Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them
Hi readers and writerly friends!
The How-To Series continues! This week, in Freelancing, we’re going to discuss how to come up with story ideas and what to do with them! This is normally where I’d direct you towards a useful, related blog post, but we’re gathering quite the list already, so I’ll just leave that bit at the end of this post for your convenience!
And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming!
So, where do book ideas come from?
Book ideas can come from anywhere. That’s it. Blog post over. We can all pack up and go home. Right?
Well, yes, book ideas can come from practically anywhere, but it takes more than just a juicy theme or a compelling character to make a book. You certainly need those elements present to make a thrilling novel, to be sure, but its so much more than that. However, we’re not here to discuss the elements of a novel —no, we did that last week. (Check the links below!)
While novel ideas can come from just about and where and anything, you can also brainstorm novel ideas. Think about your favorite novels and see how you can create a mashup of two or more stories that would fit well together and put your own twist on it, such as Alexa Donne’s Jane Eyre in Space —Brightly Burning, or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, (the same writer who did Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter!) for example. While the latter is a literal mash-up, the former is more like a mash-up or genre-bender with Donne’s own twist on the original premise.
So, think about how you can put your own spin on your favorite tales!
How would x-story be different if it were…
set in space? in the center of the Earth? on another planet?
told in another genre?
told from the opposite gender or a non-binary narrator?
told from someone with 30-years age difference?
told from the perspective of an animal?
mashed-up with your favorite movie?
told from a different POV or story tense?
Write the book YOU want to read
These are just a few ways to put a refreshing spin on old stories to make them feel new. You can also consider what kind of book YOU want to read. How would your favorite story be better? How could you change it to include certain elements you feel it is lacking, but with a whole new cast of characters, a new theme, and a fresh new setting? How can you rework and existing story to include more representation for a minority?
Explore fun websites to spark inspiration
I have an interesting little blog post that does just this! (It’s listed at the end of the blog post too!) Essentially this post is a long, organized list of fun websites that you can read or interact with to spark inspiration for your next book. If you already know what you might like to write about, try some of these sites out to see how you can put a new spin on it to make it your own story that has never been told before. For instance, I might like to try rewriting Hush, Hush, but instead of the typical plot points that occur throughout that story, I might swap the genders of the characters, and set it in 1943, where an asteroid shower has been happening for the last 30 years. See how that immediately changes the whole story? It might not be the best example, but you get the idea! Consider reading articles on news sites from Buzzfeed to the New York Times to get inspiration from the crazy every-day lives of other people, like Florida Man. Sometimes, the truth can be stranger than fiction and can spark even the most outrageous novel ideas that eventually become great stories!
Read bad books!
Ever heard of BookTube? Well, if not, then bless you! It’s what book YouTubers and others in the community like to call the little corner of the video-streaming service that is dedicated to all things bookish!
Consider looking up scathing reviews of books you may or may not have heard of and see how you can rewrite them to succeed in the areas they failed. Obviously, none of this advice is suggesting you plagiarize, by any means. However, it is okay to take an overly broad and vague story premise, mold it, and make it your own. How can you turn this book that is absolutely loathed by the Bookish Community into a novel that readers everywhere will love simply by reimagining the things they went wrong with? For instance, there are plentiful mixed (and mostly critical) reviews for Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings Zenith.
Here is the description from Goodreads.com:
Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her glass starship, Marauder, however, she's just Andi, their friend and fearless leader.
But when a routine mission goes awry, the Marauder's all-girl crew is tested as they find themselves in a treacherous situation and at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter from Andi's past.
Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.
Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only certainty is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.
—Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings, Zenith
This book has a 3.11 average rating and is most known for its unconvincing worldbuilding, lack of original vocabulary explanation (the author drops in made-up words without explaining what they mean beforehand and leave the reader to remain confused, since there is a lack of a glossary in the book as well?) sci-fi elements that simply don’t make sense —such as impenetrable glass spaceships (with metal defense covers?) and golden, double-trigger revolvers— characters that are lazily thrown together and also do not make sense, poor-quality writing, overwhelming number of clichés present throughout, and—I’ll save you the rest because I could go on and on. The point is that this novel was incredibly overhyped, and fans of Alsberg’s YouTube videos were sorely disappointed when the book did not deliver.
