So here's the thing. I entered for a writing contest...And I haven't still been able to come up with a good story idea. I came up with one, and someone said it's too vague for a contest, although I've written just a page so far, I was thinking if to leave the contest, because coming up with a new story has really been an issue to me. I've googled every possible thing, but they haven't been of so much help...here is my last option it'd be great if I got help...
A family filled with misery, poverty, suffering and their different struggles (each family) to leave such a life... so the first part I've wrote was mostly an introduction on the members of the family and their different plans of stepping out of the life they lived.
I find that all my ideas start out pretty vague! My ideas, in their initial forms, are things like "what if Norse gods, but in modern day" or "what if Pride and Prejudice, but in space", and you can't get much vaguer than that. I reckon you should try not to worry about your idea being "too vague" for a contest, and instead just run with it - keep writing, and see what you end up with. That said, I don't think the idea you've mentioned is particularly vague! If you've got individual family members sketched out, that's pretty specific - so I'd say, go for it, see where you end up with these characters!
"The fact is, I don't know where my ideas come from. Nor does any writer. The only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn't collapse when you beat your head against it." --Douglas Adams
Contests are usually more about execution than anything! So long as the end results fit the guidelines of the contest, the vagueness of your idea doesn't matter.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
I always find that my story ideas start with some sort of inspiration. Almost like a little snapshot of a tiny part of the whole story, and then I build the rest around it. It's much easier for me to be creative if I have a starting point to build out from and that I'm really really excited about (I tend to get really really excited quickly).
I might see a cool picture in a gallery and think "that would make a great opening chapter", or I might think of a really weird character and start thinking about how they would interact with the world around them. Then I fill in the blanks and the whole story grows organically from there.
So if you feel your idea is too vague I would recommend finding something very very specific, just a small detail, that you're really excited about. Maybe they live in a house that was half-demolished by accident a while ago and they have to make do? Maybe the story revolves around them at the dinner table, telling each other of their struggles. The dinner table could be made out of an old door and the room lit with candles because there's no electricity anymore.
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