How do you come up with ideas for stories?

[Casey Kowalewsky]

From my dreams or when I'm in a weird, day dream state and something strikes my fancy
Just follow it and see where it leads.

[FJCJ55]

In university, during my last studio, my teacher made us choose a story in a book where each had to develop it according to a specific location we each had to choose. I was quite successful in that exercise because I don't hold back when it comes to my imagination. Yes, I try to be as rational as possible, but I do believe that there needs to be passion in what you do. I daydream a lot and I was always full of curiosity and problem-solving was and still is a skill of mine.

[Black Jewel]

Honestly, the ideas typically hit me upside the head with a hammer when I'm least expecting it. Quite rude, really.

[Daksh_Goel]

How do you come up with ideas for stories? How do you get started with a new story? How do you think of a good plot?

Firstly searching up prompts online is a great exercise. Though many people may disagree saying that prompts are hardly creative and original, I will say that these arguments are applicable against people who use these writing prompts without changing a thing. Adding your own twists and turns to the prompts makes it original, creative and fun. Thus, this is a win-win situation.

[hayisa]

I search online. Maybe by reading books, articles, prompts, or just eating. Seriously, the best ideas came to me randomly and not because I pursued them. However, most of the time, I do my research and base them on real-life scenarios.

[SamanthaGarcia]

I am excellent at ideas. This may be because I don't look for them. They are the easiest part of writing. Coming up with bizarre scenarios and concepts. These come out of conversations, potential plot holes found in stories and movies, from dreams, from daydreams. They can arrive from an excellent nap. As long as you have no limits on what you imagine, an idea can flourish from thin air. My downside is that writing something and sticking to it is difficult because I have twenty ideas knocking down my door. My counter-question is how does one pick an idea and quickly shut the door to the other nineteen waiting for your attention?

[Nedim]

For my stories, I start by doing a little research, followed by sitting down to think carefully. Also, I do a little outline of the things I would be needing to include in my stories which in turn makes it faster.

[Sameeha Ismail]

I will begin with a character and put them in interesting situations. Then they will just interact around. This is how plot develops for me.

[Aroona Kashif]

Sometimes I have dreams that lead to an enticing story, and sometimes I just brainstorm random ideas with my friends and then write them down.

[Ludovica Peruzzi]

It's usually either songs I listen to paired with a specific visual, or late night thoughts right before falling asleep.

[PAMELA MUGENI]

You have to be a good observer. Write frequently. Listen to the way people talk

[Sase3119]

Usually I wake up from a fever dream frantically reaching for a pen.

Other times I read something and think "I wish they'd focused on this aspect of the story more, or this character more" and it sparks an entirely different idea based on what I liked about that one.

Sometimes I see or hear something, either in real life or in a photo or song etc, and just stare at it for a while because I know something is there that hasn't quite come to me yet, and eventually it hits me - minutes or weeks later.

Rarely, I hear a line of dialogue, either from a real person or just in my brain, and that sparks an entire story.

[Naghma Qureshi]

I have never written anything for publishing yet. But, I keep getting ideas in my head about stories that I can write. And I have noticed these ideas come up from my interactions with people. There is no specific time. Just the situations. I would suddenly come up with a moment that's story worthy and then I'll find that the moment is connected to someone I met.

[Joel Hensley]

There are two ways that I can think of. First is something happened to me & I want to write about it or expand on it. The other is just something I want to write about (a romance, mystery, adventure, etc). I have a wonderful job where my mind is allowed to wander pretty much all day, so I guess I basically day dream all day.

Something else I'd like to say, maybe this will help you, if you're looking for help, is that in addition to being a writer, I'm an artist. And early on in setting up my business, I decided that I would make a list of all the things I wanted to draw. Maybe call it a bucket list. In the last 3 years, I've checked off almost everything on my bucket list. In addition, I made a list of things I wanted to draw this year (separate from my bucket list). I have made 34 drawings this year so far (halfway through 35), & have drawn most of what's on that list. I suppose that's one of the great things about being a writer or an artist or musician (I don't have a musical bone in my body), which is you can basically do whatever it is you want. So, ask yourself what do you want?

[Qwerty Writes]

From simply looking at pictures or watching something from the same genre. It's also good to write what you are currently into or write about something similar to a famous trope you are used to or enjoy. Your choices are endless.