BEING A WRITER: The Idea Place

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a special place where a writer (or anyone!) could go for ideas? Someplace quiet, like a library, with rows of shelves labeled with topics, conflicts, types of characters, and all the other things needed to create a story from start to finish. Everywhere you look you’d see Tortured Heroes, Moms on the Run, Sheiks, Firemen, Cops, Cowboys, Pregnant CEOs, Small Towns, Big Cities, Villains… The list would go on and on, with nothing left out, nothing forgotten. Getting an idea would require nothing more than walking down those long aisles and grabbing whatever caught your attention, then filling in with all the other required information for a blockbuster book.

Instead of an idea store, we have imaginations that provide us with all the things possible—and impossible—that make up a story. Having to work for it makes it more worthwhile. Frustrating sometimes, yes, but definitely worth it.

“Where do you get your ideas?” is probably the most asked question of writers. The answer is as varied as there are people who write. But whether your idea came from a news article that started the creative juices flowing or a character or setting wandering into your head, it’s only the beginning of what could be a story.

The first step of the journey has been taken with nothing more than a glimmer of an idea. Being a writer means taking that idea and building on it, and then putting it on paper to shape and twist, until the idea is complete.

Be a writer today. Visit your own Idea Place and start the journey.