Farror

That's not unusual, I know several people who tend to do things like that. At least, they writing poetry based on titles, I don't know about stories. Do you write poems or stories about these things?

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A minifridge... The doll house of the alcoholic.

die_daily

i try to write short stories. not the most productive writer you've ever met. heh.

Farror

I can usually write a short story without too much trouble, it's my novel that's giving me problems!

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A minifridge... The doll house of the alcoholic.

faraway

Ideas tend to come from anything, from tv, games, day to day events, but mainly dreams. I also tend to visualize any music I listen to, creating a story as I listen, which tend to be quite interesting.

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If you worry, you die... If you don't worry, you die.... so WHY worry?

Solaris

I get a lot of my ideas by meditating to music that doesn't have any words or very few words and I think about what characters would say if the music was playing in the scene.

Some songs I'd recommend are..

Enya - Shepherd Moons
Enya - Watermark
Enya - Memory of Trees
Moby - Inside
Moby - Everloving
Moby - My Weakness
Beta Band - I know
Orbital - Halcyon
FC Kahuna - Hayling
Future Sound Of London- Papua New Ginea

most work by Enigma (MCMXC A.D. & Cross of changes)
Sarah Mclachlan (Surfacing)
Enya (Paint the Sky..the best of)
Moby (Play)

Crisp acid jazz, techno/trance, etc. are really good sources of modern thoughts and ideas. I feel they make the writing more clean.

I think you should try to find music without words that would correlate as a backdrop to whatever scene it is you are trying to capture. Because music with words will tend to distract you from what it is you truly want to say.

But overall, I'd recommend the songs above for random free writing.

DizzyMikado

I get some ideas from people's names. I'll hear a name, and I naturally associate it with different personality traits (almost like the colour association thing). By then, I create a character and start building a world around him or her.

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If you don't like the truth, pretend I'm lying.

type

I never thought about using people's names. What a great technique! I have found that listening to favorite rock music, browsing in libraries and bookstores and traveling short distances helpful as well. Of course, I try to carry a pen and paper with me. But do you know what the funniest part is? The best ideas seem to occur to me when I DON'T have a pen and paper. This is such a frustrating experience! And too often, I have forgotten the whole thing by the time I get home. Has that happened to anyone so far, and if so, what did you do about it?

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Dorothy Zjawin
Suggestions for using your journal as an idea source for articles, stories and books
http://www.profitable-pen.com

safari invasion

Sounds like something I read on Suite101...

Am I right in that?

Nazareth

Carry a mini recorder (Just don't gewt caught usin it in public- unlerss ya wanna be locked up in the loonie bin )

strangedaze

I have recently taken up some rather odd ways to spark my creativity, and I'd like to share them not only to help others, but also so that others can pass judgement on my sanity.

The first thing I've started doing is recording my dreams. Wacky, I know, but sometimes I get inspired by the avante garde nature of the dreamworld, and the simple act of writing so early in the morning (immediately after I wake up) really gets me on the right track for the rest of the day.

Like most writers, budding or otherwise, I try to write a lil' something every day. What I find, though, is that I am far more expressive and I write more from my heart whenever I actually WRITE. Typing is fine, and there are times when a keyboard is infinitely more useful than a pen, but I find that a pen often becomes a more effective conduate (spelling on that?) for my creative impulses. Writing this way rejuvinates me, and I feel like I am creating something.

Sometimes I just pick a piece of art and just stare at it with a notepad in front of me. There are times when I will note physical characteristics it possesses, while other times I will rack my brain trying to account for whatever is in the picture. I recently took a look some baroque paintings by Bosch, and it nearly warped my mind. Sometimes I just free writer, too, about the painting or picture, just letting uncorruted thoughts spill onto the page.

gabriella

I get my ideas halfway through the makings of another idea.

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You write by sitting down and writing - Bernard Malamud.

Savannah

Best song ever.

Anyway, back to the point. I tend to carry a little black notebook around with me for when I'm struck with an idea. Strangely, it usually occurs during school.

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<3,
Savannah

gabriella

I've given up on little black books. The ideas come when I forget the book at home, and my pencil is all the way in my binder in my bag.

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You write by sitting down and writing - Bernard Malamud.

Capulet

I sit at home in a dark room, with thick walls. When the silence speaks to me, I record what it has to say to share with the rest of you. Either that, or I read the entrails of freshly killed goldfish.

Wasn't there a thread of drug induced creativity around here somewhere? To be honest the whole "sit in silence" thing works for me. I don't have a room for it mind you, but I know that if I sit there in silence, I can't help but think of stuff to write. I find my thoughts wandering all about. This is especially true if I've just finished reading someone else's work. "What if" has to be the most powerful question in the English language.

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It's not opression when you are protecting the voice of the majority.

-Shawn

gabriella

I am now, officially, afraid of you.

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You write by sitting down and writing - Bernard Malamud.