Where To Find Writing Ideas

"Yeah, where is my motivation?" You blurted.

Writing ideas are scooped out of living life,

family gatherings, a newspaper headline,

chatter you over-heard at the mall, or a

chirping bird outside your window.

Let's start with one of my real life

experiences. There is a room in my

house that is cluttered most of the

year. Why? Everyone living in my

house dumps unused clothes, radios/

televisions to be fixed, old furniture,

books, and toys in it.

Not-so-often, I muster up the

courage to, at least, curve out a

walking path. Yes, I bring in

help too.

My story idea is on a particular

day, after struggling with an old

television, I discovered a small

closet. It banged against the wall

several times, which forced its

door to pop open.

I jumped back, coughed from

the dust. I left the room for

about ten minutes.

I returned. It took awhile

to clear-out the dust and cob-webs.

In one corner, there sat an old doll,

covered with strips of linen. Or, was

it something else?

I pulled on it, in an attempt to

see exactly what was hidden.

"Oh, no!" I dropped it.

The exposed face showed a

skeleton.

How and why the bundle came

to rest in the small crawl space

will unfold my plot. Throw in

suspense, obstacles, and the

recipe for an interesting thriller

is born.

Think about your daily routine.

What room in your house,

apartment, or office could you write

about? Perhaps, a place you once

visited. Is there something that

has nagged you about the premises

since you first visited? One place

you stepped into made you

uncomfortable, but you never

figured out why. Digging up

the reason can make an

excellent fiction idea.

Always change names, addresses,

dates, and actual likenesses. It is

done to avoid the "L" word,

litigation.

Your family near and far gathered

to have fun. During the occassion,

recipes are exchanged, updates on

family not seen often, and general

chit-chat goes on.

Someone mentioned secret. You

were not able to hear the full details,

because a baby cried. The utter of

the "S" word brings all kinds of

options to write about.

The person working under-cover for

the government, retail outlet, or a

doctor comes to mind. Any of

the three ideas can be explosive

reading.

A doctor with a practice in urban

America. His/her staff consists

of relatives. However, the patients

are disappearing. How? Any

connection to the doctor's office?

Hmm. What do you think?

What conditions would a

government spy change sides?

Every time a certain

individual departs Macy's items

do too. Only, he/she is a secret

shopper. Frame?

A newspaper has a wealth of

writing ideas. A quick scan

of the daily newspaper gave me

the following titles: Bus and

Mosque Owners Teaching At

Odds.

I have not read the articles,

but a bus is used to rob a bank.

The would-be robber knows its

schedule, plans to dress as an old

lady, and afterwards, climb on the

bus for home.

The Mosque Owners, in my

fiction story, taught the children

some Western beliefs, and the

children acted on those words.

One evening, a teen shared

with another teen his view,

and one of the Owners was

murdered. People at the

Mosque said it had to be an

outsider.

What ideas can you pull from

headlines in your newspaper?

It is unbelievable what can be

over-heard at the mall.

"My boyfriend is an animal."

One teen girl said to another.

From the one statement,

various ideas stumble to mind.

A man, much older than she,

is called animal, and he is an

arms dealer. My second idea

is two teen males known for

making animal sounds as jokes.

One day, animal sounds were

used to distract the cashier,

and a kidnapping took place.

Your ideas?

A chirping bird brings to mind

day, sweet sound, or panic, death.

The point is use life as your disk

to pluck ideas for writing.

Some Assassinations Haunt

All murders are sad, but three have haunted
our society from the moment it happened.
Why? The three are: John f. Kennedy,
Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln.

What Is The Secret For Writing

The secret to writing is simply writing. Yes,
jot thoughts down.
"I don't have any." You mumbled.
Record names of objects from the room
you are sitting in. What would the first
item you typed be, do in a thriller or essay.
In other words, how would you intertwine it
into great writing?

How To Stop Writer's Block

Play a word game. Run your eyes across the room,
and stop. What do you see? Take whatever your
eyes focused on and write about it.
The technique works when you have something
to write about, but don't know where to start.
Simply, jot down thoughts.

When To Critique Your Work

There are a few who can write a perfect first
draft. The rest of us have to edit our work.
The best time to look for grammatical errors,
run-on sentences, etc is two, three, sometimes,
even a week after you have written the original.
Why? It allows you to come-back refreshed.
You had a break, and are better able to detect
mistakes.

What Am I

I am drank mostly in hot weather. My origin
is Southern United States, alcoholic beverage.
Most became aware of me in 1800.

