Where do you get your ideas?

[HarryXGinny4evr]

I usually take real life events from my life and put them into a story. Then I give them a few twists so if my friends ever read it, they'll never know that this has actually happened to me or that they're in it.

[Smitts]

I usually write stories to express feelings of happiness or sadness I've felt.
I try to let others know how it might feel in my shoes.

I also write ideas on how I wish things were.

I mainly write my stories about real life instances with a few fictional things added in.

[The_Writer]

J.K. Rowling once said, "The question most often asked of writers is, 'Where do your ideas come from?'" She smiled and said, "I told them from my head."

Everyone's answers are right. Ideas come from anywhere, from others books and movies to that lady in the park whose nylon is running, or that kid eating an ice cream cone on the sidewalk.

I've always felt writers have a special way of looking at the world. I'm sure others here would agree with that. I read as a writer, go for walks as a writer, watch movies as a writer. That is, I see everything in an artistic way.

Take my earlier example: The lady with the run in her nylons. Why is it there? Maybe she was meeting someone at that park, was running late, didn't do laundry last night, and just grabbed an pair at the bottom of her drawer. Maybe she's meeting a date, some guy who thinks it's more romantic to meet at a park than the movies or her house. They actually met online, which adds to her haste -- she's beyond nervous. What will he look like? Is he a bit odd? He might be, with this whole meeting at the park idea.

Anyway, that's an idea for at least a short story. All from a brief walk to the park. Ideas sit in the writer's mind, waiting to be dug out and polished. Writers, real writers, know where to look.

[Desraelda]

My ideas come from my characters and their changes and growth throughout the story. Who they are determine what kinds of things will happen to them and how they will react to different situations.

I'm doing a series of stories where one story generates from the previous story and after a couple of those, I'll switch to new characters; maybe only do one with the new characters and then start another with a set of characters that each generates their own story.

As the leading man in my last novella observed, everyone has a story.

[Uriel]

My mind just goes off. I could be shopping or in the bath tub and have an idea happen. Just let them come.

[glacevenor]

Shower, traveling and all doesn't work for me. There are too many distractions around during traveling and all. The best ideas sprout when I'm in my bed, about to sleep. They just flow continuously, characters more than plots. And then, the next day, I jot them down.

[Pokota]

Other than Overpower, most of my fanfic ideas come from me doing something that I enjoy doing - seeing how one or two "small" changes can affect the big picture. Sometimes I imagine the characters talking with me and go from there, other times it's me taking an idea - an unfettered 'Sue that's allowed to just rampage all over the original plot, in this instance - and writing until I get tired of writing. If nothing else, it's an exercise in putting words together.

As for my original works, a lot of them come from random things that stuck with me. V.G., for example, is a story built around a map that I made when I was bored almost seven years ago. The entirety of the Necromancer Wars thingummy that I'm working on started from a game that me and two friends from kindergarten played at recess, and then only for a couple months at most.

[Inigo Imago]

I tend to get ideas while writing. I've had several different instances where my characters took over and something happened without warning. I made a similar suggestion in another thread to help get rid of writer's block. Think of a random event (it doesn't need to be the basis of your plot) and have your characters react to it. This will help you learn more about your characters and may give you some great ideas for new plot lines.

- Inigo

[Desraelda]

I learned to let my characters take over somewhere in the beginning of my first novel. Now I let them tell their own story.

I've had fans suggest ideas for books they'd like me to write. Mostly I like to write historical fiction so I pick a time period, research it, and make a timeline to work from.

If I'm writing a fantasy, I start with the character and a setting and go from there.

One thing I'd love to write is a mystery but I don't have enough confidence for that yet. Too many great mystery writers out there for me to think I could follow in their footsteps. In the meantime, I have plenty of other things to write. But someday ...

[AldeberanBlack]

They come to me randomly.

[sparrowinwinter]

It's a strange thing, the human mind. Ideas pop randomly into my head and so often, several different ideas invade my brain and I end up dropping them all.

[lacerta_lynx]

Actually ideas are something I do not lack. I'm always having ideas for stories, either fanfiction or original.They come from everywhere... Or nowhere at all.

[RikuStark]

Dreams. I can't tell you how many times I get a story from a dream. Boredom can also result in getting ideas, usually the more crazy, this will never get published, ones.

[Night_Sarabande]

Sometimes I can just sit at the computer and think of something, but more often than not, my inspirations come at the weirdest times. They'll come right before I fall asleep--in which case I have to get up and write them down--or they'll show up when I'm out somewhere, like at church. It just depends.

[Goddess_Clio]

From everywhere.

Asking what would happen if one thing were changed in a favorite book.

Seeing an old man sitting outside a coffee shop and giving him a story.

Taking a social issue, a political issue or generally just a controversial issue and thinking about it from every angle until you find the most interesting one. Monica Lewinsky had an affair with the president. Why? She was a lusty presidential aid? She was being blackmailed? She was a spy for a foreign government?

Wondering how my life would be different if I didn't go to work today.
Why aren't I going to work? I'm sick; Boring. I'm avoiding a coworker I just got out of a relationship with; Cliche. I just won the lottery and I quit the previous day; Meh, maybe interesting, maybe not. There is a zombie apocalypse; Now we're talking.

[TheScribbler]

I find that ideas tend to come in the most inconvenient situations, especially when I'm out... so I've learned to always have a pencil or pen on me. It's super hard to force ideas to come, and I honestly think the most inspiring thing to do is sit in a place with a lot of people, get out a notebook, watch them, and write down what you think their backround is. I get get loads of stories just from doing that.

[Liez]

I usually get my ideas by either being inspired by other media (like movies, music, etc.), or that they become results from a lot of thinking.

Like just the other day, I was sitting silent and alone on the bus thinking about one of my characters' names and how I found most people consider it a female name (the character is male) so I played with it a bit and came up with a possible solution of changing the spelling but it still sounds similar to the original name.

[Desraelda]

Two of my books came out of requests from readers. A lot of times, one book or character suggests another book. Or I come up with a theme that I use for a series (not necessarily connected) of books.

I went to a family birthday party a few weeks ago, and my young cousin (10 yrs old) wanted to read one of my books. I told him they were written for adults. I did promise him I would write a book for him. I've never written MG, but I guess I'll have to just sit down and do it.

[HersheyLipGloss]

I think my ideas come from within a broad idea. I think of it as tunnel vision. I shall provide a demo, using "A Wrinkle In Time"-

Big Idea- Inter dimensional time travel
Smaller idea-Trip to save dad

Characters- Family members and strangers
Main CHaracters-Genius Parents and Average kids, but not one.

See?

[asdfasdf17]

If you keep an open mind, you can get an idea from anywhere.
I get my ideas from lots of sources, not just one source: Music, weather, a conversation, a picture or drawing, or sometimes just out of the blue.