Wednesday 31 August 2011

Ideas. Where do they come from?

I've sent my entries to the Emerald Writing Workshops competition I mentioned in my last post. I abandoned the rewrite as there would not have been enough time to edit it properly. That one is now on hold for another market in the future.

The next one on my list to write is for the competition in Best magazine. I don't have a deadline date yet but the entry form will be published in the 6th September issue. The prize of £1,000 is attractive but I expect the competition will be fierce.

So, what shall I write about? Last night I had absolutely no idea. Thought I'd sleep on it. Sure enough, I woke not long after four o'clock this morning and - still no revelation. It looked like I would have to do this the hard way. Brainstorming - or is there a more modern word for it now?

First hold the image of a typical reader in my mind. I have read the last five issues all the way through (including the adverts) so have a rough idea.

Now, last weeks published story revolved around having to do housework on a self catering holiday. Can I use another slant on housework? Nothing comes to mind so what else does this reader do? Shop. That holds a bit of promise but lots of stories cover this. Shopping with a friend and also lunch. Maybe.

Suddenly a theme springs into my mind. Where did that come from? Never mind, it would give the story some structure. But there's got to be emotion in there. What about relationships? Aha, I see a way of tying a relationship change with my theme. I now have the basis for a story. I let it roll around a bit in my head and out pops a title. This is going well. Only another thousand words to write now.

Is any of this familiar? How do you get your ideas? Are you methodical about this or do you wait for inspiration to strike?

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