Getting Ideas for Your Stories

Getting Ideas for Your Stories

By Muli wa Kyendo

Forget Inspiration

One of the things I used to hear when I started out as a writer was that writers are inspired to write. Inspiration was the key to getting ideas, to developing those ideas to complete, publishable stories. For several years, I held onto the concept of inspiration. The result? I produced very little. And worse, I could not work on any assignment because I couldn’t whip myself into inspiration.

I was in this state of affairs, when a journalist friend of mine, out of sympathy, I suppose, put me on the right track when he told me: If you depend on being inspired, forget about being a professional writer. A true professional writer can put life into any subject, even the dry subject of rocks!

It was true. I couldn’t be a well-paid, professional writer without the key skill of artificially looking for ideas and breathing life into them with my writing skills. But where was I to get the ideas?

Amazingly when you tune your mind to getting ideas, you find ideas everywhere. In fact you begin to wonder why you were not finding them before. Ideas so quickly flood your mind that you soon need to heed that ancient advice: Always Keep a note book near by.

Listening is Important

You need to keep a note book to jot down ideas that come to you. Most professional writers do, because when you are tuned to looking for ideas, you find them everywhere. You find them in the train or bus when you are travelling. Do you listen to your fellow commuters? They often have very interesting ideas. Recently I have sold two children stories that came ready made from stories overheard in a train.

Even your neighbor or friend came tell you a story that sets your mind working. My first novel was based on an idea told to me by a friend.

Books “Inspire”

Every writer, it is assumed should like reading. I read many books. And from these books, I get inspiration for stories. Look at that brilliant title. Does it remind you of something? Can you expand what you see and put characters in it? Can you create a story around the characters?

Is there a scene in the book that reminds you of something interesting. Put a mark on it then come back to it later. Many interesting and important stories are created in this way.

Read Newspapers and Magazines

Read newspapers and magazines like a professional. They don’t just enjoy the story, they are dissecting it, asking questions. Recently I read the sad story of a boy whose family lost everything in political clashes. He was due to join a school for higher studies, but now there was no money. His future had dimmed. As I watched his tears flowing, what struck me was the shock of having something today and having nothing tomorrow. In a flash of a second, you are reduced to a beggar. What attitudes towards society will this boy have? How did the incident affect his psychological make up? You can see that this can be a great story of a boy who having suffered the psychological trauma determines to rid the world-at least his country-of dictators that cause wars and political clashes.

With a little practice, you will be surprised how you easily get ideas for your stories.