Answer: Mint Julep

A thriller comes to my mind when I think
of what could have happened during the
development stage. What do you think?

How To Handle A Crisis

Read my article at:

How To Start A Business

Read my article at:

How To Self Edit

Have you written a moving piece of
fiction or non-fiction? It will be after
the cutting process. Why?

The first draft curves and creates.
Check for sentence structure,
unneccessary paragraphs, poor
characterication, and/or weak
writing.

How? Read each word outloud,
slowly. Hear the grammatical
errors? Weak writing?

Power Smiling

It is a friendly smile. You're standing
around people, but the air is thick with
tension. Crack a smile. It opens the door
for conversation, slices through the stress.
Possibly networking can start.

On a good day, story ideas pop-out at
you.

What's Blogging

"I've heard 'bout it, but haven't taken the
time to find one." A friend said.
Blogging is having a journal or diary
online. Some include photos, audios,
and/or videos.
The three-step process to sign-up
for a free account is easy at:
blogger.com.
There is no restriction on what
you can write about. Allow only
friends/family viewing access, or
have everyone pop-in to see it.
It's fun, and you can make new
friends along the way. Also,
there is a possibility to earn
money blogging.

Write

Is what writers must do everyday.

Long Ago

I interviewed for a job.

"Can we still call you by your first name?"
Someone joked.

My feelings? It was just a job.

I arrived for work.

Women were in power. We were
stripped into groups.

Sexual advances flew every which
way. I ducked all of them. So, I
was blacklisted.

Mz. Manager kept writing vile things
on my evalutions.

Work left on my desk could be found
behind anything. Co-workers refused
to answer work related questions.

People stopped talking when I
walked into the break-room.

Top management did Mz. Manager's
bidding. I was fired.

******

I have written a novel with accounts
of various situations that happened
stirred in.

I have to thank the Philadelphia Police
who heard my crys for help, and
responded.

Still, I forgive those who tried to
crush me. No, I wouldn't socialize
with them. I hold no ill feelings
in that I dont want to get anyone
back.

It is freeing to forgive, allows one
to move forward.

My Article

"Catch Tumbling Ideas"
at:

Critique

Many times, writers self-edit. How?
Read your work out-loud, slowly.
Of course, after a check for
grammatical errors, strong verbs,
etc. has been done. Words should
flow smoothly.

Others

Great story ideas can come from
listening to others. Pick up on
conversation as you pass them in
the market, mall, or street.

Lettas

Lettas or letters can speak from the heart
or mind. They chat about cultures, change,
and life.
Lettas are excellent sources for writing
ideas. Find those old ones, new ones.
Jot down ideas for stories.

Memorable Character

A character is remembered when he/she
speaks up, stands, and fights on against
odds.

Hometown Blacklist

I was fired from my job, and could not get
another one. Why was I fired? I refused to
go along with the sexual harassment from
female managers.

I wrote about it, have a book
based on it. It proves my point of
ideas arrive from living life. Take
a look.

"I would like to close-out my
account." I told the Black bank
clerk.

She backed away as if I had
running sores on my face. She
glanced at the Black female
working next to her who
turned her back.

I stood there wondering how
these people kept their jobs.

"Over here." A White male
spoke.

Ideas Pop Up

"Try this recipe." A friend suggested.

I wrote it down, and stuffed it in some
crevice. My thought: Another
fattening dish.

Later, an idea jumped out
at me.
-the baker who gave it to me
asked that i protect it
-it disappeared

It is a start.

The goal is to be aware
of ideas from unlikely sources.

One Spark

Writing ideas are everywhere. An idea can take
the form of a poem.

Homeless

During a wet twenty below
Loud Mattie,
Wobbles down the street
In an attempt to get warm.
Clutching her bottle of wine.
Which cloud her memories of life.
Each muscle becomes numb
As she cuddles any steam vent.

Measured Dream

Dash of education,
Pile on culture,
Pinch in courage,
Ounce open mind,
With ton of hard work.

Game

Look around the room you are sitting in.
Write down the name of whatever your
eyes saw first.

Cartridge first jumped into my eyes,
actually ink cartridge.

I am going to work with the word,
cartridge. Turn each letter into a
word. Use the first words that comes
to mind.

C becomes call
A bounces into apple
R melts into range
T turns into Trevor
R equals Reilly
I sneaks in
D rolls out dark
G means gone
E points to empty

Use one or all the words to get your
creative juices flowing. Start writing.
It does not matter what path your
writing takes.

