What is the best way to generate ideas?
I want to write a novel, but I want to write that novel using my best idea currently... it's just that, I don't have an idea, at least not one that I deem worthy of the time and effort involved in producing my first novel draft. Is brainstorming the best way to generate ideas? What are some questions I could ask myself? Questions about what I want my novel to be? What message I want to provide to my readers?
I want to write a story that I would want to read... should I start there, and just come up with everything that I would want to visualize while reading/writing it?
Please tell me your thoughts on this, idea generating business...
I don't mean give me ideas, and I'm not asking for a secret map that leads to me discovering the iridescent sap of the legendary idea tree, at the end of the lucid dream spiral dimension... lol.
Just what works for you.
Thanks.
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3 answers
I find that some of the best, most personal ideas come from dreams. I've kept a dream journal on and off since I was a teenager, and a lot of the strongest ideas that have stuck with me have come from its pages. Even if you don't currently remember your dreams, it's a learnable skill.
However, it seems to me that you might have two other issues that are getting in your way. First, you haven't even started writing yet, and already your internal editor is getting in your way. All writers know you have to turn your internal editor off in order to ever get any writing done. (One valuable piece of advice I recently learned for this is to write at the time of day you are most sleepy --for me, early morning --because your editor turns off at that time). The truth is that great books are made from great execution, not necessarily great ideas. Waiting too long for the perfect idea just means you never write anything.
The other issue is that it sounds like you are more invested in the idea of writing a novel than in doing the actual writing. I've definitely been in your shoes, and I can tell you from experience, just liking the idea of being an author doesn't take you all that far. My advice, if you really do want to write, is to be prepared to do a lot of less goal-oriented writing just to build up your skills. That way, when that killer idea does come knock on your door, you'll be ready and prepared to do it justice.
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Some of us create a character and place him or her in a situation and just write. Introduce another character and put the two of them in conversation. See what appears on the page. Write ten more pages of scenes, expanding on what's come before. Have your readers look at your work and weigh in on the most interesting, expandable ideas. From this kind of exercise I usually get a pretty good idea for a story, and a few more to put in my ideas notebook.
Granted, I write small-scale stories, not fantasy series like a lot of folks here. But I imagine this technique works for that kind of story too.
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Answers to this question are obviously going to be pretty opinion based. Here is mine!
I look for problems people will struggle to solve, for some reason, because to me this is the essence of a plot: Some future state must come to pass, or must not come to pass, and the plot is about one or more characters willing to do nearly anything to obtain the future they believe in; even die or kill.
That future state can be small, or epic: This marriage must not fail. My child must not die of this disease. I am dying and must provide for my family at any cost [initial premise of Breaking Bad]. These alien invaders cannot take Earth from us [Independence Day, a thousand others]. This mad scientist cannot be allowed to stop Global Warming by killing 95% of all people on Earth [Kingsmen]. This assassin must be stopped. That country cannot obtain nuclear weapons. This magical Ring must be destroyed [Lord of The Rings]. A character is stuck in a loveless, sexless marriage with kids and she sees no escape.
Identify the stories you like to read; or similar to what you want to write. Figure out the central problem, in one short sentence (as above). Do not talk about the solution, you are just looking for a generalization of the kinds of problems that fascinate you, the kinds of stakes you like to deal with, the sorts of emotions you like to deal with. For example, consider writing about the imminent death of a child, versus Star Wars or some pic in which aliens threaten to wipe out humanity: The latter are actually very low emotion action / adventure / battle flicks where death is common. They are exciting and awe inspiring, but not tear-jerkers. The former, the imminent death of a child, could be so emotionally excruciating it could draw tears from gangsters.
Understand the kinds of problems you like to solve, the kinds of emotions you like to deal with, and the kinds of characters you like to portray: Is it 007, or a struggling secretary? Is the problem zombies eating brains, or a tumor eating your child's brain?
Begin with what you like. Try to identify one or more general problem categories that these plots represent, the general kinds of characters involved, and the sort of emotions you feel you can best describe. Combine those elements into story ideas: Here is the problem, and here is a protagonist I could write that would really struggle with it, to the point s/he might fail (so suspense is built in).
Then, how did this problem find the hero? What was life like before that? How many ways can the hero fail, to the brink of despair? What final incredible sacrifice could turn the corner and lead to success?
That is my opinion, anyway.
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