Ideas on Demand
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Part 2 of a three-part article by Lisa Harkrader
What do you do if you need a specific idea for a specific kind of story by a specific date? In part one of this three-part article, writers offered advice on using idea notebooks, asking questions, and even whining to find ideas. In part two, we’ll look at how writers use lists to their advantage.
Make a List
Set a timer for 15 minutes and list as many character names, conflicts, settings, titles, or other story elements, as you can. Sometimes the most interesting story ideas come from unusual list topics, like opposites, secrets, or embarrassing things that happened to you in grade school.
“I find the further down the list, the more creative my ideas become,” says Terry Miller Shannon, who has sold over 200 stories and has written the monthly fiction series for Touch magazine.
Suzanne Lieurance, who has written several regular online columns, agrees. A few years ago she responded to a call for submissions for the Rooker Reader beginning reader series published by Children’s Press.
“When the editor called to say Children’s Press wanted to buy this story,” says Lieurance, “she said it was the only submission they’d received about shoelaces. They thought it was cute and fresh. So it helps to eliminate some of those first ideas that seem like they’ve been written about a million times.”
If a barebones list doesn’t spark your imagination, try a more organic method. “Do a fifteen minute timed writing around the subject at hand, anything about or vaguely resembling it that comes to mind,” says Jo Nelson, whose stories and poetry have been widely published in themed anthologies and magazines. “Do it without stopping, without worrying about spelling or grammar. Do it against a kitchen timer, and stop when the bell dings.”
Steal a List
If you’re having trouble coming up with your own list, use somebody else’s. Dori Hilestad Butler, whose books include Sliding Into Home and Trading Places With Tank Talbott, writes regularly for an educational publisher. “To get ideas for the assignments,” Butler says, “I page through trivia books and books of lists. I love The Origins of Everyday Things or Women’s Firsts—books of little-known information. I open these books and scan the index for topic ideas.”
Other idea generators include baby name books, desk references, quotation books, science encyclopedias, sports record books, and history timelines. I once got a story idea for a science article contest from the Guinness Book of World Records. And don’t forget your dictionary or thesaurus. Open the dictionary at random and point to a word on the page. Do this three times, then try to think of ways those three words can be connected in a story.
Another great resource is Valerie & Walter’s Best Books for Children, which lists over 2000 children’s books, arranged by reading and interest level, and has a handy 125-page appendix of themes. I dreamed up a story idea for a young reader contest by thumbing through this appendix. I kept coming back to one theme: step families. I matched “step families” with a scribble from my Idea Box, and “The Great Bunk Bed War” was born.
Read more brainstorming tips next Thursday in Part 3 of “Ideas on Demand.”
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