Young Writers Society

I really want to write a novel, but I have no diea what to write about. Any tips? There's millions of things in the world, I could write about anything at all, but why can't I think of anything I want to do? Is there a way to get some good ideas down, any kind of activities? Everythin just seems so overdone...please help!

Hmm.. That's a tough problem. All I can suggest is don't force anything out! Just start writing, don't think about it. Or make up a character, and think up a random situation to put that character in. I've found that as I shape characters, they have their own stories to tell. Odd, I know, and I know I sound a bit crazy lol. But I get certain feelings about different characters, like are they good? Are they bad?

Hey, there's a thought.. Write a story from a villian's point of view. I've only read one book like that, and it was EXCELLENT. It was really refreshing, because the "good guy" didn't win. There you go. Not overdone. If you don't use that idea, I definitely will lol!

Anyway.. Hope I helped at least a bit. Don't worry about it. You'll be inspired by something sooner or later, and the words will just flow from you. Have fun, and good luck!

one thing-don't borrow ideas if possible. i tried that for one part of my novels, and it didn't work at all. if it's not something that came from your mind, i wouldn't bother with it. (but that's me). and like crysi said, don't force anything. ever. it doesn't work.

The first thing I would do is put on some creativly stimulating music...then i'd just freewrite for as long as you can go. Or time yourself and make yourself write until the timer is up. Also reading books that inspired you and read them. You should always have something to write with and on where ever you go so that you can write it down. even if you don't use it right away or you think it's stupid, you never know! i've kept a running few notebooks with ideas and little notes for 4 years! I even write down words i think sound cool or sounds ( 'Dhu' for instance... I keep a list so i can use them in my language later!)

I'm sorry I'm writing as a Fantasy writer... I agree with Crysi and Mesh tho- don't rush or force anything! It won't work and you'll end up with wasted work (for example: Spending an entire summer creating a plot and then after 2 months or working on it throwing it out because you forced it and it's just stupid!)

I'm like mesh, I don't borrow ideas. It's just something I can't do. However, you could start with something that happened to you sometime, like how you felt about something and build up from there. I'm not good at this sort of thing, usually ideas just arrive.

My suggestion. Don't worry about doing something that is overdone. If it is done well, it won't matter. Think of a story that means something special to you. What are your favourite books/movies, and why? What sort of book do you want to read. Make notes on story ideas, topics, and themes you would like to explore. Maybe do a retelling of a fairy tale or a reinterpretation of a favourite myth. When I wrote my first novel, I started out writing a novel-version of my favourite movie, but ended up adding my own ideas for missing information and put my own personality and experience into the story.

I always think of a character and just how they look like there emotions. And from what they're feeling they tell me there story. Also like everyones been saying never force it. I once came up with a really good plot but i forced it so I eventually abandoned it because the magic of the plot went away.

The one thing that got my fingers rolling on paper, was drawing a map. I drew several places and them gave them names. Now you have this big piece of paper full of questions. What happened there? Who lives here? Why is this over here? Answer them! You'll get a rush of ideas! That's how I got my story going..