Alexandria LaFaye Wouldn’t it be grand if you could slip into a shop or browse online for new ideas? It sounds easy and convenient, but then the ideas wouldn’t be yours would they? The secret of new ideas lies in their source. Afterall, creativity is the recombination of known things in unusual order.
Learn Something New
If that’s true, then the first step to coming up with new ideas is to learn new things. I LOVE to learn new things and the internet is a treasure trove of new ideas, but beware of the cute video time suck—the mental equivalent of quicksand. Frequent sites like The Smithsonian or National Geographic to read fascinating articles on topics from contemporary race issues that grip our nation to Sir Isaac Newton’s exotic prescription for the plague. You can also take voice lessons on Youtube with a voice coach and Freddy Mercury as your tutors. You don’t know who Freddy Mercury was? Here’s your chance to find out!
The truth is that the more you know, the more you can imagine. Want to know what it’s like to rock climb? Study up. Give it a try. Talk to rock climbers. Watch interviews of climbers. The more details you acquire the more you’ll internalize them and if you choose to write about this subject, you can write with a sense of authority.
So, you’re first stop when shopping for new ideas is anywhere you can learn something new.
Question Everything
Questions can be excellent idea starters—particularly “what if” questions. What if I went to sleep a girl and woke up a boy? Or vice versa. I also recommend twists on familiar themes. For instance, I’d read a lot of stories about riders on the Orphan Train and their stories were heartbreaking and inspiring, but I wondered about the kids whose lives were changed by having an orphan enter the family. What conditions would need to exist in order for that to happen?
That question lead to the creation of Nate Peale and the harvest accident that nearly destroyed his leg and made it impossible to work on their family farm. His father was so worried about being able to keep the family farm running without his son’s help that he adopted a child from the orphan train. So began my novel Worth.
Asking questions can help you come up with new ideas and imagine your way into a story, so question everything and let the ideas unfold.
The Blank Page
We all know coming up with a new idea is the first hurdle on a track full of hurdles, but don’t worry, you only have to vault them one at a time!
The next and often toughest hurdle, is usually the blank page, so I wanted to close out this blog with a little advice on how you turn that blank page (be it a piece of paper or a blank screen) into an ally instead of any enemy:
- Create a paper airplane (circles work best if you have a straw handy).
- Seriously though, if the words won’t come, draw, doodle, make a list of the last 10 things you ate, just claim the page with whatever comes to you, then keep the momentum going.
- Take your new character on an imaginary outing—walking in the park, a trip to a restaurant, into the town they live in—anything that can get your writing about the world you’re creating.
- Place a picture on the page that represents your idea and imagine your way into it.
- Try a few creative exercises. There is a host of them online. Here’s a hundred or so to get you started. I have a few creative calisthenics on my YouTube channel you may want to check out. Whatever gets your creative motor running.
Remember, it’s not about comparing yourself to the writers you most admire, it’s about comparing yourself to the writer you were six months ago & WRITE ON!
This is a Tight Write Bite from A. LaFaye @sylvanocity on FB, Twitter, or Instagram and at www.alafaye.com.
If you have a writing question, feel free to email me at A@alafaye.com! Who knows, you may inspire my next blog.
