5 Tips for Getting Story Ideas

Story ideas can be hard to come by for some people, but for me they always seem to just burst from within.  As a journalist for years, I was constantly on the look out for non-fiction story ideas to turn into news stories. Years ago at a writing seminar, I heard best selling author Robert Crais say he was constantly being asked where he came up with his ideas.  His response, "I don't know where they come from. I just get them."

That can be so true on so many levels, and when you're a writer sometimes you do just see them without knowing why.  But what if you need to come up with an idea for your next story or book. That's usually when the well goes dry and those ideas don't just pop up.  So where can you get story ideas if they are a problem for you?

1. Look around you.  Yes, sometimes it can be as easy as listening to your wife or husbands's comments about their bad day. Maybe they accidentally got cut off in traffic or cut off someone in traffic and come home in a bad mood as a result. Aha! Story idea -- what that person they cut off or who they cut off and drove by and cursed has followed them home.  Think of what might happen next. Or what if that person keeps following them.  Yes, instant thriller or mystery.

2. Don't forget your family.  I always love to tell the story of how I came up with the idea for one of Home Fires Burning, one of my early romance novels. I based it on my mother's very romantic tale of how she knew she would marry my father the first time she saw him.  She was a young teenager, and he was a cowboy coming to work at her uncle's ranch, but he saw her as nothing but a pesky kid. Still she put herself in his way and kept at it over the years until he eventually saw her as a romantic interest. Recently I was working on re-writing a short story set in the same area and my sister showed me a picture she had taken of my brother walking the same area. Suddenly I had a new idea for a new short story.

3.  Look at the news.  This has always been a staple for me.  As a news person I was always finding weird stories that caught my interest and me to thinking "what if?"  A news story about a woman who finds her family after 50 years?  Think of all the possibilities.  An older woman who reconnects with a teenage boyfriend in a nursing home by accident? Again, the story might make for a heartwarming story in a hometown newspaper, but it can also be the basis for a fiction tale. I used to keep a file of the quirkiest stories I ran across. They always seem to provide great possibilities.

4. Listen to people where ever you are.  One of the things Robert Crais also said at that writing convention was that writers are notorious eavesdroppers and he is right.  I find myself picking up on conversations whenever I am out and just sitting somewhere by myself, whether it's a bar or a coffee shop.  I can hear a conversation between two people and start thinking about what might be the basis for their discussion or argument, and voila! Instant story idea.

5. Brainstorm whenever you have a chance.  I've been sitting with my friends at times when we're just talking and mention to them I need a story idea.  Suddenly someone has a tiny spark and then so does someone else, and at least one or two others are willing to step in and add new wrinkles and pretty soon the story ideas start flying.  (tip -- on this last one, providing alcohol for those friends can often be a real help)

These are just some of the ways you can come up with story ideas.  I always also say, don't turn your back on them just because they seem weak at the time. Sometimes you can put a couple together to come up with a story. The final tip is to write them down or keep those stories in a file. That way next time you are stuck you can dig out that file and get an idea to start writing!

5 Tips for Starting to Write a Story

This month I am teaching a class on writing short stories and while working on it I came up with my own idea for writing a story. It's in a genre (young adult) that I haven't written before so as I sat down to get started it occurred to me I had no idea what I wanted to say or how. I had a concept, but where do you go from there? That got me to thinking about how I normally start out writing a story. I realized there isn't one set way that I start. I just do.


It's something I started learning many years ago when I started out in writing for TV news. You don't have much time to think about how you want to get started. You have to do it or the time will pass and your story won't make it on the air. So I would just start. As Nora Roberts says, "you can't edit a blank page." Anything else can be fixed. So start. How and where? Anywhere can be a beginning. You don't need to sit and consider the perfect first line.


1. Begin with a conversation. This was how I started on that young adult story. I had a concept and I wasn't sure how to introduce the characters or get their story started, so I began with two of the main characters caught up in a conversation. It isn't necessarily the first one they have, but it will explain one of their early actions. But writing the dialogue made me understand several things about each character and from there I was able to begin a character sketch. or....


