Tesh Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, Ookla the Grammatical said: No, honestly it doesn't. And it's all right, I'm here to correct people. Shhh... Don't stop me from trying to market the illegal 1960's fantasy novels... It's the only way I can buy my own books... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 6 minutes ago, Ookla the Rōnin said: Shhh... Don't stop me from trying to market the illegal 1960's fantasy novels... It's the only way I can buy my own books... *whispering* Hey, I think I need another copy of James and the Giant Peach. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesh Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 24 minutes ago, Ookla the Grammatical said: *whispering* Hey, I think I need another copy of James and the Giant Peach. I'll meet you out in the parking lot at nine... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 17 minutes ago, Ookla the Rōnin said: I'll meet you out in the parking lot at nine... Which time zone? And can I get Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on a dual deal? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesh Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 12 minutes ago, Ookla the Grammatical said: Which time zone? And can I get Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on a dual deal? Aleutian Standard Time. And sure. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 8 minutes ago, Ookla the Rōnin said: Aleutian Standard Time. And sure. Sweet, see you there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xardan Ta'Caran Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 I realize I'm late to the party, but thought I'd throw my two cents in here. I'll be honest and let everyone here in on a secret. I'm not the idea man for the novel I helped write. My co author is the one who has all of the original ideas and he has an incredible imagination that I can't even hold a candle to, but I can say that a lot of the ideas we've had (or he's had in most cases) have come from real life situations or inspiration from other novels. One of us will hear of something or read something and think "what if this was different in 'x' way," which leads to a whole new storyline. I can say that most of my originality (which isn't much) comes from seeing what other authors are doing and trying to decide if I think I could do it better (or differently). Most times I can't come up with something better, but I am good at coming up with something markedly different from what they came up with, which leads to fun new situations. But to be honest, my expertise mostly lies in building on what already exists. If someone gives me an idea, I'm good at taking it and making it bloom into something much greater than the original idea. My co author gives me his ideas and I help make them "real" by adding back story and reasoning behind all of it. To that end, it's probably no surprise that the bulk of my solo "writing" has been mostly in the fan fiction area of things (and there hasn't been much of that to be honest). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 No, you're not late! There's this really good quote I like(but can never find) about how there's nothing new in this world, only new combinations of old ideas. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMothLord Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 they come to me in my dreams like visions from an angry god. After that, I try to develop it more. I have at least ten characters that I made up in a dream and then refined. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 I got an odd one today. I was doing math and then the quadratic formula gave me an idea. Not sure how, they're not really related, but it did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesh Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 5 hours ago, Ookla the Grammatical said: I got an odd one today. I was doing math and then the quadratic formula gave me an idea. Not sure how, they're not really related, but it did. I hate quadratics. Stupid parabolas. That's all I have to say. Spoiler Please, math people, don't kill me... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 6 hours ago, Ookla the Grammatical said: I got an odd one today. I was doing math and then the quadratic formula gave me an idea. Not sure how, they're not really related, but it did. One time in math class we were graphing data and my teacher was explaining outliers, so then the rest of the class period I was building a story in my head called Outlier. I eventually changed the title to fit the rest of the stories in my universe, but now a major plot point of my fantasy series is literally based off of something I learned in math class. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 8 hours ago, Ookla the Rōnin said: I hate quadratics. Stupid parabolas. That's all I have to say. Reveal hidden contents Please, math people, don't kill me... I like quadratics, I'm good at it. Parabolas are predictable, unlike some things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreezeCauthon Posted December 17, 2020 Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 On 12/15/2020 at 1:40 PM, Ookla the Grammatical said: No, you're not late! There's this really good quote I like(but can never find) about how there's nothing new in this world, only new combinations of old ideas. Sounds like something Twain would say, but that's a complete guess. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 17, 2020 Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 3 hours ago, BreezeCauthon said: Sounds like something Twain would say, but that's a complete guess. Nope, Flori from KotLC. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreezeCauthon Posted December 17, 2020 Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 8 hours ago, Ookla the Grammatical said: Nope, Flori from KotLC. Oh. Definitely not Twain then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condensation Posted December 17, 2020 Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 3 hours ago, BreezeCauthon said: Oh. Definitely not Twain then. Nope! But Twain sounds cool! