How to open an account at the idea bank.
by Ruth Harris
As Anne said in her recent post, being “blocked” is the #1 issue for new writers and she offered 14 suggestions for ways to “fill the well.” In today’s post, I am going to take a deep dive into a few specific ways that reading can quickly, easily and cheaply provide you with an almost unlimited source of ideas even when you think you have none.
Writing fiction—creating plots, characters, settings—depends on using references to make connections and associations. Because one idea triggers another, one of the writer’s most important jobs is to maintain access to as many sources of new input as possible.
Your Newspaper is a Goldmine
Truman Capote got the idea for In Cold Blood from a small item in the New York Times.
Curtis Sittenfeld wrote a best selling novel based on Laura Bush’s life and she is now working on a book about Hillary Clinton that imagines what would have happened if she had turned down Bill Clinton’s proposal.
Decades of articles about the lives of celebrated people past and present (Coco Chanel and General Eisenhower, Princess Di and Vladimir Putin) provide a trove of information and inspiration.
Ditto History
The General meets the designer and then what happens? They’re on opposite sides and fall in love? They’re on opposite sides and fall in hate? She inspires him to win WWII? The army gets new uniforms? The designer creates a uniform for women? (which some contend Chanel actually did)?
The Princess meets the politician and then what happens? He gives up his status and power for love like the Duke of Windsor? She becomes a spy? They become allies who bring world peace? They move to another galaxy To Get Away From It All?
Each of these can be the germ of an idea that triggers other ideas. You want to bank as many of them as you can. For future withdrawals.
Ideas are Everywhere
Your own experiences and those of your friends are a start, but to write fiction consistently you will need to find ways to greatly expand your range of references.
Bottom line is, if you need an idea or are stuck on plot, characters, setting, or even dialogue, newspapers, the internet and magazines are the basis for an “idea bank” that will guarantee that you will never run out of characters, setting, plots, and plot twists.
Read everything and read widely and purposefully as part of your daily routine and you will create your own, personalized go-to source of ideas and inspiration.
Be sure to keep articles that intrigue you in an “idea” folder or in a note-keeping app like OneNote or EverNote for future moments when the well runs dry. Scrivener, Word and Ulysses will let you keep relevant links right in your project for immediate reference.
Reading Widely will Fill that Idea Bank Account
Begin to read widely and to think creatively about what you read and you will find—
Crimes and criminals
Cops and robbers, good guys (and gals) and bad guys (and gals). For example, how about a rowdy, role-defying woman who becomes a female war lord?
Who is she? A protagonist or an antagonist? Heroine of a space opera? A single mom who finds love (and peace) in a romance? Leader of a revolution?
Travel blogs, magazines and articles
They will give you specific details for new and different settings, some popular and well known like London and Paris, others remote and off-beat like Mauritius, an island off Africa, with spectacular, secluded beaches, cuisine simmering with Indian, French, Chinese and Creole flavors, and water whose color “stretched my understanding of what shades of blue can be plausibly found in nature.”
What are we doing here? Is Mauritius (or a fictional island based on it) a setting for a romance, a thriller, a mystery, a horror story?
Financial blogs and business sections
These can trigger ideas about making (and losing) money, about millionaires and billionaires and wannabes, about white collar crime and blue collar job searches.
A billionaire businessman calls for a ban on killer robots. There’s an idea and a title all in one!
Obituaries
They open a world of fascinating characters (I recently read the obituary of the charmer who inspired Ian Fleming’s Pussy Galore and another of Marian Diamond, the neuroscientist who studied Einstein’s brain and first challenged conventional theories about the plasticity of the brain.)
For another source of ideas about characters, find 325 million historic newspapers & obituaries from 50 States + 26 Countries. Search newspaper archives from 1607-2017.
Sports Pages
Sport stories are about winning and losing, getting (and keeping) motivation, about teams and individuals that succeed and fail—all subjects which apply to fictional characters whether athletes or not. A story about a batter who finds a way out of a slump can inspire new ideas about a character (or an author!) who finds himself or herself in a slump.
From welfare checks to a $100-million payday, Conor McGregor’s road to stardom, can be the source of ideas for a rags-to-riches story you can twist any way your imagination leads.
