Where Do You Get Your Story Ideas? or How to Stump a Writer

Where do you get your story ideas?

The one question that invariably stumps a creative writer is "Where do you get your story ideas?" After stumbling around on more occasions than I can count, I started paying close attention to my creative inspirations. I learned that ideas come to me in a myriad of ways. One story came to me in a dream, another when a friend used a phrase in passing. But mostly, curiosity is my guide. 

For example, years ago, I read about Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who lived through the bombing of Nagasaki, but later was diagnosed with “A-bomb disease” or leukemia. Sadako learned from a friend that "if a sick person folds 1,000 paper cranes, then that person would soon get well." Sadako, with all the hope and belief of a child, went on to fold more than 1,000 cranes, inspiring those who knew her to create a unity club and then fundraise to build the Children’s Peace Monument in the center of Hiroshima Peace Park. Learn more about Sadako here. 

When I read Sadako's story, I heard the thunderous wingbeats of 1,000 cranes folded by a hopeful heart moving through space and time. Through my imaginative eye, I saw Courtney, an American girl in today's world, the same age as Sadako, intensely folding one crane after another. I didn't know why she was folding them, only that they were important to her and she was determined to fold 1,000. I went on to write "Cranes Equal Life", the story of a child who seemingly lacks for nothing, but is carrying the burden of a family tragedy on her own.

Returning to the question of where writers get their ideas, I don't think it's a matter of where we get the story idea, as much as it's about how we get it. In order to hear the story or character, we must be open to receiving the idea. Which means we have to be attentive. Take in the world through all of our senses. Be still enough for it to find us. Give our mind the spaciousness it needs to roam, explore ideas, learn. Show up at the page with the knowing that the story is seeking us as much as we are it. Then, we mute all the excess noise, turn down the dial on life's endless demands, and listen. Really listen. 

If you would like to develop your writing, creativity, or professional plan more, reach out. I collaborate with writers, creatives, and service providers in identifying their goals and creating a plan that takes into account their schedule, intentions, and commitments. As we work together, I provide structure, advice, feedback, and accountability. The client courageously invests in themselves to unlock their writing, creativity, and offerings. It’s an exciting journey we share.

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