Coming up With Novel Ideas Is Hard. This Makes It Easier
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Want to write a novel but have no idea? In this video I'm going to talk about some ways to come up with a novel idea.
Wanting to write a novel but having no idea for a story is the most frustrating feeling. You have the urge to write a novel, and the time to sit and do it, but no idea what to write about.
How I come up with novel ideas is by taking a step back from the process, reading and thinking about writing. I also talk about writing shorter projects to find novel inspiration and about combining ideas for characters, themes and settings from other work to spark a novel idea.
If you want to write a novel but you have no idea, the best tip I can give you is not to think about what you want to write, but to think about what you want to read, and to try to write that!
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The most important thing when you're new to writing is to keep writing. Keep putting down words, paragraphs, plots, characters. You will learn as you go, and you can use the experience of the writing community to fill in the gaps where you're not sure.
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My mind is my most favourite part of my body as story’s pop up in my head when I’m at school and home nearly everywhere.
Ideas are crazy sometimes after days of no ideas just one word comes to mind and sparks a fascinating story. It's satisfying when everything clicks :D
That 'click' moment really is so rare and satisfying. There's nothing like it is there? :)
While I agree with your points fully, here's what's been working for me lately. I set up my laptop on the desk, and go to sleep... sike! My brain's like - 'no-one's sleeping just yet, here's some bizzare and interesting ideas to keep you awake. Now go plot.'
And there, I just fooled my brain lol :)
River Raines Haha that made me laugh 😂 that is very true!
I really like that convergence of two things! Lately, my ideas have been more like “I want to write about a musical.” Or, since I like historical fiction, “I want to write about someone in xx time period.” Then I go for a walk and brainstorm around that and I usually have some good ideas around what I could do with it. I guess what I’m really doing is thinking about the kind of story I’d like to read and then writing that. Thanks for these tips :)
Going for a walk is a good one for sure, lots of time to let your mind wander. I need to be better at actually leaving the house these days 🙄 The convergence thing seemed like a really good tip, there was lots in Neil Gaiman's Masterclass that I hadn't considered. He makes things very clear and easy to follow.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting haha yes leaving the house is a bit of a production now so I can see why! I will have to check it out! I've been hearing good things about Masterclass for sure
Nicole Wilbur I was surprised by how many iconic writers have done classes on it. Plenty to look through ☺️
This is the most practical, effective & convincing advice that I've heard in a while!! Thank you
Thanks so much for saying so! I really appreciate it :)
I'm currently writing my first book, I've got a good start and a good plot so far, but I just need to figure out how to advance the story
Hi Bryan, congrats on getting started with your first book! That's how I feel about my current project too really. Everyone works differently when it comes to progressing through a story, but what works for me is planning out the general shape of the story and the large plot points , and then improvising how it all happens. If in doubt, I try to just write something first and see where it takes me, if that doesn't work, I reflect and try to forget about writing for a while and just figure out what's right for the story if I can.
Not reaching for the phone is so hard 😂 I think we've all gotten so used to constant stimulation and entertainment that we don't know how to be bored. To just sit and think. But it's incredibly valuable to allow your mind to wander and think your thoughts and not be distracted by a visual all the time.
I'll definitely check out the interview with Steve--thanks for the head's up on a new (to me) channel to check out!
Meredith Phillips Writes Not knowing how to be bored is a great way to put that, totally agree ☺️ Yeah, Steve is very well read and he’s not afraid of having an opinion for sure, which makes for entertaining stuff! ☺️
Thanks Kieren. Definitely some good tips here. With all of the modern worlds distractions sometimes all we need is to calm our minds and let ourselves be bored for a few hours to give ideas the space to grow.
Definitely agree, five minutes of not-thinking often proves far more productive for me than days of concentrated thought on a problem. It's strange but once you notice it, it's really handy.
Thnank you, I needed to hear this. I spend a lot of time thinkign about what to write. Particularly about how to turn my old novel ideas and drafts into something readable. And I need to let it go and return to writing shorter works. If a novel is going to happen then it will do so without me trying to force it. :)
I think that’s a good way of looking at it ☺️ there’s no way a novel will pass you by without you noticing! And in the meantime there’s loads of fun to have with shorter stuff!
Very valuable points
Tysm this helped so much 💕
Thanks for watching! 😊
I love visiting Yorkshire and Scotland, like last year I went to York cathedral and I remember looking up at the cathedral and looking around the grounds of it I had this vision in my head of werewolves and witches, maybe they are enemies etc and I was mesmerised by the city itself I could just see something paranormal either thriller or romance fiction happening there.
I think going out and seeing places really helps you develop an idea for a book 😁😄💕
I love the idea of seeing the setting and being struck by a story! I'm quite visual in how I approach stories too 🙂
Cheers for the video my friend. Chose one of my half decent ideas and started writing a short story on Saturday, managed a couple of paragraphs, needs more work as I know what I want to say but I’m just trying to order it all properly. After work today I’m getting on it and seeing what I can create.
J Pat Thanks for watching it! Sounds like you’re having a pretty productive time at the moment! ☺️ Hope it goes well this afternoon for you as well.
Kieren Westwood thanks! I just watched your interview that you have linked in the notes. Great conversation. The point I’m interested in is what what was the discussion about Cormac McCarthy? Could you elaborate on that? I’ve read No country, The orchard Keeper and Child of God. No country was accessible, more so due to watching the film first. I really enjoyed it. The other two I found to be harder reads but fascinating. Child of God although grim was compelling, the main character was inhumane and the dialogue was almost illegible at points, but it read like nothing I’ve experienced before. I don’t think he’s a genius, more of a meat and potatoes sort of writer, but there was an odd sort of poetry to his writing.
