People are always asking, Where do you get your ideas? Oh honey, if they only
knew! Here are some of my favorite idea generators.
Eavesdropping. I do that a lot. It's easy, fun, and good for getting those
creative juices flowing. Also, when friends say something intriguing, I let
them know that some day their story or clever word usage could end up in a
book. Fictionalized of course, so that often they won't recognize themselves.
With strangers.... they'll never know.
Observation. People watching is such a kick. Even more fun is making up stories
about those you watch. Why are they behaving that way? Who are the people they
are with? I'll bet even non-writers do this.
TV, radio, music and the movies. I've been known to take a premise or a snippet
of and run with it. The end results never look remotely like the show from
which I drew my inspiration.
Magazines and newspapers. Tons of great stuff there. Especially those advice
columns and the stories of personal triumphs over bad situations.
And of course, life itself. Something happens to me or a friend or relative, or
a friend's friend, and I get to thinking, What if?
I'm sure there are other ways of generating ideas. If you know of any that
aren't mentioned here, please share.
Ann
http://www.annroth.net/
Mitch Takes
A Wife, August 2007
All I Want
for Christmas, November 2007
Another
Life, April 2007
NOTE: We apologize that our blog isn't updating so we've put Ann's
entire blog entry here for you to enjoy. Thanks!
Hi Ann! Checking in from chilly Cleveland. I enjoy reading books about relationships. This gives me ideas about the types of conflicts couples face on the path to love. :)
(Jennifer Jackson 1:28pm November 7, 2007)
John- This is another way to stimulate the mind. Choose an intriguing name and run with it.
And Jennifer- I enjoy those books, too. Sometimes we write about obstacles to explore what happens if ...
Judy- Next time we're in a public place together, I want to do that with you!
(Ann Roth 4:12pm November 7, 2007)
Hi Ann. I love observing people but I've found in a lot of cases that real life is truly stranger than fiction. Sometimes when we're out Christmas shopping I'll catch a snippet of conversation and it make me wonder what kind of life these people live. It really gets the creative juices flowing and of course it helps that I have a great imagination. LOL.
(Jennifer Stroka 8:23am November 8, 2007)
Oh, yeah, Jennifer. That's really fun. Real life is always a great basis for fiction novels. :-)
(Ann Roth 11:06am November 8, 2007)
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