So, as a writer, how could rework this story to succeed where it failed? How can you take extra time and immense care to ensure your characters are compelling and are actively evolving throughout the story? What kind of research can you do to verify that your story keeps in line with traditional sci-fi elements, while managing come across in a refreshing, interesting, and new way? How can you make sure your readers thoroughly understand the vocabulary and systems present in your book? What do you personally wish had been done differently? These are the types of questions you have to consider when brainstorming, because if you think you have the skill to rework a very poorly received influencer novel such as Zenith, then you just might have a story idea on your hands. I would suggest reading books that have overwhelmingly terrible reviews and seeing if you can distill the poor, unfinished, low-quality work into something fresh and new that you too would want to read. You can also do this with movies, TV shows, plays, music, and any other art form that leaves you feeling underwhelmed or unsatisfied once you’ve finished consuming it.
One fantastic example of a writer who reworked a story they were unsatisfied with is Claudia Grey’s Defy the Stars which she wrote after seeing the movie Prometheus and being dissatisfied with how the movie’s producers portrayed David 8. She was inspired to rework the story and write her own book about an android the way she wished it had been told.
In an interview for Nerdophiles on Twitter, Grey explained how she got the inspiration for Defy the Stars from Prometheus:
How did you come up with the idea of writing Defy the Stars?
You know, the actual genesis of this story came a few years ago when Prometheus came out. A lot of it had to do with Michael Fassbender’s performance as David 8. He just walked right into the uncanny valley and stayed there and it was great.
One area the movie didn’t really explore much but that was really interesting was the fact that Elizabeth Shaw was trying to really evaluate how much of David is machine. It’s this very tiny thing but I thought that was a really interesting thing they should have played with more. They have this person who has this other mission – her job is not to analyze this guy – but who spends time trying to figure out if she’s working with a machine or if she’s working with somebody. And that’s not going to be a question that has a really solid answer.
That idea then took root and became the idea of Defy the Stars.
—Claudia Grey, Nerdophiles
Read more from this article in the link below!
Another great example of a story premise that was reworked is “Errant” by Diana Peterfreund.
As per Goodreads.com:
In 18th century France, a noble family prepares to celebrate their daughter's arranged marriage by holding a traditional unicorn hunt. But when an unusual nun arrives at the chateau with her beloved pet to help the rich girl train, nothing goes as expected. Starring hunters, fine ladies, fancy frocks, and killer unicorns.
—Diana Peterfreund, Errant (Killer Unicorns #0.5)
This short story is not only a historical reimagining of arranged marriages with never-before-seen traditions, but it’s also a fantasy. With KILLER UNICORNS. It’s exquisite.
Don’t be afraid to look to other media where narratives left you feeling dissatisfied and consider how you can tell them in a new way that succeeds where these stories failed. And on the flip side, look at where your favorites succeeded and consider how you can channel that into your story idea.
Take inspiration from your own hobbies and interests
Are you a gamer? Consider writing yourself into the world of your favorite video game and then change it to make it your own. Are you a chef? Consider how you can reimagine cook-books to find balance between overly chatty blog posts and old-school recipe-only cook books that lacked that certain something something. What kind of morbid curiosities can you dive deeper into to pull a story from? I personally have a morbid curiosity with true crime and sinkholes even though they both creep me out. Maybe I could write a thriller about people adventuring into the world’s deepest sinkhole only for the trip to go awry and lead to murder, mayhem, and mystery as the characters grow increasingly desperate to survive being trapped inside the belly of the earth?
Yeah, no I wouldn’t write that. Not ever. Not even if you paid me. Sinkholes and caves are the worst!
But you could! You could write about LITERALLY ANYTHING.
What weird thing are you obsessed with? Can you turn it into an interesting, new, dark, fantasy? How can you weave that topic into a novel?
Examine events and people form history to spark inspiration
What is your favorite time period to study? I personally love the Revolutionary war and the romantic period in literature. What chunk of history fascinates you? (Leave a comment below!) How can you take your favorite elements of that time period and either modernize them or convert them from history to fantasy?
Subscribe to writing prompt websites and social media pages
There are TONS of writing prompt profiles on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram and not to mention the plethora of other websites on the world wide web. You can find story ideas on reddit or on Wattpad too! I personally am subscribed to @redditvoice, @reddit, @mr.reddit and @writing.prompt.s on Instagram and I am signed up to receive daily writing prompts from Storyaday.org (they also have a great list of where to find story prompts). Likewise, you can purchase writing prompt books or even play around on your favorite meme sites to spark inspiration. You can also take inspiration from fanfiction as well!
