In his latest column for Lit Reactor, Richard Thomas offers 10 tips and exercising for generating new story ideas. Here are five of them:
- The News. “Pay attention to the news, to things you hear about on social media, to newspaper articles, or even weird things that Stephen Colbert is talking about in his monologues,” Thomas says. “You never know what you might hear.”
- Homage and Inspiration. “I prefer the word homage or inspiration, not theft,” Thomas says. “But there have been many stories that I’ve seen that I either thought (A) wow this is a cool concept, I’d like to take a run at it, and do my version or (B) this is cool, but not done as well as I’d like, or it didn’t quite work for me based on what I needed. So I take a stab at it.”
- Pictures. “The next time you see something really cool, a picture or illustration that really makes you stop and think—save a copy and use that as the jumping off point, the inspiration,” Thomas suggests.
- Genre. One way to stir your imagination is to write in a genre you haven’t tried before. “Try new sub-genres, or mix things up,” Thomas says. “Step outside your genre and try an entirely new one. Or create a mashup that does something different.”
- Calls for Submissions. Many journals and anthology publishers seek stories on specific themes, settings, genres, and plot scenarios. Keep an eye on open calls and see what strikes your interest.
