Ideas are like catching a butterfly. The more you try to chase it, the more it slips away from your fingers. No matter if you run up the streams, or climb on the tree, pluck the flower in which it sits or become a butterfly yourself. Strangely, when you sit peacefully, that pretty butterfly will come to you. Likewise, ideas are akin to such a pretty little moving thing. If you want to generate a useful concept, you need to understand that having a clear mind with some technical expertise will create an idea for your blog piece or a book.
Ever think about how intellectuals and professionals get their idea from? What do they do that helps them in character visualization, themes, plots, subplots, or endings?
In this post, let’s talk about how experts generate ideas for their stories and write-ups.
Writers don’t act on a whim:
Have you ever heard about writing muse? Creative writers, especially poets, wait on the muse to provide innovative ideas. Likewise, writing a muse helps to create inspiring and original thoughts. But are all the creative people visited by some ancient poet ghost, providing the best idea? I think the answer is no. So how do you get a picture? You get an idea by waiting patiently. If you get inspiration from someone, make a note of it. Record it. If you are traveling and you are moved by a specific sight, audio record your voice. As long as you are making notes of what you observe, you are suitable for the preparation. Equally, skilled authors do not act impulsively when they get an idea. Neither do they start inking pages after pages. They wait to complete their thoughts in mind and keep their record.
Do Active Research:
One of the main conventions of writing is to outline before you begin. This outline helps you formulate your thoughts in a concentrated manner. As Sean Convey, the writer of the 7 Habit of Highly effective people’’ asserts that ‘’Begin with the end in mind.’’ Planning your thought from the start to the end will help you stay focused and dedicated to the task. This might sound like a scientific approach to writing. However, following these steps will ensure your creative writing success. Besides, do active research for the characters of the story. Observe people, their habits, behaviors, thoughts, and attitude, their laughs, or show their general emotions. This will also help in establishing drawing the story forward.
To give yourself a head start, you can use these questions as well. No, I did not make them up.
These questions are intelligently penned down by Roz Morris, the author of ‘’Writers & Artists, Nail Your Novel.’’
- Who are the characters?
- What is the setting of the story?
- Does the character encounter exciting challenges?
- What do the characters do to overcome their problem?
- What would be the length of the story?
- Is there a strange plot twist?
Often writers are inspired by the story; however, they are not sure how to move their story forward. Answering these questions will help you actualize your account. Combining these questions with brainstorming will assist you in generating a new idea for the story.
Decide your genre for the story.
Every writing genre has its conventions. Whether you are writing for fiction or non-fiction, certain specialties of a genre make them unique and different from the other kinds of plots and writing styles. Whether it’s a Romance, thriller, murder mystery, or tragic story, they all have pre-established written and unwritten rules. For example, in the bildungsroman novel, the character’s journey is shown from childhood to adulthood. The main character or the protagonist of the story faces challenges that change his life forever. Likewise, in this type of story, the character has to decide what affects his character building and see the world differently.
How does knowing and deciding your genre will help you? First, when you are aware of the writing rules, it is easier for you to change, alter, or exploit them. Besides, you don’t want to bore your audience with the same stuff they read. Surprise your audience and bring in a new twist. This is only possible when you are aware of your story genre.
Wrap Up:
Ideas are everywhere. Look around you. You will find many stories to write or to talk about. As someone has said, ‘’The best ideas are often the simplest.’’
Author Bio:
Abby has been writing for a decade now for the Ghostwriting Founder. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree at the University of California. Her main goal is to write perceptive content for her readers.
