How to Develop Story Ideas

You sit down and face the ultimate enemy for all writers; a blank screen. You want to write and yet you don't know what to write. Here's how you fight the blank screen.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   Relax. Get away from the blank screen. Sometimes, you can get the best ideas when you are not thinking about writing. Make sure you have a piece of paper or something to record that idea so you can work right on it.

2. 
    

   Talk to fellow writers. Talk about any stories in progress or ideas and they can help give you some idea on what to do. Even talking about it helps because enables you to think about it.

3. 
    

   Look at your own life. Maybe you or your family had been through something that you could find inspiration from. Mark Twain took his own experiences and use them to write his stories.

4. 
    

   Brainstorm. Sit down and write down any ideas that come to your mind no matter how weird. Let the mind work without boundaries of taste and logic. After a few minutes, look after that list and see if anything pops up.

Tips & Warnings

• Be open minded. Don't shoot down an idea if it sounds too weird until you think about it.

[majal]

on 3/12/2009 Great ideas. I will try the brainstorming idea to see if that works for me!!

[mrschadt]

on 3/11/2009 Sometimes inspirations strikes me when I just take a walk or work on something around the house to allow my mind to sidetrack for a while.

[FrazzledNanny]

on 3/11/2009 Great tips for developing story ideas. 5*

[eliptica]

on 2/21/2009 Brainstorming works every time. Thanks.

[jaredsgirl]

on 2/11/2009 This is great advice. Sometimes it gets frustrating knowing what to write. Thanks. 5*