Part of a writer’s job is the ability to brainstorm story ideas. An idea that is new. Fresh. A new slant that turns a common narrative arc into something unexpected. But how do you do that when it seems everything has been done before?
All writers live by the power of their story ideas. How are yours? Do you struggle to come up with ideas? Or do you hit a wall when you try to develop them into something useable?
Don’t worry. This blog will help.
Not All New Ideas
Not every story begins life as a new idea. There are many stories derived or inspired from others. For example, 10 Things I Hate About You found its origins in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The 1990s classic, Clueless, started as an update of Jane Austen’s Emma. And Disney’s Lion King is nothing more than a Hamlet retelling. There is also a host of reimagined myths and fairy tales in modern literature and film.
There’s nothing wrong with using an existing idea or trope as a springboard to create something new from the familiar.
Then there are stories that spring forth from a spark of genius. Aliens destroying the entire planet saving an ordinary person in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a great example of this. There are many. Stories that stand out in entirely new or surprising ways.
Sometimes the change is in how the stories are written, such as Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which embraces poetic language and beauty for a tale full of heartache.
What these stories have in common is that they began with an idea, no matter how fresh or refreshed. But how do writers get story ideas? The answer to that question lies deep within our brains.
The Brain & Ideas
The brain has two systems that govern our minds and ideas. They are:
The Controlled System
The Controlled System concerns the conscious mind. This part of the brain governs how we take in information through our senses and then combines that data with knowledge we’ve gained along the way. This mixture informs our decisions and interactions in the world. Our conscious mind determines our experiences, but it does not operate alone. We have another system called…
The Automatic System
This is the unconscious mind. Our unconscious mind is powerful and tracks everything around us. It’s the reason you hear what matters and can filter out the miscellaneous. When you’re working in a coffeehouse, it’s why you hear them call your name, but don’t always hear the other patrons talking, unless they are being exceptionally loud or saying something outrageous that snags your attention.
The controlled and automatic systems work together. But the automatic system, or the unconscious mind, works harder when it comes to imagination and ideas. The reason is that during the day we feed this part of our brain with everything we read, see, hear, taste, touch, smell, consider, observe and encounter. That input pays off later.
The subconscious brain takes everything we give it and lets it marinate, combining the conscious observations with the unconscious material we’ve collected along the way. These elements mix with our creativity to result in dreams, ideas, and creative sparks that can turn into stories. That is the crux of brainstorming story ideas.
We need both systems. It is essential to feed the first and give time to the second because they work in combination.
There are three other systems involved in the process. They include the:
- The Attentional Control Network that focuses our attention on a single task at a time. This is the system that helps us ignore everything else and do deep work. This is what you need to sit down and write.
- The Imagination Network helps us free up our imagination and let ideas flow. It’s the part of the brain that can access memories and conjure future scenarios, and even imaginary events. This is where the internal writer lives.
- The Attentional Flexibility Network is the executive of the three. It decides how and when to switch from deep focus to free association to being wide open to stimuli. Think of it as the director who decides where to look and what to notice. It houses the internal editor, but also the observer.
These three systems work in combination with the controlled and automatic systems to create the right environment to come up with ideas. And it all happens within your brain without much conscious effort.
Have you ever noticed that you get great ideas in the shower or on a walk or when you’re driving? That’s because your conscious mind is distracted leaving you open to input from your subconscious mind. It is in these moments of distraction the automatic system pushes into the forefront enough to connect with the conscious mind. That’s why many articles on how to get ideas suggest taking a walk. It’s a way to tap into the subconscious. Driving sometimes works too. Anything that allows you to move into an automatic mode so the subconscious mind can feed ideas to your conscious brain.
Forming Ideas
Your brain needs encouragement to forge connections and form ideas. You can do this by tapping into different methods that foster ideas and imagination. Some ideas come from what you surround yourself with and how you feed your imagination. Others arrive only with a bit of encouragement.
Create a Space for Ideas
Your brain likes habit. It craves routine. You can tap into this urge by designating a regular place to create ideas, in effect training your brain to be more active in your creative space. If you can’t do that, then try to create a similar environment each time. Perhaps set up a routine to begin or surround yourself with a few touchstones in your environment. Perhaps setting out a specific type or color of pen, a specific notebook, or anything else that you can carry with you to create a more creative mood.
Be Prepared
Ideas come when our conscious brains are distracted. Be prepared to capture those random ideas no matter where they occur—in the shower, while shaving, driving, walking, or any other place where ideas flow more freely. Set up a recorder app on your phone or hang a waterproof pad in your shower. Be ready to grab those thoughts as they come. You often won’t remember them if you wait.
The only caveat to this is when capturing ideas from your bed. I have found that I can rarely read my notes when I keep a pad near my bed. It appears my sleepy state affects my hand and handwriting. Instead, I force myself out of bed to write on my laptop when ideas come to me there. It’s not convenient or fun, but it is the only way I have found that works. Find what works for you. Maybe you’ll be able to decipher your sleepy scratches in the morning? I rarely can.
