Wednesday, April 16, 2008

New Ideas

Now that I've finished my novel, except for the dreaded revisions, of course, I need to come up with a new idea to work on.  So I started thinking, how can I come up with an idea?  
I've been jotting down ideas in a notebook for a few months now, sometimes a whole thought, sometimes just a name.  These are fragments, at best, but they could trigger a new story.  Many of them came from dreams.
How do you get your ideas?  Do you keep a running list of thoughts, do you journal every day, do you have a brainstorming session, do you keep a dream log, diary, thought book?  What do you do when you need to start something new?

4 comments:

Sheri Perl-Oshins said...

Dawn,
I often get phrases or sometimes just a word that is stuck in my head. I jot it down on an index card and file it under possible ideas. (I have this mini file cabinet on my desk.) Then when I am ready to begin a new idea I read through them and see which one grabs me and then, without an outline, I just write. It's an organic process. I write until I can't anymore. THEN maybe I will outline, or brainstorm, or go for a walk... Then I write until I can't and so on. And that's my crazy process...

The other day the word braggadocio kept repeating in my mind and I wondered why... so far there is absolutely no reason, but it was fun to say to my kids and explain what it means. Sometimes I just think about words... That ever happen to you.

PJ Hoover said...

I get ideas stuck in my head. Then, the better ones start to yell first sentences at me. I write everything down. My current next idea is pounding in my head, but I haven't figured out when I can write it yet!

Sheri Perl-Oshins said...

oh hey Dawn... TAG! You're it! I was book meme tagged and so I tagged you! Go to my blog to check it out.

Sarah Blake Johnson said...

I write down ideas in a notebook. Anything. A phrase that comes to me, an image. Most of what I write is not a story idea, but a piece of something that could be used in writing.

My story ideas germinate with a small scene which will not leave. Sometimes the writing comes and the story emerges in a rough form in a matter of weeks. I have a few ideas that are sitting in the back of my brain, waiting for more substance.

When I need to start something new, I sit down and write. The idea will catch my attention or will be tossed or will develop slowly into a story.

Idea--I am now writing down ideas for essay topics. This will keep the muse alive when I'm facing a deadline.