THE STORY IDEA

Where do you get inspiration for story ideas? Mine come from all sorts of different sources. Sometimes I'll be watching a movie, and in the first five minutes I start to speculate on where the movie is going and how it'll end. Usually it moves in a completely different direction, so I'm left with a cool story idea all my own.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning with the remnants of a dream in my head. That can be the spark of a great story idea.

I also get ideas from talking with friends about things they've done or people they know, or events that have happened in my own life. Many authors take their story ideas straight from newspaper headlines.

Plot ideas can come from almost anywhere. The important thing is to keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention to the people, events, settings, and stories that interest you.

If you have trouble coming up with good story ideas, don't worry. Chances are, you have many of them already stored in the back reaches of your brain. To access these ideas, practice brainstorming. Brainstorming is a simple but effective skill that you'll need as a writer.

Here are some guidelines for brainstorming:

1. There are no hard-and-fast rules.

2. There are no bad ideas.

3. Your instincts are more important than you usually give them credit for.

4. Dream big and wild.

5. Use free writing and writing prompts when you're stuck.

With free writing, set a time limit for yourself — five minutes or an hour, whatever you can handle — and write without stopping. Write down whatever comes into your mind, even if it's just "I don't know what to write." The process of writing will eventually get your creative juices flowing. Writing prompts, on the other hand, give you a starting place, something to springboard off of. Whether you're free writing or using prompts, I recommend pushing yourself to keep your pen (or keyboard) in constant motion throughout the time you have set for yourself. Sometimes you'll need to write through a few repetitive or boring ideas in order to get to the really good ideas.

When brainstorming, relax for a few minutes before you start and let your mind wander. I guarantee ideas will appear and start to spark your interest. Jot them down loosely, without trying to shape them. Does a certain type of person, job, or circumstance seem intriguing, amusing, or shocking? Write it down and launch from that into your free writing. This can be a seed from which you grow your plot.

So, your first task before fast-drafting is to spend twenty minutes brainstorming as many character, event, and story ideas as you can think of. Sometimes you may prefer to do this on a computer, but today I recommend the old-school pen (or pencil) and paper method. The motion of handwriting, as well as the time it takes to get the words down on paper, can allow your mind to really explore your creative ideas. Plus, studies suggest that the act of forming letters may help with memory, ideas, and expression.

I recommend keeping a notebook with you at all times. You never know when ideas will strike. In fact, I keep an app on my iPhone called "A Novel Idea." It's free, and it's a great place to make plotting and/or character notes.

Come back to your brainstorming a day or two later and circle anything that can be formed into story ideas — that is, anything to do with characters and character relationships, their motivations and desires, or obstacles. Complete as many brainstorming sessions as you need in order to get a list of at least ten circled ideas. Write these on a separate piece of paper and add any details you can think of for each one.

For example, maybe one of your ideas is about an abusive marital relationship. Can you picture either of the spouses? Write down whatever you envision. Which one is abused? What does that character want? Which one is the abuser? What does that character want? Can you think of any obstacles that are getting in the way of what either of these characters want?

Once you've jotted down some notes on all your ideas, choose a few of the ones that grab you the most to craft into short one- or two- sentence premise statements. A premise is the basic central idea, circumstance, or dilemma of your story; you will build your plot from this. You could combine numerous brainstorming ideas into a single premise, but it's good practice to trim each one into a single sentence. This is handy when you're sharing and explaining your writing with friends, and it's essential when it comes time to market your story to publishing professionals.

As an example, let's look at a few premises many of you will recognize:

A young girl gets stranded in a strange new land and sets off on a dangerous journey to meet the one person who has the power to send her home.

Do you recognize this premise? I purposely made the description a little vague, to show how the same premise might fit a variety of stories, but it's The Wizard of Oz.

Or try this one:

A suicidal family man gets a glimpse of the world as it would be if he hadn't been born.

This is the basic premise of It's a Wonderful Life.

Here's one more:

An old miser is visited by three ghosts who remind him of the spirit of Christmas.

I'll bet you guessed that this one is from A Christmas Carol.

Here is the one-line story idea I started with for my latest work-in-progress young adult novel, Tent:

Wild-child Delaney Peters attempts to punk a religious tent meeting but instead starts experiencing strange and increasingly embarrassing miracles.

We'll come back to that premise, and I'll show you how I expanded it to grow a fully formed novel.

Once you have a solid premise statement (if you have several, pick the one that pulls at you the most), spend some time thinking about genre, audience, and setting. Are you going to write your story for children or adults? Is it going to be a mystery or an action-adventure or have gory moments that will make even the strongest stomach turn? Will it be set in the past, present, or future? Will it have otherworldly elements or will characters live in the real world?

Whatever you decide, it is important to nail down one or two main genres that your novel will work into.

Here are some common fiction genres in professional publishing:

Contemporary
Drama
Dystopian
Erotica
Fantasy
Futuristic
Historical
Horror
Humor
Literary
Mystery
Paranormal
Realistic
Romance
Science Fiction
Western

If you approach your story like it's something brand new that cannot be categorized, it...