Those are just a few ways to come up with ideas, but they can truly come from anywhere. The truth is, the more media you consume and the more life experiences you have, the more avenues you have open for story ideas to just waltz into your life. Watch some movies, read a few books, go out and catch a local play and then sit down for a good ole brainstorming session and see what you can come up with.
How to keep your story ideas once you’ve been inspired
MS Word document with New Story Ideas. Alternatively, you can use Pages or Google Docs. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Just like with writing, there’s a ton of different methods of jotting down your story ideas. You can keep them in a notebook or binder. You can make an ongoing Google Doc or Microsoft Word Document. You can store them in Scrivener or Evernote. It really doesn’t matter what you use. Just make sure you keep them organized and include enough information so when you come back to them, you remember your ideas vividly and know where to pick them back up. I prefer to keep my fleeting ideas in a single Microsoft Word document titled “New Story Ideas” where everything is in a bulleted list.
Sometimes, the ideas a fully fleshed out while others are simply one-liners because that’s all I could think of when I was writing it down for later. Figure out what works for you and keep it in an easy to reach place so you can access it whenever the creative spirit strikes you! If you can try to write a brief synopsis for your book ideas so you can come back to them and know exactly what you were talking about 1, 2 or 5 years later. Additionally, don’t be afraid to let your story ideas ferment within that list and feel free to add to them over time when you get more inspiration for them.
And that’s it for my blog post on how to come up with story ideas and how to keep them once you’ve gotten them! Brainstorming is such a personal process and can be different for every writer. How do you come up with ideas? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to check back next Friday with another installment of this Book Writing 101 Series! Part 4 will be out next week!
Related topics:
Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel
Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters
Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue
Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)
Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.
25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas
Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love (Errant by Diana Peterfreund)
See all posts in Freelancing. See all posts in Book Writing 101.
Thumbnail photo by Jason Goodman.
—Payton
25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas
Here’s a screenie of what it would be like if a nuclear blast went off in my area. Pretty crazy right?
Time Lapse
Time travel, virtually and geologically. Watch the world change over the course of nearly three decades of satellite photography.
And here’s a screenie of the Time Lapse website panned in to the Oil Sands. I peeked through the years to see how much the Sahara Desert changed over time. It’s pretty wild.
Exit Mundi
Exit Mundi is a fantastic collection of end-of-the-world scenarios. Spoiler Alert: For example, remember in Marvels Infinity War, after the snap, when people just started to crumble into thin air? Yeah, that was great. 😢 Exit Mundi goes in-depth into what the big crumble would really be like for people on Earth. Yikes. For us writers, it can be incredible useful! But R.I.P. Subway guy.
History and humanity
Ancient History Encyclopedia
From mind-blowing ancient architecture, to prehistoric artwork, this website is a goldmine of historical information. This website even has historical event timeline!
On This Day In History
At the time of writing this blog post, the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes is driven from Tenochtitlan and retreats to Tlaxcala, The statue of King George III is pulled down in New York City, Wyoming becomes the 44th state, Germany begins the bombing of England, and Kenyan runner Yobes Ondieki becomes the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 27 minutes—I had no clue all of these events happened on the same day, over different years. It’s so fascinating and can be really useful for writing books spiced with a little history.
Historical Pics
Historical Pics is stashed in a little corner of the internet, called Facebook. But I like to call it time-waster-extraordinaire, because I always get caught scrolling through this page for hours on end. There’s so many incredible photos from Dovima posing with elephants in a Paris circus, 1955 to a giant human chess game played 100 years ago in Leningrad, Soviet Union.
Inspiration
Looking for inspiration to get the creative juices flowing? Have no fear! These two websites are known for their ability to light a spark in even the driest of writers.
Pintrest
Infact, Pintrest users coined the term/hashtag #inspo due to the ability to inspire almost anything in anyone who happens to find themselves down the rabbit hole of aesthetic pins and boards.
The Moth
The Moth is an incredible website that will surely inspire you to hone your craft of storytelling and deep dive into humanity’s stories. The Moth is dedicated to sharing engaging, well-crafted stories that honor the diversity and commonality of human experience. (And their stories come in text and audio formats!)