Major News Outlets
For all of these and more, you will want to keep an eye on the obvious, well-resourced newspapers like the NYTimes, Washington Post or Los Angeles Times.
Set up a twitter feed to follow publications, writers and journalists whose tweets will tip you to their new/important/interesting stories. You will also want to keep the following on your radar:
- The New Yorker (Available in print and digital editions) and notable for profiles of interesting people, famous or not.
- Vogue (Even if you think you have no interest in fashion, you need to dress your characters and must have the vocabulary with which to do it.)
- The Atlantic
- Rolling Stone (more than just rock n roll)
- TMZ
- Deadspin (for sports news and scandals)
- The supermarket tabs which you can read while standing in the checkout line will update you on the latest in the lurid.
- People magazine gives Anne (and me) hundreds of ideas.
- City or area-specific blogs like Classic Chicago magazine and Vanishing New York will help you create settings that make a reader feel like a resident.
What to Look for:
Interviews and profiles also provide ideas for character, career and setting. “Even on a romantic holiday my thoughts turn to murder,” says Val McDermit. But what if the one who is thinking about murder isn’t a famous mystery writer? What if it’s the bride? The bride’s mother? The groom’s father?
The out of the ordinary. What about this story about the world champion of Excel Spreadsheets? Doesn’t that give all kinds of ideas for a character? How is that not a great setting for a romance, a thriller—or maybe even a horror story? 😉
NFL = National Fiction League. Really? Here’s a story about NY Giants lineman, Devon Kennard who likes to hit the books as much as he likes to hit the passer and his book reading contest. You are already starting to get ideas, right?
Zoos, museums, and universities all have sites that will tell you what they do and give you behind-the-scenes insights and information. Focus on Degas’ ballet dancers and the new baby giraffe might very well help spark just the idea you’ve been looking for .
Don’t forget movies and TV. They are an invaluable source of ideas and inspiration. Netflix and its siblings are a writer’s best friend. From Fast and Furious to Die Hard to Saturday Night Live, here is a list of 17 movies based on newspaper or magazine articles to get you thinking.
Keep reading, watching and thinking creatively, and your “idea bank” will overflow.
Writer’s Block? What writer’s block?
***
by Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) August 27, 2017
What about you, scriveners? Where do you find your best ideas? What sparked the idea for your current WIP or recent release?
If you want to know what Anne is up to this week, visit her book blog, where she’s got another entry in her series on Poisoning People for Fun and Profit. This time she talks about the toxic element, antimony.
Also visit historical sites in your area, and obviously if you travel to another location. Attend local lectures on history. Some ten years ago, I went to one on Civil War maps. The maps of the time were very expensive and only officers could get them, simply because they were so difficult to make. That one lecture has shown up in many of my stories.
Also, there is no one way to come up with ideas. I used to work with a cowriter. At one point, he became enamored of “What if,” and thought it was the one true way to come up with ideas. He thought I was wrong because it didn’t work for me. One of my prime resources for ideas is street names.
Linda—Excellent thought about historical sites! Thanks!
Ruth & Anne — thanks for all the great tips. I have many writing pals who complain of Writers’ Block. So far it hasn’t been much of a problem for me. It has occurred to me I’ll need a couple of lives in order to follow up all the great ideas out there — I can’t remember ever lacking ideas — I guess clean living pays off — HA!
CS—Aha! You’ve ID’d the up side of clean living! 😉
Ruth and Anne: Stephan King’s Bag of Bones inspired my almost finished paranormal romance, Saving Atlantis. But I have been envious of author friends that have fantasy series written and have lots of props to take to conventions, conferences, forums, etc. So I decided I needed to write a fantasy series (I’ve written two fantasy novels). Reading David Eddings’ The Dreamers series gave me help on the how, and some collectibles I have gave me the idea of what. I already have my props; I just need to feature them in a series. My notes are now nearly completed for the first volume of that series. So, besides what you read, don’t overlook your prized possessions., Stamps, coins, weapons, pottery, ornaments…there may a story in every one.
Fred—Brilliant! And I love the way you integrate your props into you stories and at your cons, forums, etc. Inspiring!
