Finding ideas for stories

[MichaelB]

You’ve probably heard the expression ‘write about what you know’. You’ve probably been told that by a teacher, a writer, a university lecturer, or a friend. While this is good advice, a lot of amateur or first-time writers struggle with it.

“But how can I write about my own life? Nothing interesting ever happens to me.” There lies the problem: many amateur writers believe that in order to write something good, they must write about something interesting. But what makes something interesting? Many people who want to write usually think that interesting things include car chases, forbidden love, or government conspiracy. In short, they search for drama.

But life is rarely about drama, outside of movies and television. There are subjects for stories, and indeed, there are stories themselves, ready for the telling, everywhere you look. Yes, even within your own life. That old lady on the bus who always wears her cardigan over her head, or that boy stapling ‘lost dog’ posters onto telephone poles, or that conversation you overheard on the train: everywhere you look there is a story to be told.


“But how do I find the story amongst all of that?” There is never a golden rule for finding a story– every author is different, every writer has their own methods. But no single writer gets a story without listening, observing, and asking questions.
Who is that lady? Why is she wearing that particular hat? Is she going to a wedding or a party? Whose party is it? She might be going to see her family, or to take part in a game show, or to attend a wedding (or a funeral, or a baby shower, or a christening, or…)


The point of asking yourself questions is to generate answers. They don’t have to be right. They don’t even have to make sense. Just look at someone on the bus, ask yourself who they are, where they come from, and where they’re going.

Why does he look so angry? He might have had an argument with his wife, or his brother, or his boss. What’s the argument about? Perhaps he wants to move house, or change jobs, or buy a new car or a new pet iguana. Has he perhaps bumped into an ex-lover or high-school sweetheart? Or a high-school bully? What’s the significance of the chunk missing from his nose? Was he a soldier, or just a pub brawler? I wonder if he’s got children…

Ask yourself these sorts of questions, and build up a family and a history for this stranger on the bus, until you have a story. Let your train of thought follow naturally from one question to the next, don’t try to go backwards to ask a completely different question. A natural progression of ideas will help you to build a more natural character.

“Until I have a story? That’s too vague! I just want to write!” In recent years, the trend has been toward writing about everyday life. Most people go through their entire lives without once robbing a bank or flipping a car, or being involved in a forbidden romance. That doesn’t mean their lives were boring, or that they weren’t worth writing about.

Ernest Hemmingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” (1939) is about nothing more exciting than ‘trying new drinks and looking at things’, but it is compelling. It’s compelling not because of what happens, but because of the characters, and how they are portrayed. The characters have a presence in the story, they have a history outside of the story, and very strong personalities (and I don’t mean ‘strong’ in the sense of dominating or flamboyant- I mean you can get a feel of the character’s personality through their dialogue and their actions.)



By now, I’ve waffled on for quite a bit about the importance of observing everyday people, asking yourself questions about them and finding the story in the everyday, and not just in exciting car chases. Now let me move on to another aspect of idea-generation– writing from the imagination.

"I don't have time to ride the train for hours to observe people!" One thing you can do to generate ideas in the privacy of your own home is to free write, or free associate. There are two ways you can do this: with stimulus, or without.

With a stimulus, simply look at a photo, or hold and object, or read a quote or a message (even a text-message or an email will work) for a few minutes, and then put your pen to paper and write. Don’t think about what you’re writing, and don’t go back over and change what you have written. Don’t stop writing, either. Keep the pen moving, even if you just write ‘I am out of ideas’ three times. I once ended up with sixteen repetitions of ‘and’, during one session. Writing without a stimulus is harder, but your ideas are less restricted. Without looking at anything in particular, just start writing. Dive straight into your subconscious with a pen in your hand, and write whatever comes out.

“Write down the thoughts of the moment: those that come unbidden are often the most valuable” –Ernest Hemmingway

It’s better to free-write by hand, no matter how messy your handwriting, because the physical act of moving the pen can act as a sort of stimulus for ideas itself. If you find yourself falling short of words, you could describe the feel of your pen as you write; its colour, its movement, its texture and the glint of light off the fresh, wet ink. It will take practice and dedication, but soon you’ll be up to your ears in potential short stories.

My very general rules for developing story ideas:

1. Observe, ask questions, listen to conversations, involve yourself in your community.
2. Free associate without thinking about it, either with or without a focus object or picture.
3. Don’t think about what you write, or try to choose the right word in the first draft- get it down first, revise later.
_____a. If you have to think of what word to use, you probably shouldn’t use it. Use the words that come most naturally to you, and you’ll connect with the widest audience.


