Hey, writers! If you participated in the story idea challenge this last week, how did it go?
I was pretty good about not censoring my ideas, so I walked away from the week with four “story sparks.” There was nothing so amazing that I thought “I have to stop everything I’m doing right now and WRITE THIS BOOK” but I feel good about the ideas I came up with.
One exercise I did this week that helped generate a few ideas is something I’ll call “Story Matchmaking.”
Here’s how it works:
Think of stories you love from all genres and all medias. It can be a short story, a book series, a TV show, a musical, whatever.
Write down the titles on individual note cards. (I cut mine into thirds to conserve.)
If you want, you can stop there. I also wrote down a few settings I’m drawn to, several historical eras, and a handful of characters I love.
Then you mix them all up, draw two at random, and then try to make connections and build a story idea.
My first draw was a tough one, Heist Society, a YA series by Ally Carter and 30 Rock, the sitcom with Tina Fey.
I stared at these for a bit, feeling baffled, and then pulled another card to add to the mix. This one was a setting card “on a train.”
That helped get me going. Maybe a story about a traveling vaudeville act, but really they’re thieves? That could be interesting.
Then you set the cards aside and draw a new set.
Some combos that you draw won’t be helpful at all (like when the two cards I pulled were “1920s” and “1940s”) but you also might land on some really great ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise!
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
What’s the oddest way you’ve ever come up with a story?
Oh that’s so fun! I really want to try that now, and I think I may drag some of my writer buddies into doing it with me so we can all do something productive . . . and maybe eat chocolate. ?
I think the weirdest way I’ve gotten a story idea was taking apples-to-apples cards and using the green ones to describe a personality, (it gets a little crazy) and the red ones to come up with a setting/time/name
Oh my gosh I love the idea of using apples-to-apples cards. I think the weirdest way I’ve ever tried to come up with stories was to pull random pictures from my camera role and try to connect them somehow.
Oh, I love that idea! That sounds pretty fun!
Em Elizabeth and Aster Young- both those ideas are soo cool! I am so going to try that!!
Apples-to-apples cards is brilliant!
That seems like a fun way to generate story ideas. I’ll have to try that some time.
I recently unearthed an old notebook that I used to use to record all the ideas that came to me throughout the day. There were some vague phrases in there that once held a great story behind them, but I’ve since forgotten what I was trying to get at with them. There were some things that I wrote down that made me think “Really? I thought THAT was a good idea?” But there were also quite a few things that I can’t wait to get a chance to write about one day.
Oh yeah, I have a couple of those stashed away too! Somehow you lose the idea and whatever you’ve written can become very vague
That sounds like my experience when I look through old ideas!
Three story ideas this past week!
That was a fun exercise. I came up with a Disney Tangled /cowboy inspired story set in the 1800’s. I see myself exploring it more. And trying this method again.
As for oddest way I’ve found a story, I built a plot around a dream I had. The characters and their goals were quite vivid.
I did that too! I remember the dream quite vividly, actually. Although most of it has changed. But I just remember having the same dream for like a week straight about a boy being chased by these Ninja Warriors, and Matthew was later born.
Funny how that happens! My current WIP was a dream too . . . but now it is so different from the dream they’re barely related anymore! But hey, faeries are kinda my thing, even if I feel a little embarrassed telling some of my friends at school that. (thankfully no teasing yet!)
Ooh, neat, looks like I’m in good company then! :0)
I WOULD READ COWBOY TANGLED!
Thanks for this post! It sounds super fun and a great way to get a mind working.
My weirdest way of coming up with a plot happened when I was standing around at a soccer game. I randomly noticed that one spectator looked super uncomfortable around this one person I know, and all of a sudden I’d come up with the reason why and a short story was born! 🙂
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I love this. You just never know where inspiration is going to strike!
Stephanie, maybe you need to try a dual timeline novel set in both the 1920s and the 1940s!
I LOVE THAT IDEA. Clearly that’s what I should do with those cards!
Amazing Stephanie,I will try this some time.
Just wondering have you read The Gallagher Girl books they are my favorite( I like them more than Heist).
I’ve read the first Gallagher Girl book, but none of the others. I would like to. I hear the later ones are really good.