6 Tips for Coming up With Great Story Ideas
By: Flynn Hannan
Tags: Writing Life, Writers On Writing, Writing Tips, Writers On Medium, Writing

When it comes to writing a great story, you will need to be as creative and versatile as possible. Remember that your potential audience would most likely have read a lot of stories. So you will have to write a story that really stands out. Stay away from tropes and clichés. Instead, you should try your best to come up with truly unique storylines. Here are 6 Tips for coming up with a great story idea.

1. Use writing prompts

When it comes to writing a great story, you should take it one step at a time. Remember that all it takes is one great idea to come up with a noteworthy story. A great way is to come up with writing prompts and start from there. Make a list of writing prompts that you find interesting, then try to make a story out of them. These prompts should not be too detailed and should just contain a focused idea.

2. Write with a target audience in mind

When you come up with a story, it is important that you have a target audience. If you just start writing with no idea of who you are writing for, your work will lack focus and not be able to reach anyone. So before you even think of writing anything, you should identify your target audience. You should base your choice on your genre, and the type of people that you want to reach. By having a target audience, your writing will be a lot more focused.

3. Take key points from your life

One way to come up with great writing ideas is to get inspiration from your own life. There is a saying that art imitates life, and you should really take this to heart. Life is a chaotic maelstrom of events without any order to it. Good and bad events happen at random, and there are times in your life where you experience moments of extreme emotion. It is these memories that you should tap into, and try to incorporate into your stories.

4. Use your dreams for inspiration

Our dreams often contain a lot of hidden meanings. They usually stem from our subconscious, and often contain thoughts and concepts that we are not willing to give voice to. However, our dreams are also a great source of writing ideas. They are raw and untouched by reality. They are our subconscious thought given free reign. So it pays to keep a dream journal at your bedside, and once you wake up you should write all your dreams down. Although your dreams may not have any cohesion, they are also very potent and vivid, and is a truly great source of inspiration for your writing.

5. Take key concepts from history

Although some people consider history to be boring, it is in fact very interesting. If you take the time to read it in detail. History is more than just dates and people that died hundreds of years ago. It is in truth the combined history of the human race. History is our story as a species. From our very first baby steps as a people, and the rise of the very first empires to the most recent events on a global scale. It is also a very potent source of writing ideas. Many a great writer has used specific historical events to give color and substance to their writing. Take a feather from their cap, and use historical concepts in your writing.

6. Don’t rush the process

As you come up with your writing ideas, you should remember that true art takes time and patience. So you should avoid rushing yourself. Don’t pressure yourself to come up with a groundbreaking story out of the blue. Instead, you should gradually work up to it. Give yourself time to experiment and even fail. By trying and failing, you’ll learn what works and what won’t work.

Conclusion:

If you want to come up with a truly great story idea, you should make sure that it is as unique as possible. With these tips, you’ll be able to create a truly noteworthy story.

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