Story Ideas

Posted on June 12, 2008 by avatar

Lately I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of brainstorming. As observers might incorrectly think, brainstorming isn’t just mindless vegetating and time wasting. It’s actually a strenuous process of determining topics, examining the viability of each, and then deciding where and when to pursue story ideas.

If you have a unique brainstorm process, leave it here in the comments.

Mine is usually combined with dining. I bring my notebook with me to breakfast and other meals. Then I just let my mind wander as I look around the restaurant. I create stories about the people around me, the traffic outside, the weather, the topics that are broadcast on the televisions (on a side note, have you noticed how many restaurants now feature TVs on the walls? When did we stop talking to each other? Whoops, there’s another idea!) and anything else that occurs to me.

Right now, I’m in Atlanta and I’m preparing for breakfast and another productive ‘storming session. Good luck with yours.

Keep reading!

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One Response to Story Ideas

  1. Mari Adkins says:
    June 12, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    We live in an apartment, so we have to schlep our laundry down to the laundry on the other side of the complex twice a week – I do three loads, the man does the leftovers. I take the headset for my cellphone so I can listen to music, and I take a small 5×7 Mead notebook and an inkpen. That way I can just tune out everything else and let my mind do what it likes to do – channel surf as though the seek button is broken. If something catches my eye or if I remember something or think of something “profound” (haha), I jot it down. If a new scene comes to mind, I start on it – sometimes I can get up to 2k during a laundry session!

    In college, a friend of mine and I used to go sit in mall foodcourts or in high traffic areas just to people watch. We’d make up stories and create guessing games as to what people were up to. It was fun. I bet these could be turned into some snazzy flash fiction or short stories…

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