Flood Yourself with Input
Your brain needs input to generate ideas. You must feed it constantly. Read, watch, listen to as much as you can. Learn new things. Explore new ideas. Read outside of your comfort zone. Your brain will take it all and throw it into your subconscious to marinate. That is where ideas begin. Think of information, observation, research as your seeds. Time and distraction act as water to help ideas grow.
Go for Quantity Not Quality…at First
Ideas rarely appear in their perfect form. Nor will every idea be worth your time pursuing. So don’t wed yourself to your first idea, but also don’t discard ideas that don’t seem good enough. You need more time to decide that. Some distance and perspective. Perhaps one idea is bad, but when you pair it with another idea it is perfect. Save everything. Even the bad ones. You can analyze and edit later. In the idea creation phase, go for volume.
Actively Seek Out Ideas
It’s not enough to passively wait for ideas. Sometimes you have to actively create them. Here are a few tips to do that:
Observe Your World
Go out into the world and open your senses. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel? What can you touch? Taste? Tap into what your senses can tell you about the world around you. Record the sensations as they happen. Write down what the bird song sounded like and how it made you feel. Write about the wind moving through the tall grass or the squirrel running up the tree. Take notes about your world. Move around. Go to new places. Sit and people watch. How many characters do you see? Can you find a villain or a hero? What dialogue do you hear? Capture it all. You never know what will work for you down the line.
Go Looking for Stories
Stories are all around us. They are how we record our memories and share our lives. Go find them. You can do this through observation, like the tip above, or by diving into research on a subject that interests you. If you have always loved the night sky, dig deeper and learn about astronomy. Find a story lurking within the facts of that field. Be inspired by what you learn, then let your mind follow those threads to new places. You can find stories in newspaper headlines, tabloids, research books, nonfiction titles, memoirs, biographies, documentary films, scholarly journals. The point is to start by following your curiosity and then take what you learn and spin that into a tale. Let your curiosity lead you. Don’t let those questions within you go unanswered.
Embrace the Weird Stuff
Don’t always be proper about it either. Read some fringe materials and embrace the weird stuff. You never know where you will find a story. Don’t be afraid to read conspiracy websites, tabloids, fringe publications. Maybe that story of the three-headed lizard baby will inspire the next big SciFi novel.
Even if you aren’t looking to write the next big Bigfoot book, you might read a line that will inspire a totally different question if you go chasing information on that hairy cryptid. Or maybe one aspect of a conspiracy theory will spawn a new thriller. Now, I’m not suggesting going to websites that might land you on an FBI watch list, but don’t stick to scholarly works. Have some fun with your research and reading. Next time you stumble upon an odd museum, go in. Look up weird places to visit in your home area. You might be surprised what you can find in your own backyard.
Revisit a Favorite
We all have favorite tales from our childhood. Maybe you can retell a favorite story in a new way. There is a reason fairy tale and myth retellings are so popular. People love to see their favorite tales and stories told in new and interesting ways. The key is to tell a new story inspired by the original, not to steal the original and disguise it with thin veneers and subterfuge. Make sure you take the original and make it yours, using only the framework for inspiration.
Memories
Identify a single moment from your past or present and write it down in narrative form. This is a great way to dig deeply into your own life and give the moments more depth. Add in sensory detail, dialogue, exposition, action and more. The simple act of remembering deeply will help you tap into your own experiences more easily. This is a skill like any other and gets easier with practice. Think of it as delayed journaling.
The Dump Method
If a single memory won’t hack it, use the dump method. This is more of a stream-of-consciousness way to tap into your past. Start with one memory or even something you observe or hear. Use that as a springboard to tap into your memory banks. Keep writing for ten minutes, jumping from one memory to another as your thoughts come to you. The randomness is the key. Write whatever comes to mind. You might be surprised by what memories spark other memories. They may be linked or completely separate. The mind is funny that way.
For those ten minutes, don’t edit. Don’t force. Just let your mind wander and write down what comes. Let your thoughts take you on a journey. Once your time runs out, review what you’ve written. Are there any stories that pop out? Is there a running theme? Any similarities in the memories? Look for ways you can use the memories you have captured. Could any of them be developed more? Do any of them spark an idea for a fictional story?
Use Who You Know
Base a story on someone you know. Think of this as a character study. You can either start by doing a character sketch on someone you know and then put them into a story or the other way around. The idea is to be inspired by people you know or see regularly. Maybe that crazy professor you had in college could take the place of a madman in your story or your kind pediatrician could step in as a father figure. Who do you know? What roles would suit them best? Try to see how they might fit your stories or tap into your knowledge of them to learn how to forge characters who are real and nuanced. You should know your characters and your best friends.
