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Story Ideas – You CAN Learn to Find Them
By Deb Gallardo
I’ve had some emails recently from a few subscribers asking for my help as they write their stories. My role from the beginning of this blog has been to help my readers learn to see the story ideas all around them — whether in the mundane, in the extraordinary, in the overlooked or in the cataclysmic.
I’m certainly willing to give anyone a kind of story idea “kickstart” when needed. But I would never create a story idea for another writer. It’s far more difficult to write someone else’s story than one we’ve invested time and creativity in building ourselves.
I don’t currently offer one-on-one story ideas coaching, but that is something I have begun considering lately, as I brainstorm how to expand my offerings to readers of this blog. One such idea is becoming a writing ideas coach.
This would be a fee-based service. While I’m still in the planning stages, I wanted to let you know that this is in the works. Lots of details would need to be worked out, but it’s something I’m excited about implementing.
In the meantime, if you have a writing assignment or know you want to write a story about, say, “A man being pursued by federal agents,” here are some questions to ask yourself and then answer as completely as possible. (Short answers will also work to begin with.)
- Do you have a deadline for your story?
- How long does it need to be (word count)?
- Do you have any ideas about who the antagonist(s) =bad guys is/are and what their agenda is?
- What is their conflict with the protagonist (good guy/gal)?
- Are the antagonists evil or just serve as “the opposition?”
- Is the protagonist perfect (boring) or flawed in some way (giving room for growth during story)? If so, what kind of flaws?
If you answer these questions, you’ll be on your way. I think you’ll find that answering these questions (which involves thinking about Who What When Where How Why) will inspire you, and one idea will beget others.
See the previous day’s blog post here for taking a real-life occurrence and turning it into a story idea. (opens in new window)
Related Posts
- Find Short Story Ideas
- Orson Scott Card on Story Ideas
- Novel Ideas, Ebook Ideas – Child’s Play?
- Story Ideas – - Where Do Yours Come From?
- Do You View Your Creative Writing as a Business?
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