Location and worldbuilding
Google Earth
“The Sieka of Sahn’Jatar” is set in my fictional world of Aviiyen, but the desert is inspired by the Sahara over in the middle east and Google Earth was so useful in bringing that story to life. I’ve never been to the Sahara Desert but I would love to go there in person someday. For now, I’ll just visit from my computer screen.
Zillow
If you’ve done some house hunting lately, then you know how useful Zillow can be for finding the next perfect place to live. But you might not know how great it is for house inspiration for your novel characters! Much like Google Earth, Zillow is great for visualizing locations and helping to bring your story’s fictional setting to life.
Here’s a screenie from Zillow! While one day, I hope to move to Seattle, for now I can happily write about my dream city from the comfort of my Oklahoma home.
100,000 Stars
Earlier in this list, I mentioned people wanting to yeet themselves into space by hitching a ride on SpaceX’s rideshare cargo but now you don’t have to do that! Just check out 100,000 Stars for a stellar interactive visualization experience with the stars! As per their website: “From their website: “100,000 Stars hows the location of 119,617 nearby stars derived from multiple sources, including the 1989 Hipparcos mission. Zooming in reveals 87 individually identified stars and our solar system. The galaxy view is an artist's rendition based on NGC 1232, a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way.”
Here’s a screenie of the 100,000 Stars website. Pretty amazing right?
Geoguessr
So, you think you’re a worldbuilding pro? Let’s find out just how well you know your setting with Geoguessr—a website that transports you into a place with one goal in mind: to determine where you are on the map. You can play across the global map or try and identify famous locations from spectacular natural wonders to astonishing man-made structures.
And here’s a screenie from Geoguessr. Any ideas where this satellite image is from?
Murder and Horror
Okay so these websites might not be for the faint of heart, but I promise, we have some more happier/positive items to come later in this list! But these potentially disturbing websites can prove super useful for writers working on murder mystery novels and horror/thriller.
Homicide Monitor
A worldwide homicide map where you can see how many people were killed where. This might be useful if you’re writing a novel and need homicide statistics or in need of a story idea. However, you might want to avoid looking up you town… 😬
Goodbye Warden
This website has a chilling list of last words from 565 Texas death row inmates.
Murderpedia
Murderpedia is a free online encyclopedic dictionary of murderers and the largest database about serial killers and mass murderers around the world.
Names
Baby Names
Pretty self-explanatory, but if you’re trying to find the perfect name for your main protagonist, Baby Names is the site for you!
Behind The Name
Maybe you already have your names picked out but you want to do a little more research on their origins or meanings? Check out Behind the Name for in-depth etymology on almost any name you can imagine.
(A great honorable mention (because it’s not a website, but a book rather, is Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names. There are thousands of names in this book and it was a life-saver for me when trying to come up with names for my WIP fantasy series.)
Strange, but useful facts
Uber Facts
Once again, we have another time-suck of a webpage, but truthfully I love this one as much as the Historical Pics Page. This is a Facebook page that puts out some of the most interesting facts I’ve ever seen. Save facts for story ideas or go down the rabbit hole of interesting information.
Today I Found Out
Want to know why kids learn languages fast than adults? Or maybe you want to read more about why the human heart doesn’t get tired like other muscles? The Today I Found Out website is a great place for random, interesting information that might inspire your writing.
How Stuff Works
Who came up with aglets? How (and why) is the U.S. Experiencing a coin shortage? Is French press really the best coffee? How Stuff Works has all the answers you could ever want and more.
Cool Interesting Stuff
From chilling true-crime mysteries to alien autopsies and urban legends, Cool Interesting Stuff has tons of random, weird, and borderline creepy facts to inspire your next thriller. Pro Tip: Don’t read this website before bed.
Oddee
Oddee is a website that entertains million of visitors every month with stories about parrots teaching each other to swear (and then laugh about it) and brain-eating amoebas found in Texas water supplies—Yikes!
Space Facts
Did you know there’s a couple of dwarf planets named Eris and Makemake, or that Eris was once considered for the position of tenth planet? I didn’t! And that’s exactly why we need this site. I love space and talking about all things celestial, but I need more of it in my life. Since my books are sort of sci-fi and fantasy genre bending, this site is great for all kinds of stellar facts.
And that’s it for my list of 25 strangely useful websites for writers! What did you think of this list? Have you ever used any of these sites for your own writing? Do you have any ideas that are missing from this list? Let me know in the comments below!