The first question someone asks me when I talk about writing is, “Where do you get your ideas from?” There is an expectation that finding ideas is the hard part, but, for most writers, they come cheaply. Whether our minds are simply wired for manufacturing stories or writing in itself helps us to develop ideas, they just come to us from everyday life. The really difficult part is to spin them into a novel.
As soon as ideas come to me, I take note of them. Otherwise, I will forget them within minutes and spend an hour trying to remember what the amazing plot twist was. Stephen King advises against this in particular, with the argument that the best ideas will not be forgotten. While this is true, most of what I write down are small and insignificant character moments and setting details.
While most ideas come freely, when it comes to actually writing the novel, finding an idea or premise good enough to hold the weight of a hundred-thousand-word book, I always get stuck. Every time. If you are having a problem with developing ideas, I have outlined several methods to come up with your main story idea.
Contents:
What If…?
Analyse your Favourite Stories
Write for Yourself
Free-write
Conclusion
What If…?
My favourite way to find story ideas is to ask myself how changing something small about the world, or large would affect how civilisation functions. For example, what if everyone under the age of fourteen could control other people’s emotions? How would this change the mechanics of the world we live in. Simple questions like these can be the start of an idea that is fleshed out into a novel. This method is used a lot for Dystopian fiction. If you ask what will happen when you put teenagers in the middle of a giant moving maze with no memories, you get Maze Runner. This method is also great if including moral dilemmas in your writing interests you.
Analyse your Favourite Stories
Still struggling? Look at your favourite stories and pick them apart. Whether a fairy tale, favourite book or movie, pulling the core story from them will give you a guide to building your own. Be careful not to follow the chosen story too closely as it can feel repetitive. A popular example is The Lion King which was inspired by the story of Hamlet. In essence, they are the same story, just with different premises. To mix it up a bit, you can also take a common structure and insert a major twist to give a fresh feel. So long as you properly foreshadow your change, it can work very well.
Write for Yourself
The problem could be that you are simply not enjoying what you write. Trying to write to trends won’t work if the idea doesn’t interest you. Make sure you are invested in the story before you commit to writing a novel. Writing tens of thousands of words for a story you don’t like will only lead to burnout. While relying on passion for a story will only work for a few thousand words, at least you are invested in seeing how it will turn out.
Freewrite
For those discovery writers out there, getting yours can be the hardest part of the process, possibly except for revising. This is at least true for me. I have found that free-writing(writing without the intention of keeping the words) or prewriting(writing from a potential protagonist’s viewpoint) are great ways to kickstart the process. Once you have enough knowledge of the story to start, ideas will come to you along the way. You will likely change these first pages anyway, so just get them written!
Conclusion
Finding ideas strong enough to carry your story is difficult, but I assure you that once you start writing, more will come to you. And don’t be afraid to change your ending once you have written half your book. So long as you are writing and enjoying the process. There will always be times when writing is difficult, even impossible but you will find your way to the end of the novel if you persevere.
If you haven’t already, create a note on your phone just for ideas and write down everything that comes to your mind.