAerie]

There's something magical to it too, this feeling that you need to write it before it goes away from you. In my experience, I have to run to the laptop before I miss even the smallest detail of a scene. It's both wondrous and frustrating at the same time!

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Exactly! It just comes to you and you have to get it down before it goes away.

 

[Penpilot]

Yeah, I get those flashes of vivid imagery. And yes, I always want to write them down and capture the moment so to speak. Sometimes they come to me as dreams. BUT it's a fifty-fifty proposition as to whether they're useful to me or not.

Usually, the ideas from my chapters/scenes come from the needs of the story. If I need to convey plot elements A and B, world elements C and D, and character elements E and F, I design my scenes so that those things can come out naturally.

Sometimes it fits with one of those flashes. Other times, not so much.

 

[evolution_rex]

Sometimes it's not always imagery but phrases. I was once on a walk at night and saw the moon, and then saw a dried up orange peel in a crescent shape and so I said to myself 'orange peel moon'. Don't ask me how, but I completed a whole outline of a dystopian noir story all from that single phrase.

I remember director David Lynch created the film Lost Highway because he read the phrase 'Lost Highway' in a book and liked the way it sounded. So then he called up the author and they worked together to create an entire story all based around that.

 

[Miskatonic]

Are you talking about how you order the chapters in your novel or the content for individual chapters?

 

[Ireth]

Sometimes it's not always imagery but phrases. I was once on a walk at night and saw the moon, and then saw a dried up orange peel in a crescent shape and so I said to myself 'orange peel moon'. Don't ask me how, but I completed a whole outline of a dystopian noir story all from that single phrase.

I remember director David Lynch created the film Lost Highway because he read the phrase 'Lost Highway' in a book and liked the way it sounded. So then he called up the author and they worked together to create an entire story all based around that.

And don't forget the very well-known example, "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit."

My ideas come to me in a lot of different ways. My main WIP came to me by a convoluted chain of "what ifs" and "what thens", and it started out as something completely unrelated to what it is now. And I do mean COMPLETELY -- the initial idea involved a woman with a werewolf-like curse, pirates, and a masked warrior searching for his kidnapped daughter. Then I latched onto the idea of the father and daughter, and wondered what the daughter might be up to... Oh, she was kidnapped by the Fair Folk. Awesome.

In the midst of that, I took inspiration from a book called The Hunter's Moon, and used what ifs to flip it on its head. Young female heroine kidnapped by a Fae who falls in love with her, and she with him? Nah... What if the Fae is an a-hole, and she hates his guts and tries to escape? What if he's not the king, but a prince out to steal the throne? What if her dad has to find her before a certain day of he year or she'll be lost to him forever? That sort of thing.

 

[Netardapope]

Are you talking about how you order the chapters in your novel or the content for individual chapters?

I'd be speaking about the content inside of it. Like, what are those things or that process that fires you up, and gives you that idea of what you want to put in that segment of your story. Sometimes it's an image, other times a word or phrase. So feel free to share!

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[Netardapope]

And don't forget the very well-known example, "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit."

My ideas come to me in a lot of different ways. My main WIP came to me by a convoluted chain of "what ifs" and "what thens", and it started out as something completely unrelated to what it is now. And I do mean COMPLETELY -- the initial idea involved a woman with a werewolf-like curse, pirates, and a masked warrior searching for his kidnapped daughter. Then I latched onto the idea of the father and daughter, and wondered what the daughter might be up to... Oh, she was kidnapped by the Fair Folk. Awesome.

In the midst of that, I took inspiration from a book called The Hunter's Moon, and used what ifs to flip it on its head. Young female heroine kidnapped by a Fae who falls in love with her, and she with him? Nah... What if the Fae is an a-hole, and she hates his guts and tries to escape? What if he's not the king, but a prince out to steal the throne? What if her dad has to find her before a certain day of he year or she'll be lost to him forever? That sort of thing.

I've had similar things happen to me, when one massive idea breaks apart into multiple tiny ideas, which give rise to even LARGER ideas. The brain can be such a bother sometimes, spitting out ideas like it's no one's business [emoji19]

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[SaltyDog]

Greetings, Scribes, I think this is a question that's hounded by a certain degree of mysticism in the way it can be answered. This is one of those that can only have a subjective answer rather than one that is objective. So I was wondering how all of you guys get the inspiration to write a chapter or particular moment in your story?

I hear that many writers get inspiration from the themes that they're trying to build upon or maybe a desire to see their characters in a certain scenario. And while I do get these from time to time, most cases in which I'm writing fun scenes usually occur because a random, vivid, and atmospheric image just pops into my mind. For example, in my second novel, my inspiration for the first scene was just this idea of a cloaked figure dashing through the moist alleys of a port city during a storm. I hadn't known what character I wanted to take the role yet, nor had I known why they were running. But I could see it as clear as day in my mind.

It wasn't so much the potential it had for a plot that enamored me with the scene, but rather the "vibes" that the scene was giving off. I could feel the raw emotion of my frantic hypothetical character running through the night, being chased by guards and the like. I could see the pale moon cloaked behind grey clouds, and the shadows of buildings hiding my character's flight. All in all, I felt this sense of immersion that you only get when you first start your manuscript.

I don't think I'm alone in this way of thinking, and I'd be happy to know of any particular images that got you head over heels for a certain chapter or scene. And if you don't think the way that I do, I would love to hear about the ways that you personally come up with scenes.

I write pretty organic, and if an idea pops up, I'll run with it like a madman, building the pictures, scenes and stuff as I go. I then write until the scene has been done justice, then I come back and edit. So, random, like you, lol. It works though! Some of my best chapters have been inspired by completely random ideas!

 

[Netardapope]

I write pretty organic, and if an idea pops up, I'll run with it like a madman, building the pictures, scenes and stuff as I go. I then write until the scene has been done justice, then I come back and edit. So, random, like you, lol. It works though! Some of my best chapters have been inspired by completely random ideas!

That last sentence is one of the greatest truths I've learned in the writing process. Some of the best story arcs I've created don't even find themselves in the initial outline of the story!

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[DragonOfTheAerie]

Songwriters experience this too, I think; they get a catchy lyric stuck in their mind and have to write a song about it...