Make Lists
Creating lists can loosen up your imagination. It’s easy too. Make a list of your favorite vacations, holidays as a child, movies you’ve seen, favorite games, embarrassing moments, romantic dates, whatever. The idea is to stretch your memory and find those nuggets lost within your brain. Pick a topic and start a list. Or begin by listing what you see around you to launch a new list idea. If you can’t remember much of your childhood, make lists of things you wish you had gotten to do as a child, teen, young adult, adult. Wishes work too.
Map Your Mind
The key to this exercise is to approach it with complete freedom. Come up with a single item or memory or concept and create a mind map around it. Look for relationships and connections. Create new connections for each level. See how far a single idea can take you. It may be to a new combination of ideas that sparks the one idea you need or it may start you off in a new direction. This is a great exercise to try after creating your lists. Take one or more items from the lists and try to combine them.
Embrace Differences
Make lists of ways two things are alike and different. For example, what are 10 ways hippos and chimpanzees are different? Alike? Try it with random pairings to see what you get. This game is a great way to wake you your brain and get it moving, which will help lead you to creativity. Not all exercises will generate a story idea, but they are great for shaking loose the cobwebs and letting new ideas flow, which is always good for creative people. Think of this type of game as a warmup for the harder work to come.
Talk It Out
Find a trusted source and talk out your story ideas. Bounce ideas and elements against someone who can and will give you honest feedback. Sometimes just saying it out loud sparks new ideas or insights. The ears hear things the eye do not see. This is one reason reading your work aloud works better than silent editing. Your brain will overlook things it sees or doesn’t see, supplying missing words or errors. The ears are much better at finding awkward phrases, missing punctuation, and bad grammar. They also hear ideas more clearly.
Guided Visualizations & Dreams
I don’t know many writers who do not dream about their stories. The trick is remembering what you dream. Sometimes guided visualizations or lucid dreaming is the better choice. You tap into that unconscious creativity while retaining the ability to remember what you’ve seen. Try meditating on your story. Practice lucid dreaming techniques. Keep a diary beside your bed to capture your dreams. Let your subconscious work for you.
Characters
Brainstorming characters can be an effective way to add depth to your story. Approach the process as a creative endeavor. Map out traits that fit the person. Include wardrobe ideas and how they would decorate their space. What about work or school habits? Think of all aspects of a person and add them to your character map. If you are describing a villain, look for balance by adding some redeeming characters. If you are working on a hero, include some flaws or weaknesses. Have fun, but remember to keep your characters individual. Don’t use the same big traits for multiple people in your cast. Find ways to make them stand out.
Theme
Use your story’s theme as a starting point. What do stories with that theme make you think of? Feel? Brainstorm all the elements that make those kinds of stories stand out for you. Why do you want that theme to dominate your story? Explore the motivation pushing that story within you. You might find hidden depths in your own backstory.
Play What If?
Go down the rabbit hole of asking “what if?” What if the grass turned orange? What if the government could hear our thoughts? What if the robots did take over? Where would it begin? Would anyone be safe?
Look for ways to expand your ideas. Play games. Record random thoughts and play with them. Develop phrases that come to you. But, more importantly, capture everything and review it regularly. It does you no good to write down your ideas if you never return to them.
What to Do After You Brainstorm
Work the Ideas
Workshop the ideas. Don’t let them stay on the page as an exercise. Explore your ideas by testing them with an outline or plot. The goal is to push your ideas to see if they can sustain a longer form or enhance an existing story idea. What can you make from them?
Examine Your Ideas
Look at your favorite ideas and see how they could be combined or separated to form more ideas and stories. You may have hidden gems in your notebook that could bear new stories or ideas. Don’t stay locked into how you put them down in your idea session. Analyze them critically to see if there are other opportunities you didn’t see originally.
Don’t Hold Them Too Closely
the worst thing you can do is to grab hold of an idea and refuse to look at it critically.
Research
Expand on your ideas by researching them. The initial idea sets the path, it doesn’t comprise the whole. Look for more. Go down the rabbit hole to see what else you can find. Research opens opportunities. Knowledge feeds imagination. Set a time limit for your research and explore your possibilities.
Become a Hoarder
Okay, not really. But do start collecting ideas and articles and quotes that inspire you. Even pictures or images. Symbols. Anything that sparks an idea or feeling in you. Create sections in your Writer’s Notebook for inspirational items—memorabilia, articles, quotes, images, song lyrics, artwork, etc. Add to it when you see something that creates a reaction in you, positive and negative. You never know where story ideas will come from and it may not be from the warm and cozy.
Keep at It
Ideas are like any creative entity. It takes practice and patience. You need to keep doing it. Keep looking for ideas and pushing for them. Tracking them when they come to you. Be dogged in your efforts to capture your ideas. They are your raw materials. They feed the stories you want to write. Like writing, you have to do it to improve your skills. Keep at it. Don’t stop. Ever.