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Sorry guys! I forgot to post last weeks discussion.
So here is last weeks AND this weeks. Enjoy!

Gathering Inspiration from Others

At different points in our writing journey, we find ourselves more or less empty of ideas. This can happen in between projects, or in the middle of a project. I’m not talking about writer’s block, though that is related; I’m talking more specifically about simply not having ideas for our stories in general. Nothing original. Nothing that our mind latches onto and can’t help but want to write.
Whether we’re working on just one project or have multiple things in various stages of development, it’s generally a good sign if we have multiple ideas springing up randomly as a normal part of our life as artists. After all, creativity thrives in an environment that is rich with ideas – and they don’t all have to be related. So, when this isn’t the case, and we find ourselves dead in the water, fresh out of originality, what can we do to combat this?
While it is excellent to pull ideas from books (of all kinds), it is also important to turn to the artists around us for renewed sources of inspiration. The following tips should help you with this:

1. Form friendships with other writers in which you talk about stories and writing. This should be a normal (and even integral) part of such friendships, and can be cultivated by exchanging interesting articles, talking about one’s WIPs, and more. Forums are a pretty good place for this. 😛 These friendships will help your daily mental life remain enriching and less likely to fall into a drought of ideas.
My other points flow out of this first one.

2. If you are visually oriented, exchange prompt-worthy pictures and build Pinterest boards with writing friends. These can help you in the moment, and you can use them as reference for the future as well.

3. Many people find music very inspiring. Ask your friends what songs (whether just instrumental or lyrical) they gain ideas and inspiration from. Try to dig into why these songs inspire them, and search for similar songs like it that may do the same for you.

4. Ask your friends about their favorite stories. While these stories may be similar to your favorite stories, go a little further and ask them what parts of those stories are their favorite, in particular, and why. As with most healthy relationships, there should be a give and take here… share your own favorite stories, and take the time to examine further for yourself. You might just come across the themes and story elements that get your own creative juices flowing again.

5. Expand your artistic social horizons. Social media is an excellent platform for bringing many like-minded people together, and in the multitude of counselors, there is wisdom. Solid, Christian writers groups on Facebook and the like can be helpful minefields for both resources and ideas if you find yourself running dry. Communities like this exist for the purpose of helping and encouraging writers in every stage of their writing journey, so they are in a sense tailor-made for situations exactly like this.

There is so much more than can be said about finding inspiration in general. But this little discussion is meant to get you focused in on one particular aspect of that: finding inspiration in/from the artists around you.

Has your idea-well ever dried up? What tactics have you used to combat this? Let’s talk!

Dealing with multiple ideas

Most writers have more story ideas than they know what to do with. If you’re in this boat, you need to know how to cut through the clutter and make the right decisions. Here are a few things I’ve learned that have helped me.

Write everything down

Writing your story ideas down cements them in your brain. You’ll be able to mull over them longer to see if they’re good ideas. Even if you discard an idea, down the road, you might come back to it and find there are elements from it you like that you can incorporate into your other stories.

Don’t just write down basic story premises, write down any ideas for fleshing out those stories or just random ideas that would be cool in some story.

Let it sit

The only stories I’ve ever written quickly after coming up with the idea has been short stories. Novellas take more time to prepare for and novels even more. Think of a story idea like a potential spouse. You want to see it from many different angles and get to know it over time before you dedicate your life (at least a large portion of it) to the story.

I’ve had many great story ideas over the years. Some of them I’d really love to come back to at some point. But so far they’re not officially in the plan, because I’ve had time to think over them.

Either there’s something missing (like I’ve got a fantastic character idea, but no plot), or it’s just not as good as my other story ideas, or perhaps it’s not expedient for the type of career I want to forge over the next decade but it could be a good book to write once I’ve already established myself. #branding

Make sure all streams lead to the ocean

In other words, once you’ve given your story ideas time to sit, you’ll start to get an idea of which ones are *probably* keepers. These are your oceans and the streams (your random bits of inspiration) should lead into them. 98% of inspiration you get is not a new story idea! It’s idea that can fit inside your current story if you just train yourself to think that way.

To paraphrase Sanderson’s third law slightly out of context: “Don’t add something new if you can use what you already have.”

By following this rule, you should end up with a few very solid story ideas that are highly developed.

Now to turn it over to you. How do you sort through story ideas?

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