Some thoughts on story idea generation

[ellen_denham]

I've been intending to get back into the habit of writing in this journal. I have written some in paper journals, but mostly for my own benefit and nothing of interest to anyone else. But I just started journaling in Scrivener, which I'm also using for my current novel-in-progress, and found I really like it. It makes a difference now that I

Comments

[sartorias]

Wishing you success!

[araken]

Orson Scott Card wrote in one of his writing books that lots of his best novels and stories are the result of two or three story ideas. The initial story idea wasn't enough, and he had to think of something else, often seemingly unrelated, before the two ideas resonated off each other and created something he could write a story about. Apparently the gap between the two ideas could be months or years sometimes.

[araken]

I try to remember that when I'm stuck. :-)

[talesend]

"I mean, I can come up with ideas, but are they "wow" ideas or something that, if written well, will be a pretty ok story but not much more?"

Alas, this is the monkey on my back. :( I suspect it's the reason why several of my stories remain unwritten. *I* like them, but I'm not sure I can execute them well, and if I do, no one else will like them. I did get away with making one a "story within a story," because the theme of the one was a theme the main character struggled with.

I like Geoffrey's comment--usually what happens when a story turns out to work means two disparate story ideas combined in a weird way. (Much like my grammar in this sentence.)