I've been trying to think of something to write but its just not coming to me. I thought about brainstorming idea's but when I sit there and think nothing comes to me. Any suggestions?
If you have a short story that could be expanded, that's one good way to go. Let life be your inspiration. Right now I'm working on a novel (which will have to be put aside for NaNoWriMo, sad day) that was inspired just by the fact that I miss my family and my home. Who knew a novel would come out of that? I just needed to write about it, and poetry didn't seem like enough. Pay attention to people around you - in the mall, in restaurants, wherever you go. People-watching is essential to good writing (to writing at all, in fact).
And the great thing about NaNoWriMo is - yes, they would LIKE your writing from November to become a more or less cohesive story - but it doesn't have to be. The point is just to write. First tip? Write whatever comes to mind. If you come up with a story idea and then halfway through you get writer's block, just write SOMETHING. Have the characters do something completely crazy. Have them take a trip to Paraguay. (I don't know why Paraguay, that was the first place that popped into my mind. See?)
Second tip: DO. NOT. EDIT. Editing takes time, and that's not what a first draft is for anyway! The first draft is just to get the story written. Don't worry that the writing sucks, or that you had your characters do something totally insane that makes no sense and has nothing to do with the story. Just go with it. If a scene isn't working, don't try to fix it - cross it out and start that part over. I've been doing that with my current novel, and usually what happens is the scene goes in a completely different direction than it did originally, and I usually like it a lot better. If dialogue isn't working, don't worry. If you HAVE to do something, cut some of it - one mistake most writers (including me) make is that they write too much - I don't mean too many words, per se, I just mean that we don't trust our readers. We feel we have to spell out every little thing for them, when really we don't. (This is the other thing I've become better at thanks to my novel - shortening dialogue so that it feels more realistic and less drawn-out.)
So I know I didn't actually give you any ideas (write about a girl who is struggling to write a novel in thirty days?), but I hope this helps you!
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