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Ways to get ideas of what to write



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Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:46 am
Kitkat_1122_ says...



I thought that since I have been asking for advice recently that I would give out some tips that I know about getting ideas of things to write.
Some ways that you can get ideas of things to write are:

*Read the newspaper. Look for titles that catch your eye, you may get inspired by that. Or you could just read the articles, I read one article today in an old news paper and it mentioned something that caught my eye and gave me an inspiration and a vague idea of a story that has potential.

*Dreams are another way I have gotten ideas of what to write. I remeber one dream that seemed like it could be made into a good story. If you want to get ideas this way you should probably get a notebook or journal to write down your dreams as soon as you wake up so that you'll rember them.

*Be aware of the things around you. You may see someone doing something that may inspire you, like you may see a lady walking quickly with a huge bag that looks worn. This might inspire your story to have a lady trying to hide from the police because of a worn bag that reads "Do NOT open" on a tag. Or it could be as simple as a plant growing in an unlikely spot that may inspire you to write a novel about how there is a certain medicine plant that is the last of its kind, and your character needs it to save herself.

I hope this makes any sense.

-kitkat_1122_
  





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Tue Jan 30, 2007 6:04 am
Loose says...



that does make a lot of sense actually. Ill try these things out. Thanks for that ;)
  





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Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:00 am
Myth says...



I already do the above, mostly dreams. I have a lot of freakish dreams and many have helped move a story along. Old pictures help too.
.: ₪ :.

'...'
  





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Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:48 pm
Wiggy says...



Yeah, newspapers and dreams are great. I've read a lot about doing that in Writer's Digest. :D

I also think just sitting around and looking around you helps. A lot of the time, it takes awhile for an idea to ferment in my mind, and I usually forgot where it orignally came from. Regardless, I have the idea and I'm off on a roll!

Good luck, and keep writing!
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:44 pm
Cade says...



The best ideas often come when I'm doing homework or when I'm in the shower. It's a little easier to open up a Word document and type or write on a piece of paper while doing homework than while in the shower.

Another thing I do sometimes is write down whatever comes to mind before I go to bed. Not like a journal, just a scraps container for poetic ideas. It's like purging oneself of all those genius phrases lurking in the back of one's mind before they run away in the night, undiscovered.
"My pet, I've been to the devil, and he's a very dull fellow. I won't go there again, even for you..."
  





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Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:56 pm
Lilyy03 says...



Cool! :D I'm not the only person who gets my best ideas while in the shower...

Dreams have been a good source for me too. I've gotten ideas for characters, scenes, even little phrases of description from them...

Freewriting is nifty too. I'm surprised how many more ideas I get down from just writing continuously than from thinking hard and jotting things down.
  





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Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:39 pm
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Magyk says...



Like you, I find that dreams can be a great source for ideas. I also find day-dreaming or even doodling without thinking can be a brilliant help. If you doodle lots, look at it for a few minutes after wards and get inspiration from that. I find this helps me and can make a story even more exciting and less predictable than planned. That might not make sense to you but it certainly helps me in getting my ideas.
  





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Thu Feb 15, 2007 1:33 am
Cade says...



Lilyy03 wrote:Cool! :D I'm not the only person who gets my best ideas while in the shower...


Well, you don't have much else to do in the shower, besides wash and shave, so thinking (or singing) inevitably follows, especially when you're just in the shower because it's warm and you don't want to go back to the cold bathroom...

Colleen
"My pet, I've been to the devil, and he's a very dull fellow. I won't go there again, even for you..."
  





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Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:20 am
xtenx says...



Good tips! I have come up with countless ideas from dreams and my surroundings. Simple things can be so inspiring. I haven't really been able to use the newspaper much though. I read the Globe and Times daily, but don't often feel inspired.

I come up with stories sometimes on sleepless nights...those nights when I can't fall asleep because I'm consumed by thoughts. I'll play games to distract myself almost- hypotheticals. Just simple "what if..." And it leads me to throw ridiculous ideas at myself. Sometimes when I wake up, I remember some of my hypotheticals, and they become the basis of a story.
-Kristen

So I just try, fail and try, and try again- and someday I swear I'm gonna get it. 'Cause I'm convinced, giving in is the worst thing there is.--Straylight Run
  





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Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:23 pm
HeadInTheClouds says...



Strangley enough I find that my best ideas come to me late at night when i'm trying to get to sleep. It always takes me a while to fall asleep, so I just let my mind drift and find that that's when I come up with my best ideas. I'd write them down, but i'm usually too tired and forget, and then they're gone by morning. I also find that I write best when i'm relaxed and don't even mean to write anything special.
If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron

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Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:36 am
BrokenSword says...



Sometimes writing any words that come to my mind help me to get over a case of writer's block or to help me start writing a new story. For instance, if I was writing a chapter/story in the mystery or crime genre, set in London, but didn't have anything else other than that, I would write: fog, cold, black, blue, wet, smells, cat, trash, quiet, cold, icy, crisp, walking, coat, hand, pistol, breathing, cold, ears, lips.

It sounds bizarre, but it does help. Now I have a man who could be a police officer or a criminal, perhaps walking down the cold, foggy streets of London, while stray cats hide in the trash cans and watch him pass by. Now it becomes easier to write about what he is thinking, where he is going, what he is doing at the moment. I don't know if that makes any sense but it can help me sometimes.
  





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Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:23 pm
Esmé says...



Ideas - ah, I have to much of them. Usually the problem is writing them all down and actually choose one of them, haha.

I don't really have any method, they just come... I don;t know... I mean, they do. They come and go, and come again and go and come. And yeah. They're always there.

-elein
  





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Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:32 pm
Myth says...



BrokenSword wrote:Sometimes writing any words that come to my mind help me to get over a case of writer's block or to help me start writing a new story. For instance, if I was writing a chapter/story in the mystery or crime genre, set in London, but didn't have anything else other than that, I would write: fog, cold, black, blue, wet, smells, cat, trash, quiet, cold, icy, crisp, walking, coat, hand, pistol, breathing, cold, ears, lips.


London isn't always foggy and we call 'trash can' dustbin or rubbish bin. But that is a good way to get things started.
.: ₪ :.

'...'
  





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Fri Feb 23, 2007 5:44 pm
BrokenSword says...



Myth wrote:London isn't always foggy and we call 'trash can' dustbin or rubbish bin. But that is a good way to get things started.


LOL...shows how much I know, doesn't it? :P
  





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Fri Feb 23, 2007 5:55 pm
magiclukehutch says...



Loads of people say this and they are right. Where di9d you get this from?
Always happy to help!
  








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