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unknown Ajah Posted February 11, 2021 Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 (edited) Recently I've been revisiting my old ideas that I can't remember the origins of and working on those, but i think the idea fairy and just thinking while doing menial work are also common for me. Edit: At times I'll also come up with a concept, like people who have control over darkness and other dark magic eac abilities versus angelic abilities. Edited February 11, 2021 by The Unknown Order 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) Ideas don't usually come at random to me, and the ones that do will just be a minor detail which doesn't really matter in the final product or too vague and generic and not something that really helps me form the basis of a story. I have to sit down, ask myself questions along the lines of "what is something I've seen recently that I liked" or "what is a topic I'm interested in creating a story about", and think until I hit something. Then I'll jot down the idea, and possibly others that might immediately come as a result. I'll see if I can further breathe nuance or conflict into what I've written by trying to link it with larger general topics (e.g. society, ecology), by aiming to show different shades (e.g. other kinds of poverty or coping, or related diseases), or by combining it with other concepts I've stumbled on recently. On other occasions, I'll hunt for concepts by reading science articles, watching videos on mysticism, or whatever catches my fancy, and when something clicks as interesting to me in some way I'll write it down. And sometimes I'll scan media I like or have consumed lately for anything which I would consider interesting but was only a minor part of that story or I could handle in a different way that is more appealing to me. Then I follow a similar process to Brandon's, where I keep piling these ideas and concepts, some of them together and some of them alone, and keep brainstorming every day until some of the ideas begin to clash together and form a fascinating greater whole that I want to explore. Sidenote, but I actually suffered a lot of anxiety for years trying to get stories to work and immediately losing interest in them because they had always been done, blaming my supposed lack of creativity. It conditioned me to fear writing for a while. It wasn't until I heard Brandon talk about stories being combinations of many ideas and give examples of his own, read about how long some of his simple ideas sat in a document until they combined in his mind, and learned how much his stories changed from their conception to the final draft, that I was able to overcome this anxiety. So lads, feel free to gather ideas for a long time, look them over once in a while to help you make cool connections, and remember that writing can be an enjoyable and fun experience if you use your own process. Edited August 18, 2021 by Ice 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frustration Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 (edited) recently I've gotten really good ideas the same way we make new elements. I have a bunch of concepts, things I want, and a general feel, and I smash them together a bunch of times until eventually they stick Edited July 7, 2022 by Frustration 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightdancer Posted August 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 10 hours ago, Frustration said: recently I've gotten reallly good ideas the same way we make new elements. I have a bunch of concepts, things I want, anda general feel, and I smash them together a bunch of times until eventually they stick Idea fusion. I like it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentally ill Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 ok here's how I personally go about coming up with ideas (making them polished is another story) I think Sanderson does the same thing and I got this from him lol I keep a journal and google doc and whenever I see something that even remotely inspires me, I write it down. Even if it's just something really wired, like "how the light is hitting my water glass right now" (an actual thing I have written down). I don't even try to make them coherent. Every now and again I look back at my pages and pages of notes and try and figure out how I can fit multiple things I have come up with together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1 Taln Fan Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 I definitely don’t get plot ideas from roleplaying on the Shard… 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trutharchivist Posted March 7, 2022 Report Share Posted March 7, 2022 Just randomly reviving the thread, because I wanted to say some things. I actually have nothing new to add, I'm just going to tell how what other people said here works for me. Basically: the world is full of ideas, you just need to stretch your hand and take them, sometimes other people have good ideas and it hurts me to see them done imperfectly, and dreams are great sources of inspiration. All mentioned above already. My ideas for a current story I'm planning to write came from the first type: random life things. For example, my father encountered a couple of foxes not far from my home, and in trying to imagine a fantastic way to explain that, I found myself starting a story. Frozen 2 also played part in this, but I'll refrain from elaborating too much. Another idea came to me after watching a specific scene on a comedic show. It's nothing you would know or understand unless you're a religious Jew (and probably Israeli, too), so I won't elaborate on that. I'm lately considering combining those two ideas. An older story of mine (which I never succeeded in actually writing, though it worked just fine in my head) was probably inspired by reading Bookweird and mourning the fact that to my knowledge, there's no book like the Undergrowth Chronicles out there. If you know what I'm talking about and know of a series with a similar idea please let me know. As for dreams, I remember finding myself laying half awake in bed, trying (and sometimes succeeding) to continue the plot line of the dream I just had. Actually, it all partly reminds me of the story "Dreaming is a Private Thing" by Isaac Asimov. In it, near the ending, the question of how do some people not get ideas is presented. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medium Posted March 8, 2022 Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 Im inspired by other things in the media. Books, movies, random stuff. I extrapolate on it, and end up with my ideas!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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