2. Begin with a Character sketch. I've often done that in the past. I know what my story is about, and I have a vague idea of the character, but starting with a sketch (that can be used or discarded in the book) can be a good way to start off your writing. You get a picture of your character and even if you don't use the description exactly in a later scene you start off knowing more about you character.


3. Start off with a description of the setting. Now I say that not as the idea for the opening of your book any more than you would start off the opening scene with a character sketch. This is just a way to begin your writing. Write a scene setter so that you can place your characters there. Again, this can become preliminary work or you can use parts of it as you start to write. What you want to write down in the book is not so much this description as the "feel" you get from this description. Show it in your story.


4. Write a scene you know will be in the book.  I've even written the final scene as a way of starting off. In a mystery that can really be helpful because you then know how your main character is going to solve the crime.


5. Write the first thing that comes into your mind about the book. It can be anything -- from character to plot to a simple line about the story itself.  Again, this is just a way of getting started. Too often we get caught up in looking at that blank page and we don't know where or how to begin. Look at your notes about the story or look into your head to think about the story.


When I was writing for a newscast I'd have at least reporter notes or wire copy to go from. We never start out with nothing, and your stories are that way too. Think about what is in your head and just get started. Some times that is a good way to get started in the morning too. Don't let yourself get bogged down with worrying about how perfect the writing needs to be.  Once you make getting started a common practice you may find you don't need as much editing.

5 Tips for Knowing When to Re-write

We all have to do it, even if we hate the thought of it--rewriting. Sometimes there is no way around it. Even the best plotted story can run into a roadblock, or the story written into the mist can hit a hall before you even know what is happening. Suddenly you  can't move forward. Suddenly the characters are not cooperating. We'll look at how to rewrite the story in coming weeks but for today let's look at how to figure out when you've hit a roadblock and there is no other way around it but to re-write.

1. The characters are not cooperating.  I listed that above, but that is a big way to realize that you are heading in the wrong direction. If they don't seem to work in the scenes you are writing, you may be taking them in the wrong direction. Look over what you wrote earlier, look over your character profiles, and look over the characters themselves.  If they aren't working, then you need to re-think where the plot is headed for these people. You may need to do a little re-writing that will send those characters back in the right direction.

2.  You just don't want to write. Sure, there can be many, many reasons for not being able to just sit at the keyboard and having the words flow. But often the problem is that you've hit a point in the plot where the story is going nowhere. You may need to read over your plot again to make certain that it is going where you want it. This might be a good time to re-evaluate your plot and whether it can work in the way you originally planned. It might be time to consider re-writing some of the earlier pages or planning changes in the plot.

3. The story is going in some totally foreign direction and you aren't sure why. Again, this may be

that your plot is not working. This is a good time to try re-writing a few pages and perhaps trying a new direction to see whether you like the re-write better than the original. If you do, then keep heading in that direction.

4. The villain is getting more important than the hero. This might be a function of not having the write characters in the right roles. Again, it might be time to make that hero stronger, or to change the direction of the villain. And if you're going to have a super-villain, great!  Just make certain you are setting up the story that way. That might mean a re-write of some of the earlier pages, but they might also be fun to write with this new bad guy.

5.  The motives are not coming through. Perhaps what you have your characters doing doesn't ring true. They wouldn't take those sort of risks for no reason. Perhaps you need to re-write those motives to make them stronger, or to make those changes in your characters to make them want something more. Motivation is a big factor for your characters' actions. You need to make them strong enough.

If you do find you have to do a re-write, don't despair. Next week, we'll look at how to make those re-writes work for you to come up with a stronger story.

5 Tips for Starting off a New Writing Year

Okay, we're a few days into the new year, but this is Monday, and the beginning of a new work week. I have a number of writing classes that actually start today because it is Monday.  One of them is on Power Writing -- offered by Outreach International Romance Writers. In this class we go from ways to come up with stories to actually writing them and then to looking at ways to get them published.

