I’m often asked, how do you come up with so many ideas for your books? Sometimes they just pop into my head – normally at the most inconvenient times, when I’m in the bath or driving, or perhaps when I wake up in the middle of the night. I used to think that if they were really good ideas, I’d remember them. But actually my memory is dreadful, so these days I jot them down on my phone. I also have a notebook and pen next to my bed.
If you’re like me, over time, you will collect ideas and at some point, you’ll have a whole bank of ideas to choose from. But occasionally, the ideas don’t come and staring at a blank page absolutely isn’t going to help! Here are some of my best sources for book ideas:
THE NEWS
It is a truism that fact is always stranger that fiction. Let’s say I want to write a book that features a murder in a restaurant. I might search for that in the news and invariably I’ll get some ideas. Or I might extend that to a search for crimes in shopping malls. I don’t recommend taking ideas directly from real events, but they will undoubtedly give you some inspiration.
EAVESDROPPING
People are the greatest source of inspiration. When you’re out and about shopping, eating out, on public transport, or anywhere you’re surrounded by others, indulge in a bit of people watching. Listen to conversations and write down anything that piques your interest. Also, imagine back-stories for people, and note down any interesting characteristics or physical features. You can meld these into your future characters.
FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
Think about the people you know. Okay – you need to be careful here because you can’t betray confidences and overtly steal your family and friends’ life stories! But you can take inspiration from crazy things have happened to them. Also, think about the character traits you find particularly interesting or unpleasant. Can you create a character by melding traits from different people you know?
SETTINGS
Locations are often triggers for me when plotting a book. For instance, in Forget Me Not, I chose a village in Switzerland that I know well. I gave the place an imaginary name, but all the events took place in the village I know. The setting was also the trigger for my book, The Lodge. I wanted to base a novel on a game reserve in South Africa. Once I’d decided upon the locations, I started to imagine the characters that might live there and the more I immersed myself in the (imaginary) places, the easier the plots began to flow.
ONLINE STORY PROMPTS
If all else fails, there are numerous websites with story prompt ideas. Whilst I don’t recommend using these directly, they can set you off in a new direction. One that I particularly like is Reedsy Story Prompts. https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts In addition, Reedsy run regular short story contests which are great for getting your creative juices running.
HOPES AND FEARS
Your own emotions are there to be mined, and as a bonus, exploring them is great therapy! For instance, f you’re writing romance, indulge in your own dreams. Similarly if you’re writing thrillers, why not explore your fears? Not only can these make great hooks for books, but writing about your fears is very cathartic. I did this in my book, The Arrangement. At the time of writing, my daughter was studying in the US. I was terrified something might happen to her, so very far away from home. I used that novel to explore my fears and worst case scenarios. In fact, my very first novel, Don’t Call Me Brave, was based on my experience of recovering from cancer. The process of writing was immensely cathartic.
FREE FLOW WRITING
This is something that needs practice but brings a sense of freedom. You need to set a timer - perhaps for ten minutes - and then write down the first thing that comes to your mind. None of it needs to make sense, but just carry on writing everything that pops into your head, without hesitation, regardless if they’re coherent thoughts or not. No one is going to read this so it doesn’t matter what you write. Sometimes the very process of doing this is like uncorking a bottle. Once the cork is out, everything flows better.
WHAT IF?
What if? What if? What if? Those two words are the most powerful prompts for fiction writing. I’ll give you a couple of examples. Let’s start with something banal. Sue missed the bus. What if this means she has to take a different route to work? What if she sees something she shouldn’t en route? Or if she meets someone new? What if that person tells her a secret? Or what if the bus is involved in an accident? Or what if she sees her ex, the ex she thought was dead?
Or what if Tom accidentally spilled coffee over someone in a coffee shop. What if that person was on the run? Or what if that person wanted to talk to Tom and in fact she ran into him? What if she befriends Tim and inveigles her way into his life? What if she intends to make him pay for something he did in the past? Carry on with some What if’s of your own and you’ll see how powerful they can be.
If you’ve got any great idea sources of your own, please share them!
Miranda x