How to Find Writing Ideas

To find an unending source of writing ideas, you need to look no further than yourself. Everyone has unlimited writing possibilities. You just need to know how to uncover them.

I suggest starting a collection of lists. For each topic, write twenty responses. Here's a suggested list of topics to get you started:

• I am a...
• My hobbies are...
• Things I've done that few others have done...
• Things I would like to do...
• Things I would never do...
• I love (or hate)...
• I want to know more about...

Add more topics as you think of them. It may take several sittings to complete your lists. If you feel a shift in your writing and you feel like concentrating on a topic, follow that instinct. If making lists is too structured for you, instead, freewrite about each topic.

Freewriting is a method popularized by author Natalie Goldberg. For a prescribed amount of time, write whatever comes to mind without censoring or editing anything. If your mind goes blank, repeat the last line you wrote until something else pops into your mind. I suggest doing daily ten-minute freewrites. Other freewriting topics to try:

• I remember...
• The first time...

Get into the habit of asking questions. Children are naturally curious. They bombard us with questions daily. They ask, "Why?" or "How?" or "What is it?" How many times did we tell someone, "Look it up?" or "I don't know." How many times have you heard a news story or watched a TV show, and you came across something you did not know? Did you gloss over it, or did you look it up? Find the answers to those questions, even if you do not know much about the subject.

Ask "What if?" In his introduction of The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury described how his collection of stories evolved from asking, "What if?" For instance, he asked, "What if you landed on a far world the day after Christ had just left to go elsewhere?" That is how the story, "The Man," came about. Another: "What if a man could order a marionette robot that was his exact clone? What would happen if he left it with his wife while he went out nights?" From that he wrote "Marionettes, Inc."

I recommend starting an idea file. A newspaper article about a Texas girl who cut Elvis Presley's name into her forehead was the inspiration for Anne Tyler's novel, The Slipping Down Life. Flannery O'Connor admitted to collecting "oddities" from the newspaper. Joyce Carol Oates has used newspapers, the Ann Landers columns and True Confessions magazines for sources of her stories. Examples of stories that resulted from her collecting are her short story, "Where are you going, Where have you been?" and her novel, Black Water. Clip news stories, obituaries, advice columns, or anything that sparks your interest. Read the tabloids as well as your local newspaper. It does not matter if you do not have an idea for your clipping yet. Cut it out just because it is interesting. From time to time, flip through your file. Ask "What if?" Freewrite about whatever comes to mind. Let yourself have fun with it.

Everyone has great writing ideas. Like buried treasures, they are waiting to be uncovered.

Source:

Ray Bradbury, The Illustrated Man (New York: Avon Books, Inc. 1951, 1997)