“Wow, how did you come up with that idea?”
“That’s plot concept is so original!”
“Man, I wish I could come up with a complex, cool story idea like that.”
Have you ever said that to a fellow writer or friend? Or perhaps to your favorite author during your regular, imaginary tea time you share with them?
I know I have (save some scones for me, Neil Shusterman, gosh).
The thing is, you get intimidated by the fantastic ideas of others. You want to come up with story ideas so unique, so compelling, that you too get your friends oohing and ahhing at YOU. But maybe you think you aren’t capable of coming up with ideas like the big, awesome glittery ones.
But you are capable, precious pepperoni. Trust me. Absolutely anyone can come up with a fabulous, original story idea.
So how do you do it? How do you get fantastic story ideas from almost anywhere, at any time?
You do three things:
- Ask, “What if?”
- Speculate
- Set no limits
So what do these three things mean? Let’s dissect them more and see how you (YES YOU) are capable of coming up with genius story ideas, anytime, anywhere.
1. Ask "What if?"
“You can help ideas come ‘by chance’ by simply keeping your mind working– by often filling your mind with speculation. What if?“
That’s one of my favorite quotes from Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead.
The two words to take away from that powerful quote are: What if? This question turns any scenario into a possible story idea.
For instance, the idea for my YA contemporary fantasy novella Guppies actually came to me while driving behind a school bus through my neighborhood. I saw a get kid with headphones and a beanie get off the bus at the apartments near my house and I just sort of thought, “What if a random girl from another dimension just ran up to him because she needed his help? Maybe she’s from the dream realm! OOH OH– She’s from HIS dreams! *gasp* What would their conversation sound like?” And boom: Guppies was born.
So, now, try it for yourself:
What if I found a box in my attic that said, “Do not open”?
What if dogs were actually alien spies sent to study human behavior in order to take over our planet one day?
What if your shadow was actually you in a parallel universe and one day your shadow broke through to our dimension with a warning message? What would the warning message be?
See, a little imagination challenges the ordinary and questions the accepted. Don’t accept anything– ANYTHING– as ordinary and you will discover plenty of writing opportunities.
Don’t set limits on your response, either. Allow one seedling idea to sprout even if you don’t like it at first. Get weird with it. Write one page about the “what if” story you come up with. Save that file. The next day you will no doubt find yourself coming back to that idea, or coming up with an even better version of that idea after a little brainstorming.
Ask “what if” about your surroundings too. Consider natural constants in your life: the sun rising in the morning, the moon taking its place in the evening. Scientifically, we know why these things happen. But what if the sun and moon had a crush on one another? What would their love story be like? A tragedy? A Romeo and Juliet-like tale of heartbreak and sacrifice? See, once you challenge constants, ideas blossom.
No one sees the world through your eyes. That means you have a unique perspective that will create unique story ideas. Writing ideas are everywhere, as long as we continuously ask “What if?”
2. Speculate
The idea here is to start with a li’l gold nugget idea and digest it from there. Speculation, however, takes that idea to the next level. Speculation involves challenging a concept; taking a seedling idea and viewing possibilities from every angle.
So how do you do that? You take your seedling idea and you either add to it or take something away.
For instance, if your idea was, “What if gravestones were time-traveling portals and you got to live a day in the life of the person whose gravestone you chose?” Now, how could you take this idea one step further?
You add to it. In this case, I’ll add characters. who would be the worst person to have this power at their disposal? Who would be the best? Let’s say the two main characters would be two teens- one a rebel, and one a shy kid who never acts out.
Well, now, how could we speculate further on this idea? We take something away. Let’s say these kids stumble across a gravestone– but not just any gravestone. An unmarked gravestone. What sort of gamble awaits them? Which kid will take this stone? Why? What could happen to this kid? What would readers expect to happen? How could we flip that assumption on its head?
It’s apparent that a SEA of ideas has just tsunami’d itself all over the page. The possibilities are clearly endless. Ideas blossom quickly when you take a seedling thought and continue to turn it from every angle and speculate possibilities!
(Fun fact: This was actually an idea I had for a story about three years ago. It came about from a walk I took through a graveyard. Speculation led this to be one of the best short stories I’ve ever written!)
2. Set No Limits
See, the danger with brainstorming is that, without realizing it, we can start to analyze, structure, and edit our story ideas so much that we wind up benching them altogether. We nip, tuck, corset and girdle our ideas so quickly that we lose steam or throw ideas away prematurely because we think they don’t have potential after all.
But see, that’s where you’re wrong, friend.
EVERY idea has potential.
Don’t set limits this early on in the game. While you have a seedling idea, don’t suffocate it or analyze it. Nothing deflates an idea faster than rules and regulation. Don’t look at this new idea with the need to fit it into the mold of a complete, edited story, because frankly, it ISN’T one. It’s not fair to you or to your brilliant ideas.
What you must do is simply let your story idea flow. Let it drain from your brain and saturate the page. Allow speculation to continue to turn this idea over in your head and see its potential from multiple angles. Don’t restrict yourself and don’t set limits.
Limits will come much later, but for right now don’t think of your seedling idea as a future novel. Just think of it as a great story idea and allow yourself to have fun with it.
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