Oh man, kind of glad you asked. So what I didn’t know is that there’s a bunch of readers that consider McCarthy very overrated, which is fine. They also consider him ‘dudebro literature’ which from what I can tell is supposed to be quite sexist, misogynistic, men-focused literature that dudebros are obsessive about and kind of worship and The Road is apparently one of the most heavily criticised books for that 😂 I personally love it so I thought I’d just make a joke with Steve about it because there no reason people can’t amicably disagree on things right ☺️ I’ve read all of McCarthy’s novels bar Suttree which I DNF’d. The western books (the border trilogy and blood meridian mainly) have these bits of dialogue in Spanish that I just thought was a huge barrier to non-speakers and an odd choice. Plus a lot of people criticise him for not using punctuation like speech marks. I very much enjoyed The Road and NCFOM, Child of God was disturbing but good, I agree with you. I also don’t worship the guy I just happen to love two of his books 😂 There’s definitely poetry to his writing, I’m with you on that 100%. The Road is bleak and plotless but I just really like it 🤷🏻♂️ Basically I just wanted to get ahead of the question in case Steve brought it up because he HATES The Road 😂 It was great chatting to him though, maybe in future he’ll invite me again ☺️
Kieren Westwood Thanks for the reply. I understand where people are coming from if they think that and it could very well be a valid point. I have all his books so once I’ve read them I’ll be in a better position to make my own mind up. His style is certainly not for everyone, it is very bleak and from the few that I’ve read it shows men at their worst. Being a man myself I find his examination of the nature of men very interesting. I’m sure a lot of women wouldn’t enjoy his writing but I’m not convinced he’s a misogynist himself (although I have little knowledge of what Cormac McCarthy is like as a person). He writes his characters with no sugar coating, i don’t think his characters are unrealistic or overly nasty for the sake of it, not like a saw film - gore for gores sake. It also brings up the subject of writing for a different gender, I haven’t given it much of a try as I have never lived as a woman so most of my ideas have male Camino characters. I could very well be writing some macho things, but none of it comes across as misogynistic I hope 😬
@@AwakeArise Yeah, I understand it too, there's some valid arguments to it. My wife has read and enjoyed both The Road and No Country and she was surprised to learn people thought them misogynistic. I suppose people read things very differently and I'm sure if people can point to reasons why they feel the way they do, then that's totally valid. You're right about his portrayal of men, I think what he's going for is truth, rather than what would make for happy reading.
I always get ansty when it comes close to the end of a project, wanting to work out what comes next and even though I have never failed to come up with a new idea my writer brain wonders if this will be the time it happens
I know that feeling too. I panic about this and then I find the more I panic the less likely I am to come up with a decent idea!
the artist's way, Julia Cameron
I've heard of that (I think). Worth reading then? :-)
@@KierenWestwoodWriting absolutely!!
I love this book, too (it's really more of a workbook in a lot of ways). I've been doing morning pages since March and it's a great way to start the day. But she has a lot of other ideas for sparking creativity and allowing yourself the space and time to be creative.
Meredith Phillips Writes Well that’s two recommendations then! I’ll definitely get it ☺️
Love writing short stories.
By far the best video on this topic. You definitely deserve more subs and views brother...
Really appreciate it, thank you for saying so 🙂 And hey, maybe one day.
To sit and think: my mother told me about a true story when I was a child. She and a friend were running away from a mad dog. My mom climbed a tree. The dog attacked the other girl. He bit a big chunk out of her leg. She had to get rabies shots and almost died. I used it in my story about worse fear realized.
Staring out into nothing, whether I read something or not, would always give me ideas 😊 for some reason, staring into nothing works 😂 other times, ideas can come from dreams and even in the shower 😂
Nicole Marcina I’ve never managed to come up with anything from dreams 😕 they always make so much sense at the time then when I wake up it’s like ‘none of that made any sense whatsoever’ 😂
Kieren Westwood I would 25% of my book ideas came from dreams. Some of them didn’t made sense but I played around with the idea and somehow, came out with a story. That is a bit weird, I guess. 😂
Nicole Marcina No I think that’s really useful! If you can make sense of them and turn them to stories that’s a great resource ☺️
Kieren Westwood I try to avoid the horrific nightmares though 😂 I suffered in my sleep, I don’t wanna do it in real life haha
Nicole Marcina Definitely not! 😣
I love this video! Very well explained! ☺️
I'd have an idea for 'The Meek of Judgments,' and it'd reveal to have few short stories in one novella. Inspired by how my life was like back in old days, and it's contained to be fictional.
But MONSTER TRUCKS!
MONSTER TRUUUUUUCKS 😆
what if it's opposite? i get ideas all the time and sometime come up with full plots but i can't write for shite...
I have a book idea but I don’t know how to start it
Try starting with what the most exciting/most appealing part of the book would be and write that,. Once you#ve got started, you might be surprised what comes from it! It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be a start.
What if I have ideas but can't know how to write it
This idea might be to big for you right now. Write down the idea, and come back to it or start with a more simple scene, or as Kieren mentioned, write the short version of it first.
@@joshuak4223 i think that's what I'm gonna do
What I you have a whole bunch of ideas but not really a writer???
Me. To Book
P bass players come up with more ideas than j bass players
Sir are you throwing shade at my budget Jazz bass