My words are: call, apple, range,
Trevor, Reilly, in, dark, gone, and
empty.

A story idea follows.

Trevor and Reilly stormed into
the dark, empty house. All four
burners blazed on the range.

"Mom." Trevor clicked on
lights.

"She not here," Reilly said.

My idea can emerge as a short
story, or book length project.

I spun the words into a free
verse poem.

Two boys
came home
dark empty
cold house
calling mom
who was
nowhere to
be found

There are no limits to where
the word game will take you.

Tap It

You look at your fingers on the desk, and
outloud said, "I'm out of subjects to write
about."

There are endless topics to explore.
It does not matter if history facts
excites your curiosity, law stimulates
your brain, or a fascination with the
care of animals paws at you. Simply,
tap it.

Gather information about it from
a local library, or search engine
like Google.

Not long ago, for example, I
stumbled across some interesting
town names.

Cookie, Oklahoma
It was rumored a store owner
gave a child a cookie, and the
young child called it cookie-
town. So, residents kept the
name.

Intercourse, Pennsylvania
There are speculations that
two famous roads met there,
or language use during the
early days formed its name,
or it centers around a race
track.

Story Idea? Essay? Non-fiction/
fiction? Any or all information
can be turned into ideas.

My story idea: A pampered
child cried if not allowed to
have a cookie after dinner
until grandmother spent the
month.

An essay, perhaps, on how
the village Intercourse,
Pennsylvania fellowships.

What is repeat offender?
Read over your answer, and
then pull-out an essay, or
chapter start.

Do you have a pet? Like a
particular animal? Write
about it. Let your imagination
run free. Edit later.

In conclusion, there are no
shortage of topics waiting
for you to tap.

Pharmacy At Mt. Pleasant

I called the pharmacy for a second refill on a
prescription.

"They not goin' to pay for it. You had a thirty-
day supply."

"They? I paid out of my pocket."

"They will pay in 'bout three weeks."

"I have six left. Is it possible that I wasn't
given the whole supply?"

"Ya betta go find 'em. Ya ain't pay out yer
pocket."

I insisted payment came out of my pocket.
I called my health care agent. I was told
payment was filed, but reversed. So,
records show payment was made.

Question: Would it had mattered if
my condition was life
threatening?
I wondered if the pharmacy did not
give me the full prescription, where
was the rest of it? How many others
have had their medications stolen?

However, possible story ideas swirled
around my mind.

One male employee kept a diary
of what actually happened to the
missing meds. They were sold on
the street. A fellow employee
found out, and he was murdered.

An essay, perhaps, on how the
pharmacy's employee lied about me
paying cash for the prescription.

This is proof writers have access
to ideas from living life.

Plot Plop

Plot is the action that keeps readers wanting
to know the story's end. It is the structure, or
how the problem is solved.

A character almost succeeds, but some
unseen force or person creeps in to
frustrate him/her. The character is
forced to try something, anything
else. Efforts to reach the desired goal
must be no less than three times.

If you allowed a character to have
no conflict, heightened suspense then
your plot plopped.

Critique Your Work

You look at the title, and said outloud, "Yeah,
right."

You can critique your own work. Once you have
written it, take a few days away from it. Read that
book you wanted to, visit and call relatives/friends,
or work on a new project.

You will return with a fresher eye, see
mistakes that you could not have during the
writing process.

Make sure to read outloud. Does that
sentence you have just read make sense.
Does it bring vivid images to the mind.
Grammatical error? Run-on sentences?
If yes, fix it.

Your Writing Place

Have you a comfy writing place? A spot just for your writing time.
It does not matter where. It can be the attic, basement, corner
of the apartment, or kitchen table. You can always change
where you write. The important thing is to write.

Take the telephone off the base, turn cell phone off, and
write to fulfill your dream.

Never Without One

Keep a pen, pencil, and notebook with you at all times.
Some prefer a recorder. Why? You never know when an
idea will pop out at you.

Have you ever saw an ad, read a book, or thumbed
through a business proposal, and then felt you
could have done a better job?

Never steal a plot, plan, or idea. However,
you can take an idea and let your imagination
run away with it. See what you come up with.
The next best thriller?

You Can Write Too

How? Pick a time during the day or night just for writing.
It can be two, three, or four hours per day. It doesn't
matter as long as you put words down. Get the flow
started for that poem, chapter start, or essay. Make time
to fulfill your dream.