Ideas stem from anything. It could be you flip open a magazine and there it is. Or maybe one's own experiences are fodder for your writings. It's like that old saying, "I'm a writer. Anything you say or do can be used in a novel."
I broke down and bought that cup from Etsy last holiday season. I think I shall need to have some hibiscus tea in it later today. I took a liking to the tea in late Fall. I was not a fan of rose-hips and jasmine tea. I bought some dried rose buds for tea and wasn't crazy over that. Hence, they're getting used in photography instead. Why throw out when something is useful?
Look all around you and there's ideas brewing everywhere. Sometimes we need to be nudged for ideas. Also, by reading we discover new ideas. All writers need to be reading as well. By reading, you are filling up your toolbox with added knowledge.
I for one should also read more. I don't do it enough as I've got so many other things on my plate and when I'm not knitting, I'd rather be writing my own stuff than reading. But I should make myself read more.
Conversations can be great sources for writing. Ever just sit in a coffee shop or any other place and just quietly listen to passersby? You never know where something will jump out at you. It could just be a phrase or two that sparks something.
We all watch the news. It too can be a great source for writing. Perhaps it's an issue you want to write about and find it leads you down to a great piece of writing. Who knows.
But the large part of how we incorporate it into a story must come from our heads. You can't obviously use someone else's writing. Plagiarism. However, fan fiction is different. I've never done it, but if my girls ever wanted to try it, I would encourage them to try it. Role playing and extending upon a work of fiction already out there. And I've heard it's good practice for someone who wants to learn how to write better with something already there.
Your kids can be great fodder for stuff. Learn a thing or two from them and perhaps your next novel shall be written.
Or perhaps it is the visual arts that would entice you to write. I've tried that sometimes, writing a poem from looking at an image. Sometimes the results have been kind of cool.
Whatever you do, don't spill your ideas to the world. You've got to have your secrets about what you write about. And do realize once it's in published book form it is out there for the public. But do wait until you have a completed manuscript. Do spill to your friends or colleagues if you want advice upon what you have written. Sometimes that is necessary.
I guess just be open to anything and when the moment jumps at you, write it down before you lose it. Perhaps have a recorder or something to jot it down until you can get to your laptop.
I love having a pad of paper ready at the helm to start writing if I need to get down something. It's a start. Sometimes, I have eighteen or more hand written pages that later need to be typed.
Other times, I like to be typing on my keyboard. Like now. I'm click happy coming out with words as they form on the page.
Just typing what's in my head.
Also, anything that happens to you is all fodder for writing. You can certainly use any of your experiences. Write what you know.
Research. Research can feed our brains to write.
Whatever you do, just write. It doesn't matter where our ideas come from as long as we're inspired.
So find your inspiration.
Jennifer Jo Fay
Copyrighted May 2017
Perhaps you need a candle to help inspire you. Set the mood for your inspiration. I do believe the surroundings are key to enabling our creativity. Although it really doesn't matter where you write as long as you write. The picture below is my window set up. This changes when I'm in the mood for something different.
That little doll with the black skirt I won one year when I sent paper doll drawings into Doll Reader. Plus I got my drawings into the issue. She was a Riley doll by Helen Kish.
