Thread: How do your ideas manifest?

I thought this would be an interesting discussion. I couldn't find anything similar in the search or first few pages, so my apologies if this is indeed a duplicate. Anyway;

I'm chiefly a short story writer, not that it matters I suppose, though I figure it's worth mentioning. Before finally penning anything down, my idea will slowly build inside my head, accumulating various details and ironing out bumps, until everything has finally merged into one complete item, and is ready to be transcribed in full.

I often imagine it as a tank or container, gradually becoming more voluminous from the various books, art, music and everyday life experiences, often completely humdrum, until this container is eventually full, and then a light bulb will appear over my head, and I'll need a pen and paper. I have no idea if this is anything like the next man's process, though its definitely how it works for me. I once reeled off forty pages of A4 paper in about two hours, writing steadily, quickly and not stopping once. It's as if the idea was as real as a recent memory, and I'm simply recalling it.

I could ramble on some more, though I'll wait until others contribute. Meanwhile, I'm going for some joe.

I always have the idea in my head, building up first and then as soon as I think of the characters name I start writing and I usually write non stop until too tired. I will go at it every day until a first draft is complete. Then as I am writing the ideas grow and become more relevant and the story forms nicely. I love it.

a lot of times, i'll just sit and write a very vague, obscure and prosy 1st paragraph with no idea at all
what it means or leads to. often it just flows into a tale of it's own without me realizing it. i don't know
how people work with outlines or a set in stone plot. i just don't think i personally could pull anything
off by that method, without it seeming stale.

Originally Posted by dale

a lot of times, i'll just sit and write a very vague, obscure and prosy 1st paragraph with no idea at all
what it means or leads to. often it just flows into a tale of it's own without me realizing it. i don't know
how people work with outlines or a set in stone plot. i just don't think i personally could pull anything
off by that method, without it seeming stale.

I ad lib quite frequently, but always within the piece I am currently writing. For myself, writing a random paragraph without previous thought is a prospect of sheer madness, though we're all but apprentices in this game. Nobody is right or wrong, aye!

That method sounds much like Stephen King's method of operating. He reportedly sits down for a minimum of four hours a day, and writes anything and everything that comes into his mind. It seems to go against the grain of the views of many classical authors, though it obviously works for him.

They tend to arrive unbidden, usually when I have neither pen nor paper.

I struggle when I try to think of an idea. I let them come to me. It's not a problem if I have a fallow period as there are always other stories to be edited, revised, and so on. Frequently I'll have a germ of an idea, or a theme of some sort that requires a vessel to carry it. Over days and weeks things tend to come together, and I'll make notes or sometimes an outline. My novel-in-progress is outlined in detail, short stories aren't. With my shorts, I usually know where they're going, though at times I'll be surprised by how I get there; it's never usually via a straight path.

An important thing for me, and sometimes I struggle with this until I have a light-bulb moment, is my way into the story. It's alright having the story, but, for me, it's essential the entry point is just right. It's sometimes more than just starting the story in the right place, but starting it with something that can be returned to at or near the conclusion, bringing the story full circle for a sense of wholeness.

How do my ideas manifest?

My nano this year came from a science docu about the Sombrero Galaxy ( it is immense with trillions of stars, so I wondered if and how creatures living there travelled, because these stars have planets and they are jammed pretty tight compared to our Milky Way. And it became a story of a race of nomads who travel from planet to planet. I had to world build a few, cultures, advancement in technology.

So with that initial manifestation I write in the rest.

I usually get some random, absurd idea waiting to fall asleep at night. The next day, I take a walk and think it over and ask myself questions to fill it out, and the whole thing will gel in my head in maybe half an hour. Of course, it then takes me a month to come up with a definite outline and smooth all the little wrinkles, but the main concept always comes quickly.

As for where my ideas come from, I listen to lots of music, play video games, and read a lot both in books and TV Tropes articles. Things just float around and collide and stick in strange ways, that's all I can say.

Two words:

What if...

All the ideas I force into my head suck. And the stuff I write randomly doesn't really make sense. I guess thats my ideas are made

For me, I have elaborate stories or dialogue that plays out in my head at the most inopportune moments like in the shower or on a car ride where neither pen nor paper is ready for me. Usually, I end up trying to play connect the dots and piece together the plot as I frantically write down what's left of the idea. Nowadays, I try to hit the paper as soon as possible so my best ideas are somewhere.

they just come to me.
either by starting to type or a word I see triggers it or simply language does.

Sometimes they come from an opening hook or scene that pops into my head. I once opened a word document, typed in "He doesn't know but I know. I haven't told him," and then spent a solid week wondering where in the hell to take the story from there. I have other such opening quotes that have yet to be worked into satisfactory stories. I find that these are the hardest stories for me to write, and more often than not, I give up and file them under "unfinished."

Other times it comes from something I see or hear that just makes me think--a glass jack-o-lantern with candle wax tears, a flute passage from one of those cheap Soundscapes CDs you buy at a department store, a crinkled up, mudcovered wedding invitation on the road, and other such things. I try to come up with a setting and characters that will allow me to incorporate that out-of-place item. These experiments are the ones I'm usually least satisfied with.

And then sometimes I just come up with a character and see where their story will take me--a pregnant yoga instructor, an atheist minister, a dying widow. Once I have the character in mind, I start writing. I find that my best stories (in my opinion) are the ones that come about in this way.

The way ideas come vary. The novel I am working on right now (one of them anyway) actually evolved from a backstory I wrote for a character I played years ago in the MMORPG Everquest. I just took his story out of that world and plopped it down in a new one I created. Other ideas have just come from me watching a movie, getting bored with it and thinking how much better it would have been if this or that had happened. And another idea came to me a few months ago when I saw the trailer for Skyrim (Elder Scrolls V) the video game and I liked the idea of writing a story circling around Dragons/Wyverns.

They just come from everywhere.

I will get an idea in my head, usually something simple and then let it grow. Sometimes an interesting scene or plot device will take hold and I'll let it sit. When I start writing I kind of focus around those ideas and before ya know it a story unfolds. The general idea of a plot starts off very simple then I focus on the characters and let them drive the story. I personally think anyone can come up with a decent outline of a story. It's the characters that drive everything and make the experience enjoyable for the reader. Usually, my stories have quirky characters.

I struggle with length of stories. That's probably why I focus on short stories or novellas.