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?