Where Do I Find My Ideas?
Some peoples minds are like a Porsche and some are closer to a Vespa.
Those Porsche people can rack a million ideas off of the top of their head before we even grab a pencil.
But, lucky for the Vespa people there are GREAT ways to generate ideas.
1. Are you in a critique group? One week instead of doing critiques assign everyone an alphabet idea generator project. Each person in the group must come up with ideas for A-Z.
Example: Artie the Ant ate Apples
Butterflies bound for Bermuda
Christopher Columbus catches a cold.
If each member did this, you would have your mind popping.
If you are part of a non-fiction group then you can also create a list, but I encourage you do different things and maybe only require 15 per person instead of 26.
Member 1 Example: Names 15 relatively famous people with a 3-5 words description.
Member 2 Example: Names 15 times in History (Colonial, Great Depression, Golden Age) including the year time frame and the Country.
Member 3 Example: Names 15 inventions with 3-5 describing such as the inventor or if it is still manufactured.
You get the idea, work together as a group and bring everyone to success with you.
Those Porsche people can rack a million ideas off of the top of their head before we even grab a pencil.
But, lucky for the Vespa people there are GREAT ways to generate ideas.
1. Are you in a critique group? One week instead of doing critiques assign everyone an alphabet idea generator project. Each person in the group must come up with ideas for A-Z.
Example: Artie the Ant ate Apples
Butterflies bound for Bermuda
Christopher Columbus catches a cold.
If each member did this, you would have your mind popping.
If you are part of a non-fiction group then you can also create a list, but I encourage you do different things and maybe only require 15 per person instead of 26.
Member 1 Example: Names 15 relatively famous people with a 3-5 words description.
Member 2 Example: Names 15 times in History (Colonial, Great Depression, Golden Age) including the year time frame and the Country.
Member 3 Example: Names 15 inventions with 3-5 describing such as the inventor or if it is still manufactured.
You get the idea, work together as a group and bring everyone to success with you.
The internet should be called infonet
Everyone has one of these and eager to take a snapshot of someone doing something absolutely STUPID! Thank goodness for writers who are able to take that humility and turn it into a story. So, where do we find those comical photos?
Facebook
Pinterest (one of my favorites)
You tube (one of my son's favorites)
Have time one day, go onto pinterest and search "kid pretending to be super hero" or where one of my stories came from, I searched "special lunches" and voila.
You tube works the same way, search an idea and you find many adorable children doing many childish things to write about.
Go through your friends photo's on facebook and you may just get a great idea.
Pinterest (one of my favorites)
You tube (one of my son's favorites)
Have time one day, go onto pinterest and search "kid pretending to be super hero" or where one of my stories came from, I searched "special lunches" and voila.
You tube works the same way, search an idea and you find many adorable children doing many childish things to write about.
Go through your friends photo's on facebook and you may just get a great idea.
Old is back in style
There was a time in history when our newspapers and news station published human interest stories. Unfortunately many of us no longer read or listen to the news because it makes us depressed. Among the crime and politics there is no room left for those "warm fuzzy" stories. But, they are still happening, we just have to search a little deeper.
Search old newspapers from the earlier 19th Century when the big news was Aunt Bea's Cherry pie bringing home the blue ribbon and get ideas. Then search to see if something similar has happened since.
Example: If you search Blue Ribbon Cherry Pie on the internet and scroll through the pages you will come to one about The County Affair in Pennsylvania. Then read about the different event and you will find a story about an 8 year old little girl who won the grand prize. This would make a great Picture Book story for Children. You could include a recipe in the book. Or, from here turn it into "the worst pie in the world contest." See how searching through an old newspaper generated a few ideas by one search engine entry?.
There are several auction sites and antique sites available on-line. My personal favorite being Christies Auction house in New York. I love reading about the extraordinary things being sold and wondering about the kind of life that object has been part of. At ETSY a website for Vintage items you can find a plethora of products that have been part of the history in someone's life. It got me thinking about the vase my mom had for flowers.And, how she always brought it out around her Anniversary because Dad was going to bring home roses. How as a little girl I dreamed of the day that I would receive flowers fancy enough for that vase. Or, the time my dad brought me flowers after my ballet recital and I couldn't wait to get home and put those flowers in the vase.
Ideas are everywhere, you just have to look and search.
Search old newspapers from the earlier 19th Century when the big news was Aunt Bea's Cherry pie bringing home the blue ribbon and get ideas. Then search to see if something similar has happened since.
Example: If you search Blue Ribbon Cherry Pie on the internet and scroll through the pages you will come to one about The County Affair in Pennsylvania. Then read about the different event and you will find a story about an 8 year old little girl who won the grand prize. This would make a great Picture Book story for Children. You could include a recipe in the book. Or, from here turn it into "the worst pie in the world contest." See how searching through an old newspaper generated a few ideas by one search engine entry?.
There are several auction sites and antique sites available on-line. My personal favorite being Christies Auction house in New York. I love reading about the extraordinary things being sold and wondering about the kind of life that object has been part of. At ETSY a website for Vintage items you can find a plethora of products that have been part of the history in someone's life. It got me thinking about the vase my mom had for flowers.And, how she always brought it out around her Anniversary because Dad was going to bring home roses. How as a little girl I dreamed of the day that I would receive flowers fancy enough for that vase. Or, the time my dad brought me flowers after my ballet recital and I couldn't wait to get home and put those flowers in the vase.
Ideas are everywhere, you just have to look and search.