Brava Ruth! I think the greatest thing about your work today is your upbeat, can-do attitude which we can never get too much of. Good ideas? Hah, we’re surrounded by them.
One thing on the sidelines here is “how to remember” once an idea has come to you. I count all the time the tale is on my mind, including walking around, not listening to people talking to me, driving the wrong way- as writing time. But I recently found a way to beat the dreaded “came to me just before I fell asleep” curse. My answer was a little practice and a positive attitude. I welcomed the thoughts, kept watching what was happening in my mind as I drifted off- and in the morning they were the first thing I recalled.
Staving off senility one plot twist at a time.
We have tons of information at the tip of our fingers. I also think using science sites is a great way to come up with new ideas. They don’t only include articles on animals, biology and nature but also forensics, medical innovations, space and technology – true treasure for people writing thrillers, mysteries and science fiction.
The critical thing about using science sites is to avoid an info dump in your book. That can easily be solved by adding a research section at the end of the book for further reading. I wish more authors would do this too.
Range Woman–sorry for the delay! Just found your comment. Thanks for an excellent addition, both for resourcing science sites and for including a research section. I did just that in Brainwashed, our thriller about CIA mind control experiments and the possible connection with the JFK assassination. Thanks again! 🙂
Will—LOL! Thanks for pointing out that not all writing time is spent at the computer. Just because we’re not “at work” doesn’t mean we’re not working. I suspect those who live with us are well aware of that! Your comment about focusing on your thoughts is on point, but I don’t trust myself. I do trust my notebooks…and often get up and jot down a few words in the dark in the middle of the night. Just to make sure I don’t forget my “brilliant” thoughts come morning.
One of my writerly friends is writing a wonderful YA novel based on a missing child notice she saw years ago. It got her attention. And now it is the subject of a compelling novel. I recently experienced noticing a young man sitting in his truck, while I was walking on the boardwalk. I couldn’t get him out of my mind. There was something about him. I found out the next day, he died in a terrible accident just an hour later. That one is swirling. Sad and swirling.
Christine—What a haunting image. No wonder you couldn’t get it out of your mind. Thanks for pointing us in still another direction of where ideas come from. We never know.
Excellent points all, Ruth. Thanks for the encouraging heads-up.
Tricia—thanks for the kind words! Hope you found something of value.
Great post, Ruth! You’ve made me think about something I’ve just come to understand, and that is, the huge gulf between “theme” and “plot”.
Here’s what I find: the ideas for ‘themes’ are easy. People are always saying to me, “why don’t you write about car theft? See, I just gave you a plot for your Goddaughter series!” And of course, they haven’t given me a plot at all. They’ve given me a *theme*. The plot is the hard part. Figuring out what can go wrong with the plan (I write capers) and then how it can be resolved.
Melodie–yesss! Plot needs lots of twists, details, surprises…ergo lots of work. Getting the right theme is work,too, but a much different kind of work. Crucial for writers to understand the difference.
I read book reviews. I find lots of clues about the creation of fiction and how and why other writers were successful. Great post.
Beth–excellent point! Thanks for the kind words. 🙂
Thank you, Ruth. When I’m asked where I get the ideas for my books it’s always something I’ve either seen on the news or read on the internet. Simply by keeping our ears open to new and often strange stories can trigger ideas that we can run with.
Thank you for this post.
Patricia—Well said! Ideas are all around us. We need to stay alert and be on the lookout!
History is a great one so I’d like to add ‘graveyards’ to the obituaries and history sections. We have a headstone in Jesmond Old Cemetery that explains the poor chap was mauled by a panther. A headstone in Highgate tells the story of an unfortunate girl who died from her burns after a coal exploded and her dress caught fire. There’s another headstone in Jesmond that simply states the first name and date of death. Who was this person? Why did no one know her last name, or her date of birth? Hundreds of stories lie in the humble churchyard.
Icy—”Mauled by a panther?” Wow! The stories that cemeteries tell! Many thanks!
I found that personal observations/experience as well as family history help fill the bank.
Leanne—Add in friends, too! Thanks for an excellent addition!