Chico Writer’s Group

Where do you get ideas?

Some of us get them from reading the tabloids (nope, don’t even have to buy them, just stand in line at the grocery store and flip through one while you wait), watching television, arriving early at the movie theater and watching all the commercials and trailers — the possibilities are endless. The key is using your imagination, giving your muse an opportunity to romp around.

But in a world that’s crazy busy, sometimes we lack the time or the ability to slow our brains down long enough to let our muse out to play. Are we endlessly stuck in a gray world, unable to coat a fresh sheet of paper with those lovely scribbles that turn into being novels, short stories, poetry or prose? Of course not! We just need tools to help us unlock our muse’s true potential.

Working with writing prompts is a terrific tool to exploring some thoughts and ideas. Whether you chose to select a topic or subject and see what a few minutes of free writing will expose, a more definitive prompt that might give you character names, a place and a situation, or do a fun little exercise that involves a dictionary (see below), spend some time to free write.

The Dictionary Prompt:

Open the dictionary and blindly pick a word. Don’t even bother looking at the definition, jot the word down on your pad of paper. Do this again, two more times.

Once you have your three words, set a timer for ten or fifteen minutes, then write. You don’t even have to use the words you selected. Maybe those words elicited another thought or idea. Maybe you’d prefer to write about something that eludes to the words. Or maybe your muse has taken off in a completely different direction. There are no right or wrongs to this exercise. Just write. Don’t edit. Don’t try to make sense. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling or the mechanics. If you do, your muse will shut up and sit there, staring vacantly at you as if you’ve put her under lock and key and threaded a gag across her mouth. Whatever you do, don’t piss her off.

If you find you like this exercise, consider signing up for “Word of the Day.” You’ll find that a number of online dictionaries have this free service that will deliver a new word to your in-box daily. Create a filter and save those words in a special folder so that you can easily and quickly return to it for some new words to play with.

Online Prompts:

Do a query for the keywords “writing prompt” and see what you stumble upon. There are hundreds upon thousands of sites out there where the fodder is chin deep and just a few keystrokes away. Use caution, however, in posting what comes of the prompt. Should the exercise evoke a much bigger story (isn’t that the whole point to these exercises?), you wouldn’t want someone coming along and swiping it from you, right? But more importantly, as the industry continues to evolve in light of the economy and the necessity of streamlining by using technology, online posts can at times be considered a form of publication and can, in some circumstances, ruin the opportunities for agented publication. A good resource for learning more about these legalities is to visit literary agent Nathan Bransford’s web site and enroll in his online forums at http://www.nathanbransford.com

What Ifs:

Thinking back on your day, whether it’s while you were standing in line at the bank or grocery store, straddling the in-box at work, mindlessly running copies, or driving around running errands, was there a person, a car, a landmark you passed that caught your fancy? A situation, an event, an observation you made, perhaps? Spend ten to fifteen minutes just thinking about that, letting your mind go and carrying that thought away on it’s own little trip. Now spend another fifteen minutes chasing that idea across your paper. Save it. You might find it useful as a scene description, a character, even a plot point. Maybe even the jump-off point for your next free write that could reap a wild array or even a single solitary idea for a story.

Where else can you get ideas?

• commercials
• mailers
• online ads
• movie trailers
• tabloids
• magazines
• a cozy coffee shop
• a busy mall
• the list is endless…

Other ways to develop a playground for your muse:

• Mind mapping – to learn more about this, visit http://www.hollylisle.com who has a wonderful way to mind map
• Snowflakes – to learn more about this, visit http://www.ingermanson.com or better yet, http://www.writetoinspire.com/article1258.html 
• For logic thinkers, work on developing your creative brain by taking up drawing and for those of you who are all creative-minded, visit Wikipedia for some articles about logic thinking. Having two sides of your brain, the creative and logical sides, your muse has a much more expansive playground to cavort around on!