Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Posted by Guest Writer in Strategies      13 comments

Jul
25

No really, where do you get your ideas? Seems like a cliché question, but there’s a reason why it’s frequently asked. Exchanging resources with fellow writers only serves to broaden everyone’s perspective. The following are my personal fail-safes, the things that always urge me to write.

The city bus provides great fodder for characters and situations. You’ve got people from all walks of life stuck in a small space. It’s a real-life comedy sketch. Taking the Greyhound bus also makes for off-the-wall anecdotes. It might entail getting stuck sitting next to someone who smells like sour booze and talks about his god-given superpowers, but the experience can pay off. If anything, you can look at it as one advantage of somewhat involuntarily sharing your space. You get to hear the wackiest and saddest things all on one day trip.

Also, I love traveling. When I leave my hometown, I  feel displaced, anonymous, and free to observe my surroundings. Physically distancing myself from life’s rat race really reinvigorates my writing. Best of all, I feel like a kid in a theme park while I’m traveling―everything looks shiny and new, and I want to write about it. A change of scenery can dramatically affect the tone and mood of one’s writing. Different places really do give off different vibes; my favorite place for writing is New Orleans for its delirious, Old-World energy. Much more conducive to what I write than laid-back Austin.

Finally, I find small town antique stores, museums, and cemeteries fascinating and full of potential stories. Maybe the goth kid in me just never died, but if it’s old or creepy I love it. The history of a vintage dress, ancient coin, or tombstone could fill volumes. And I’ve seen some weird things in antique stores, ranging from a mummified turtle to a Necronomicon-like tome. Great for urban or dark fantasy, which is the kind of stuff I write.

So, I’d like this to be the start of a conversation. Do you have any unique places, media, or activities that put you in the mood to write?

In addition to writing for WriteByNight’s blog, Jenna Cooper writes for BE Mag and a blog called FemThreads.  Aside from writing, Jenna served as an AmeriCorps Member from 2008-2010 and will start her M.S. in Information Studies in Fall 2012.  She graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in English from the University of Texas.