But that got me to thinking about five ways to get started in this new writing year if you've already started something.  How can you re-dedicate yourself to your writing commitment. We're not talking resolutions here, but how to make those resolutions work for you.

So with a toast to the new year, here are five tips for getting going again, now that we're in a new year:

1.  Just do it!  One of my mottos for this year is that Nike slogan.  I've been wanting to start a new project and waiting for the inspiration to strike -- well, sometimes that inspiration is never coming. Either sit down and get started or get started on something else.  Either way, the key is to get busy with writing and don't look back.

2.  Look back to look forward.  Okay, so maybe you can't start on something new until you finish that last project. Then get going on that right from the start of the year. Make a goal to finish that project this year. One of our writing groups typically has an annual contest called "Write to the End." We put money in a pot and if you finish your book your name gets put into a drawing. One year someone won up to $240.  You might consider doing that with one of your writing groups. Or promise yourself a special night on the town or treat if you finish your project this year.

3. Take a class on something you want to try.  I'm talking writing here, but why not take a painting class if that interests you. Last year I began coloring and drawing and even water coloring. I'm horrible at art and my 11-year old niece turns out better water color paintings than I do, but it's a great way to be creative when I not writing. And sometimes I get story ideas or scene ideas while I am working on those water colors. (or maybe that's why they turn out so bad.

4.  Take a writing class. One of my classes that I am teaching this year is on Romantic Suspense and next month I'll be teaching one on Short Stories. One of my students worked with me in a previous class and wants to try her hand at Romantic Suspense, which is why she is taking the class.  She has written fantasy in the past. So why not try something new? You might find a new niche and new writing energy.

5. Be open to new opportunities.  One thing about the new year -- it always brings out people who are also looking for new things to start or new ways to express their creativity. Suddenly everyone wants to form a book club or start a new critique group.  I'm going to be more open to trying some of those things out. I've been considering a book club and the new year is a good time to start because there will be other newbies undoubtedly.

The best thing about a new year is that you get to start fresh. I'm all in favor of new beginnings!

5 Tips on Blogging

One of the promotional tools writers have been told to use as a way of getting their word out about their stories is blogging.  It can be both fun, but also time consuming. And coming up with ideas for blogs every week can become an issue.  What is there to blog about that can be helpful to your fiction writing?

1.      Blog about your research – This is a no brainer.  I always find items that I look up that I might not use in my story that might make a good blog. For instance, my research on ghostly legends of the southwest took me back to my childhood and hearing my mother tell me of the story of La Llorona, an infamous story of a ghostly woman who haunts the waterways and rivers in the southwest, looking for her lost children. It was an old legend that Hispanic parents told their children to keep them from going out at night. I used it for several blogs around Halloween.

2.      Blog about places you visit – this too was part of research on one of my stories. I spent a weekend travelling by train across the Rocky Mountains and was able to use it as the basis for a blog about train travel. But it can be a fun car trip you make, or even a visit to the local museum. One of the places I also blogged about was a visit to the historic Brown Palace in Denver.

3.      Blog about simple, every day things – one of my friends, Darla Bartos, who has written a wonderful mystery set in South Africa, has a great way of coming up with blog ideas. She writes about many every day events, ideas that just hits her and how they affect her writing. She did a great blog on hitting all the stop lights and how that encouraged her writing progress.

4.      Blog about classes you might be taking – I have often blogged about the conferences I attend and about the workshops I’ve attended. One of the reasons I like to blog about them is that it encourages me to take better notes at the conference, and it also serves as a way of reinforcing what I learn. It also is a good way to force me to get those notes transcribed when I get home.  Then I can keep them in a file on my computer and available should I ever need them again.

5.      Review a book on your blog – I’ve done author profiles on My Writing Corner blog and have sometimes offered up reviews, but this is another way to get in some interesting writing and also can give you some help with your own writing. 

I am going to try reviewing writing books on this blog. I have dozens of writing books and recently someone asked me what my favorite books on writing were and which I always keep handy.  Starting next week, I will give a list of some of those books and then I will begin to review some of the ones that have been so helpful to me.