If you are thinking of writing a book of your very own, you should first know one thing. That you will face a lot of competition. New books are coming out of the woodwork every day.
And if you truly want to stay competitive, you will need a truly great and unique story idea that will set you apart. But coming up with a great story idea is not as easy as you may think. This is why you will need an effective strategy.
Here are easy to follow tips for getting great story ideas:
- Use your life experiences as inspiration
If you are going to come up with a truly great story idea you should try getting ideas from your own life. This is because art merely imitates life. So if you want your stories to be realistic and immersive, you should really borrow elements from your own life.
Use important moments in your life as inspiration for your stories. Have you gone through something difficult in your life? Lost a friend? Suffered a heartbreak?
In truth, the more emotional the experience the more potent it will be for a story idea. So if you want to come up with a great story idea, use your life experiences as inspiration.
- Meet new people
Aside from using your life experiences as inspiration, it is also important that you try to meet and converse with new people every day. Meeting new people and having good and meaningful conversations with them is a great way to come up with story ideas.
Through your conversations you can gain a great deal of information and inspiration from other people’s lives. You can also base your characters after people you have met. All in all, it always pays to be outgoing and friendly if you are a writer.
- Travel
Sometimes monotony can stifle creativity. Seeing the same things every day and doing the same thing every day can get tiresome. This is why you should travel if you are looking for great story ideas.
Travelling and seeing new sights is a great way to stir up your creativity and find new sources of inspiration. You don’t really need to travel the world, of course. You can just visit a friend or family member who lives in another state, or just go to the beach or the mountains for a camp out.
In truth, it does not matter where you go. What matters is that you have a change of scenery.
- Listen to great music
It always pays to listen to great music when brainstorming for a new idea. This is because listening to music, especially classical music can stimulate your creativity. Indeed, there have been studies that prove, how music can help stimulate the brain.
So if you are having trouble coming up with a good story idea, just sit down and listen to some classical music or any type of music that inspires you. It will surely help you come up with a great story idea.
- Read as much as you can
If you are trying to come up with a story idea, it always pays that you read as much as possible. This is because, the more you read, the more stories and writing influences that you will be exposed to. Don’t restrict yourself to just one or two genres.
Be as wide a reader as possible. Try to read the news every day, try to read a new article or a new novel. And try to incorporate what you read into your own work.
All in all, the more wide read you are, the more effective you will be as a writer.
- Use events in history as inspiration
Human history is one of the most potent sources of stories. This is because there a multitude of cultures that have different histories. There are also a multitude of famous personalities in human history that you can draw inspiration from.
So if you are looking for a story idea, it always pays to read history books. Many famous authors based their works on a particular historical event. So why not take a feather out of their caps and do the same?
- Write about something you are passionate about
If you are looking for a great story idea, it always pays to write about something that you are passionate about. Don’t just pick a story idea because it is trending. Picking a story idea just because it is the flavor of the month is taking the easy way out.
There is also no guarantee that you will stick to the idea. But if you are truly passionate about a story idea, you will stick to it no matter how difficult things can get. So if you are looking for a truly great story idea, choose something that you will truly enjoy writing about.
The BookVenture Company hopes this article was useful.
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