Where do you get your story ideas?

[longknife]

To be perfectly honest, after 72 years [in a few days] I've seen and experienced a whole lot of things. As I write my memoirs, certain things stick out that might lead to a story so I add it to my Story Idea file.
Yes, sometime a dream will come but they're normally versions of my reality.


What I enjoyed about Europe

[marion]

I wish I was as imaginative as you all! (Maybe I am & don't know it.)
My ideas come from history. A real historical person starts to fascinate me--who they really were, what drove them, who they hung out with, etc.
Not so much ideas, but images, come to me sometimes when I'm half-asleep and half-awake.

[GKJeyasingham]

@marion: That's the same with me! I often find myself going to bed, and after a few minutes, rushing to the computer to jot down images or semi-formed ideas that somehow spring into my mind for no reason at all. It's really inconvenient, but it's during this time (before I fall asleep) that the images and concepts I'm most passionate about seem to materialize. These only end up being useful for plots that I've already thought up, though - I usually never get actual story ideas this way.

For an actual story idea, I actually tend to "force" my way into them. I make myself think of certain things that are interesting, and eventually one sticks out. But the one that sticks out isn't actually that appealing yet - the idea feels impersonal and forced, because it is. I usually end up spending days and days just thinking about this one idea, trying to shape it into something more natural, otherwise I can't write about it. Eventually, I end up with a character relationship or a plot that I actually feel excited or passionate about.

THEN I start outlining and re-outlining over and over until I feel the idea is solid.

[Rebecca Kiel]

They just hit. Ususally late at night or when I first wake up. Then I jot them down, file them away, and let them sit until I am moving on to my next project. By the time I get back to the file, the good ones have risen to the top.

Rebecca

Http://rebeccakielpages.blogspot.com

[Leila]

As a child I had a well oiled imagination. So many ordinary things became so big and unordinary in my head. My dad used to shake his head and laugh at the stories his eight year old daughter would verbalize over dinner. A strong wind that day became an oncoming hurricane that we had to pack up and escape from before it consumed us. There were complications of course, like the car wouldn't start, my sister wasn't home and wasn't answering the phone at her friend's house, my dog was missing etc etc. A missing slipper led to a whole series of mysterious events. See, ordinary things that just caught my fancy. In my case, I sometimes wonder if it's because I grew up in the country where not a lot actually happened, and I just wanted it to.

As an adult I find that my imagination has never dimmed and the notion of 'what if' stayed with me. I can't shake the ideas that are always in my head. I have so many stories crowding out my head that it will take me a long time to write them all down. Blend in time, travelling, different cultural experiences etc and the choices are too numerous to list! Well, they are things that are interesting to me, whether they would be to others is another thing. But anyway, that's where I get my ideas from.

[Cookie]

My ideas come from everywhere; dreams, music, nature, paintings, people, experiences, strange and sometimes contradictory thoughts and conversations.

[CharleeVale]

My ideas often come from questions. I wonder what would happen if....



CV

[Matt in the Hat]

Most of my story ideas just come to me suddenly, sort of like they're epiphanies. I'll be sitting their just thinking about something, or see something and suddenly be like "Ahh that'd make a great story!" and build it up from there. Recently though, most of my story ideas have been originating from things that happen in my life and different experiences I've had. I'll take those experiences and changed different pieces of them and manipulate them into premises to expand upon.

[justcrash]

My science fiction novel I recently finished, while a love letter to Star Wars and Star Trek, is more an analysis of my relationship with my deceased father. My other stories are a result of a mind that cannot shut off, ever. I become consumed with them and even at work, I can't stop writing.

[jeremybatesbooks]

i just try to think of something catchy with today's headline and turn it into a "What if...?" scenario

[washingtonwriter1968]

The idea for my Book wasn't instant , like a dream or such. My idea came from so many things I have been studying recently. I am a avid watcher of the Science Channel and had been watching through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. In one instance they began talking about Black Matter Theory. Intrigued I began studying more on it doing research just for pleasure. (yes I am a about research,I am one of the few that actually enjoy it)

The more I studied the more my mind began to peculate these ideas. All of it was subconscious at first, I guess because one morning about a week ago I just asked 3 questions on my mind....
1.What if our whole universe as we know it, were stored in just one of those 9 stands and we couldn't see the rest of the much larger reality?
2. What if in reality we are only one strand in a much larger dimension?
3. What if all the things we think of as supernatural are not supernatural at all but glimpses we get from this true dimension?
I picked up pen and paper and started writing and the result has been my current WIP.

[abc]

My dreams are either too stressful, disturbing, or bizarre to glean any good story ideas from. Over and over again I dream I'm in school and I can't remember my schedule or my locker combination and, oh, I forgot my homework, as well. I don't think anyone wants to read about that. And I have no interest in writing horror or experimental fiction, so I can easily dismiss the disturbing (animals being tortured is common) and bizarre (I can't even begin to describe these).

All the ideas for my many unfinished works in progress are usually inspired by personal moments, experiences, or desires. Desires being I wish I were an awesome rock star and not the sexual kind, btw. I take a moment (a fight with my sister and friend in some train station in France) and expand it, throw in some what-ifs and change the players (girl who is not exactly me has major fight with traveling companions and decides to jump on the wrong train and see what happens. Adventure happens! Yay!).

I love the idea of turning songs into stories, but haven't done that yet. If I did, I would definitely pick something from the catalog of songs by Sufjan Stevens.

[Hillsy]

Mine is a far more organic process....

I tend to find interesting people, and kill them (humanely obviously - I'm not a Monster!). Then it's a simple case of eating of their flesh, and rendering their brains down into a sort of syrum I inject directly into my tear ducts. It's not the most pleasent method, but it is effective. We all have to make sacrifices for our art, right?

[syakilazop]

You can get compelling plot ideas by reading the news or historical texts or watching documentaries. You can also use an existing nonfiction book to inspire a fictional novel, short story, or script. Thinking more broadly, you can source inspiration from a podcast, a poem, or even a self-help book.

[laheylis1]

A literary novel I published was based on a non-fiction article I found in McClean's Magazine (Canadian publication). It intrigued me a lot but I invented the characters, plot development, etc. I just took the bare bones information and went with it.