Feel free to add anything you think I've missed or overlooked.

[lethallylovely]

This is a helpful article, as it doesn't imply, like most do, that ideas just come from nowhere and there is no 'method' of having them. It answers alot of frequently asked questions. I like the part about observing people, that would help me alot if I was a beginner. It's a method I should probably use more often. Well done :)

[Anne Marie]

I find that writing about something quite ordinary from a different angle can make something that may seem uninteresting at first very interesting. I am writing a novel about a caterpillar who wants to become a butterfly and in actual fact the story is about accepting each others differences and the act of changing into a butterfly as a metaphor for puberty.

[DanielEdwards]

I think that writing is born skill, but we can enhance it by the time. Be narrative in your writing, observe things around you and apply them in your writing.

[Chinaren]

I think 'write what you know' can be misleading. Perhaps it shoud be: 'Write about things within parameters that you are familiar with'.

Not so catchy though. :?

[Kurn-Garrakir]

I don't know so much about writing what you know... I've written successfully about a lot of things that I have absolutely no first hand experience with, such as England's geography, mountain climbing, horses, and other such things. I feel comfortable with such writing because I research them. I did nearly three months of just research before I even began to write my book, and you know what? It still wasn't good enough. I still constantly found that I needed to refer to my research. Knowing more about what you wish to write about increases the verisimilitude of them drmatically versus just pretending you know what you're talking about. Like the gentleman who wrote The Da Vinci Code. This man had very little idea what he was writing about and as a result used a lot of research, data, and historical accounts that were not only mostly fictitious, but had already been disproven. He got lucky, however in that most of this information was not widely known to the general public.

[MichaelB]

Chinaren, I did not coin the phrase, it's one that pops up in nearly every writing class or book about writing or internet article about writing I've ever read about or been a part of. The point of this article was to explain the term, instead of just spewing it out and calling it "advice" like so many others who write or talk about writing. I wanted to explore the idea, and show how it can apply and what it actually means.

Kurn, yes, while there is a limit to what good research can achieve, it's still better to do the research than to not do the research and get things obviously and blatantly wrong. But remember, I never said that "write what you know" is the absolute rule. in fact, the entire point of the article is that "write what you know" is NOT an 'absolute' rule. I said, "There is never a golden rule for finding a story– every author is different, every writer has their own methods." The entire point of the article was to encourage beginning or first-time writers to look beyond "what they know", and to start developing stories from the smallest, briefest of mements or glimpses, and to use their imagination in developing their stories.

[Kurn-Garrakir]

Oh, I understand completely. I was just offering my opinion that should one want to write about something that they know very little of, research is a huge tool available.

[DanMarvin]

Often, I'll write something in my head before I ever sit down to commit it to paper. It never hurts to literally keep a notebook nearby either, for inspiration doesn't always strike when it's convenient for us. In a sense, you're always 'writing what you know' because you bring your entire raft of experiences, opinions, and attitudes with you when you start writing. If you ever want a challenge sometime, try to write something from a completely unfamiliar perspective.

Research isn't writing what you don't know, it's learning something so you can write about it intelligently. People who write non-fiction articles rarely know the subject so well they can just pen an entire article from the top of their head, they talk to knowledgable people, read prior articles, and learn it themselves first. Writing is teaching, guiding, and shaping an experience for your reader.

[adampatric]

Finding a kind of gist which is quite interesting is not so easy. Its a philosophical innovation in which it would attracts its readers towards it. Its not necessary that everything would be interesting for us instead we have to mold it in such a way that it looks quite interesting to others :). Perhaps its the only way a story could be interesting in an auto-biography.

[Tundra]

I like writing stories about 'what if' type situations.

[spinner47]

Came across an author's take on this - Laurell K Hamilton's "Flirt" has a section in the back on where the idea for the story originated, and how it was turned into the book. She also presents other treatments than her own.

[ShenHart]

With regards to writing what you know, and 'normal' life - Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar is a fantastic book and just about her life, her view on the world.

With the rest of it - if everyone stuck absolutely to that phrase we wouldn't have fantasy, horror, sci-fi, probably most of the romance, adventure, etc etc. So perhaps it should be more 'write what really interests you' because if something really appeals to you A) You'll be far more commited to doing and all appropriate and required research. B) If you're interested, so will other people be!

[Ireth Telrunya]

I agree with Shenhart. My personal philosophy is "Write the kind of books you'd want to read."

[Tundra]

hmn. I'm not sure if I always write the sorts of things I like to read...