Getting the creative juices flowing

What would you like to read? That is always a good start.

First, let me ask you what kind of reading do you like? Mainstream? Genre?

What are some of your own interests outside of writing?

J. Weiland said:

What would you like to read? That is always a good start.

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Great minds think alike.

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-writ.php

There's a list of generators.

But what I do is keep a notebook handy, and jot down bits throughout my day. Get out and about in the world; there's stories everywhere.

Judging by your signature, you've sold 17 stories. Whadda complainin' about?

I find that I often get the beginning of ideas from articles in the newspaper. Pick a basic scenario you find intriguing and throw a lot of what if, why, how questions at it.

Take a word in the dictionary, let it float around in your mind and throw questions at the results.

Throw questions at almost anything.

Participate in the Sunday night Flash Fiction challenges. Actually, you can start right now. You have 90 minutes from the time you read the prompt to post your stories. (Look in the Coffee Break section under Games, if you're interested.)

YA? Okay. Think of any number of problems a young protagonist, male or female, might have. It could be something relatively ordinary . . . falling in love, having your best friend sleep with your boyfriend, being accused of cheating when you haven't, having a friend hurt in a car wreck, losing a parent. Or it could be something way out of the ordinary . . . being stalked by a weird guy who sees you on a YA TV program, finding out your parents aren't really your parents, being visiting by the ghost of your best friend who died, finding out you have some kind of magical power, accidently running someone over with a car but not being able to find the body later, etc., etc..

Think of a protagonist; make them a 3-dimension character, not just the cardboard cutoff of a teen on TV. Give them a real personality. Put this protagonist in one of these situations, or others that you can think of. What's the protagonist goal? Why? What or who is stopping them from achieving this goal? How do they overcome it? What's the final resolution?

YA? Well, I was going to suggest booze, but in that case - I think Alleycat has good ideas.

I do my best writing in busy places. Restaurants and coffeehouses have given me plenty of ideas. I can't just sit at home and write!

Arisa81 said:

I get too distracted to work in busy places, hehe. But it would definitely help with ideas, I'm sure. I love to people watch from my apartment though.

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If you're easily distracted, then find a closet, or a second bedroom that has no use, or a laundry room, or something like that. Shut the door, pace around for a bit, do not open the door (unless you gotta pee or something; we're not savages) and eventually, you'll write.

Or nap. You might nap too. It's a crazy world, writing.

Start reading more. Then read more. Then, try reading.

Then write a little if you can. If you find that your writing has smoothed out, then wonderful! If it hasnt, trying reading.

Also, I like doing small exercises to get my juices flowing. Take a postcard or a picture or something like it, and write a few paragraphs about it. Give it a background story, describe the scene- it's not important what you write about, but so long as you're writing.

I sit and stare at the blank wall that my desk is propped against. That way i either have an idea or i fall asleep, both of which are good.

Arisa81 said:

Well, I would love to write for young adults. That's where I want to start anyway, it's always been a dream.
I enjoy reading ya novels, as well as adult.
I'm not into sci-fi or fantasy or mystery. (boring or what? )
Some authors that I enjoy are VC Andrews and Nora Roberts.

Interests outside of writing: reading, genealogy, crafts.

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Get out of here! I want to do that too! I would also like to add I have begun using my personal myspace page to network with other published and unpublished writers within this genre. Fee; free to contact me. We can compare notes lol!

Oh! As far as your question goes, why not try the what if? method. My story "Missy Who?", which can be found on the SYW forum was inspired by actual events. The name within the story is her real name. I have a whole series based around that. I'll have to rewrite the rest of them to make them publishable, but I took my real-life childhood experiences and interests. It's under the childrens section, please check it out and see if it inspires your own creative juices.

Juices

Decide where you're going to write, and decide when you're going to write. Then show up at this time and place each and every day, come hell or high water. If you want help from the muse, she has to know where and when to find you.

Do tis, and it won't be long before writing becomes a habit, and it won't be long before creativity kicks in automatically when you sit down at that time and that place.

Jamesaritchie said:

If you want help from the muse, she has to know where and when to find you.

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What is a muse?

writerdog said:

What is a muse?

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Artistic inspiration.

I read ur "muse" could locate you anywhere.

I do a crossword puzzle before I start.

Nothing to do with anything I'm working on, but it gets the synapses firing.

I look on it as a mental stretch and warm-up session before the real heavy lifting starts.

writerdog said:

What is a muse?

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What is a Muse? Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse

But, really, a muse is no more and no less that whatever it is that makes you start writing well each time you sit down to write.

Nothing does this better than being in the same place at the same time each day. Writing becomes a habit, and creativity shows up when you sit down because of this habit.

Lots of wannabe writer try lots of things to find "inspiration," but BIC, and plenty of it, is the only thing that really works.

I never put a terrible amount of faith in my muse. I assume that it's mostly going to get in the way of the actual day-to-day writing stuff. If I could keep it under house arrest, I would.

PeeDee said:

I never put a terrible amount of faith in my muse. I assume that it's mostly going to get in the way of the actual day-to-day writing stuff. If I could keep it under house arrest, I would.

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I agree. Unless I intend to stay up all hours of night and day.

That can be fun to do too, if you have tea available on the other side.