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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
| Story Ideas More questions from WdCers! Where to get story ideas How to tell if your idea is a short story or a novel or a series Nothing like something simple, huh?! Where to get story ideas Okay, where. This is something writers get asked a lot – where do your ideas come from? On a personal level, there are 3 main areas. First, and most commonly, I see something and ask myself, What if…?” Being one who writes mainly in the speculative fiction field, this makes sense in my case. Sometimes, it’s a memory, sometimes it’s something I see, sometimes it’s a newspaper article – could be anything. But that question is what gets me. Second, the lyrics of songs have been known to suggest stories. And the stories can be weird. ‘This Ole House’ by Shakin’ Stevens suggested a zombie story, for example. And third, I tell myself, “I wouldn’t have taken it that way.” This is when I read a story, see a film, watch a play, whatever, and think the story had a component I wouldn’t have included. Or maybe I think it has a flaw. Or maybe I think the idea is great but the execution was all wrong. So I simply rewrite it. Now, I have not done this too often, but often enough to include it here. Like what, you may ask? Well, one Stephen King story springs to mind because I sold my version as well… That’s me, though. Where else can ideas come from? Dreams are common. I have sold a story based on someone else’s dream! He told it to me, I took the idea, wrote it, made it creepier, and – voila! – a sale. Prompts work for many people. It might be a word, a phrase or something longer, like a quote or a poem. Or it might be visual. But many people rely on prompts to spark their creativity. Overhearing a conversation has worked for a few, taking it into strange directions. Some create a character first, then try to work out what would happen to them. Some even see a person who is a complete stranger and just write what they think their backstory could be based on how they look and act, and then set a story around that person. In a similar vein, some create a location first, then try to work out what happened there. And, again, they can even take a place they see but do not know, and write what they think its history could have been, its backstory, who lived there or worked there or died there, and use that as the central story. Now, some people have a message they want to push, or have a theme they want to investigate and write to that. I personally dislike stories written that way, but if it floats your boat, so be it. How to tell if your idea is a short story or a novel or a series Okay, when it comes to me – I don’t think about it. I have an idea, I write, and how long it is is how long it is. That does mean I have a lot of works that are a difficult sell because of their weird length. But that’s the nature of the beast. So, first, I think the more characters and the more side-quests, the longer the story. In general. But it was what is going to happen that dictates if it is a short story, novella or novel. Going into write something of a certain length can be fraught with danger, especially in a first draft. I would say just write and use subsequent drafts to reduce it or extend it to a length that you can sell. If you are not looking at selling, then why does length matter? Just write the story as well as you can and let the length fall where it may. Now, as to a series… if you set about writing a series, especially if it is the first long work you are writing, you are setting yourself up for failure. Sorry. People who set about writing series from the word go tend to fall flat in the middle. Now, if you are a detailed plotter, you can plot out your story with all the beats, including sub-stories, etc., and that can often tell you how long something will be. If it looks short, add a complication. If it looks long, remove an obstacle. This could be where you see you have a series going, but each book needs to be a story of its own, as well as leaving an open ending for the next instalment. Having a book that is just filler between other volumes sells the reader short and says you are writing for the sake of writing a longer piece. But if going for a series, plot the entire series out before even beginning book one. That way you know where it’s going and have a plan to end it. Of course, that is all my opinion. So, those are my answers to those two queries. |
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