Ideas can be hard to come by but there are quite a few ways to gather your own and keep them together. The key is simple; notice things happening around you.
Some call it 'people watching' - if you're doing it too much, some call it stalking. You should definitely avoid that! People watching is a passive way to notice the movements of individuals, to see what their body language and mannerisms imply about how they are. Notice their clothes, their facial expressions, their demeanour - and then create characters from that.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller* was right. The world around you is full of ideas waiting to be noticed. On their own, they might not mean much but, blended together, they can be important parts to any story.
For example; a flower has no deep meaning until it is attached to a human concept, like love, or friendship, or death. The thing is, almost everything can be connected to something else to give it deeper meaning. A can of baked beans doesn't say much on its on but a single can of beans on a kitchen shelf is terribly sad if you're helping your father move into his new home after a divorce.
For example; a flower has no deep meaning until it is attached to a human concept, like love, or friendship, or death. The thing is, almost everything can be connected to something else to give it deeper meaning. A can of baked beans doesn't say much on its on but a single can of beans on a kitchen shelf is terribly sad if you're helping your father move into his new home after a divorce.
*If you don't know who Ferris Bueller is, you have my permission to take a quick break from studying so you can go and find out!
Sometimes when I'm watching a TV show or reading a book I start to wonder what could have happened if the situation was just a bit different. My imagination often takes off when these 'what if?' situations start in my head.
For example; when I read the following piece of writing by John Green, I start to think about what would that same situation have looked like from my perspective when I was the same age.
"I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane."
John Green, Looking for Alaska
And then I rewrite it (bend it) from a new point of view, maybe even a new style:
"Everybody wanted her, and for just the briefest moment, she was there, in my hands, mine. I tried to soak in everything, the colours, the soft smell of her skin, but a kiss lasts only a moment for some. A twirl of blonde hair, and she was gone. Flicked away, lightly. Forever. But I was still there."
All good writers steal little bits from other writers but, most importantly, they then make it their own. That's the difference between fairness and plagiarism!
For example; when I read the following piece of writing by John Green, I start to think about what would that same situation have looked like from my perspective when I was the same age.
"I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane."
John Green, Looking for Alaska
And then I rewrite it (bend it) from a new point of view, maybe even a new style:
"Everybody wanted her, and for just the briefest moment, she was there, in my hands, mine. I tried to soak in everything, the colours, the soft smell of her skin, but a kiss lasts only a moment for some. A twirl of blonde hair, and she was gone. Flicked away, lightly. Forever. But I was still there."
All good writers steal little bits from other writers but, most importantly, they then make it their own. That's the difference between fairness and plagiarism!
