All Out of Ideas? Tips for Finding Something to Write About...

You're out of ideas and can think of nothing new. You sit and stare at that computer screen or blank paper, and it laughs at you. Your mother keeps telling you all of your ideas are wonderful when you know FOR A FACT they are hot garbage.

Any writers who say they have never had trouble coming up with a new project or have never been stuck on where to take characters are liars.

Coming up with a new idea is hard, especially after you've just finished a project. Many times, you've poured out all of your brilliant brain juice into your previous project, and now you simply have nothing left.

Fear not! Grab some tea, sit down, and listen.

One of the most helpful things to do when you can't write is read.

I have heard so many authors tell new writers, "You must read. It's your best tool."

As a matter of fact, my eighth-grade yearbook quote was about this. Right next to my crimped hair, braces, and overdone eyeliner, it said, "If you don't have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write." –Stephen King.

If only my graduate self would listen to my eighth-grade self. I can go back and look at journals and poem books where I was pumping out some writing every five seconds! It was horrible, absolute garbage, BUT it's better than the blank page I've been staring at for the past few days.

So, my solution? Take everyone's advice and read. I spent the entire weekend in the bookstore drinking overpriced coffee and what I refer to as "rich girl water," which is shaped like a square and fits in no cup holder. Book after book, I explored the store. Some books I saw and thought, "What in the Hello Kitty is this? I never would that thought of this, it's brilliant!" Others I thought, "This, ladies and gentlemen, is why the youth of today are the way they are." Either way, I came back with several ideas. 

Whether it's a character, a setting, a plot from a story you think would be cool to continue or one you want to write a prequel to, you'll find something to write about.

Courtney's Bookstore Tips:

1.     Go alone. You can't possibly form amazing, wonderful, literature-changing thoughts with someone yapping in your ear about how they want to check out the sale at J. Crew. Although the sale is important, your writing is "importanter."

2.     Get an overpriced coffee or water. It just makes you feel better.

3.     Don't bring a heavy purse that you have to carry on your arm. This was my mistake, I couldn't juggle my book stack and rich girl water AND my purse. I abandoned the purse in the car later that morning. Put your stuff in your pockets or if you’re one of those people who must have a purse (me), use a crossbody.

4.     Have a notebook and something to write with. You will see and read through so many things in less than thirty minutes, there is no way you'll remember all of the ideas you have. WRITE THEM DOWN. Forgot paper? Use your phone.

5.     Don't be afraid to look at books you wouldn't normally read. Science fiction? Romance? Horror? You never know what you might discover. Maybe you'll want to create the story of that pathetic blonde girl screaming at the top of her lungs on every classic horror cover. Why is that girl freaking out and not running? Answer that question, and you're well on your way to a thrilling story of your own.

If All Else Fails...

Never fret about not having an idea. Take a step away from your computer or paper, and get involved in life. You'll find something to write about. Also, write anything down, even IF it's hot garbage. Maybe you can clean it up and create a story that will make someone other than your mother proud.

ABOUT THE BLOGGER

Courtney Warren is a writer for her local newspaper, as well as a graduate student at Hollins University where she is pursuing a degree in Children’s Literature. She has a bachelor’s degree from Delta State University, the home of the Fighting Okra (which she is incredibly proud of). She loves to read just about anything placed on the shelves but has a special place in her heart for the Harry Potter series.

When she is not writing about herself in third person, she loves to write stories about middle schoolers with spunky attitudes who intend to save the world, as well as drinking Earl Grey tea from a very prissy teacup.

Check out her blog, Tea, the Spirit, & a Pen.

Big Schnoz and All

Recently I started reading the Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. It's from his colored fairy books series. It was recommended to me by one of my teachers at Hollins University, and I am super excited about it. Clearly all of the stories contain fairies, some play significant parts and some have not so significant parts. As I've said before, I really enjoy the hardbound classics from Barnes and Noble so when I saw this edition I grabbed it. So excited! I expected it to be like Grimm's or Hans Christian Anderson, but it is definitely not. Some of the stories are very silly, and they’re written in modern English, so they’re very easy to read.

Last night I read a story about a prince named HYACINTH, which immediately made me think of the British sitcom Keeping up Appearances, and I couldn't stop giggling. Hyacinth Bucket (who insists her last name be pronounced Bouquet) is a social-climbing snob and absolutely hilarious. Anyway, Prince Hyacinth (bahaha) is born with a big nose. I am talking HUGE. However, everyone in the kingdom tells him it's handsome, and they hang paintings all through the castle of people with huge noses. When he finally goes out in search of his princess, and people start staring at him, he's thrown off a little. Eventually he finds his princess, but she is kidnapped and he seeks the help of a fairy. This fairy has a very, very small nose. Throughout the entire time they speak with one another, she constantly refers to his schnoz. Eventually, the prince finds the princess locked up in a glass castle and tries to kiss her through the glass but can't because—you guessed it—that big nose. Once he admits that his nose is ginormous, the fairy breaks the spell, and the glass castle disappears. It was a great story, short and hilarious, because it dealt with something as simple as a nose.

This is what got me thinking. Fairy tales are absolutely wonderful, but how many of us go back to the simplicity of things. Big noses are funny. Runny noses are funny. Noses in general are pretty hilarious if you use them to your advantage. No matter how old someone is, that humor from first grade is still hanging around inside them somewhere, so why not play on it?

So here is a writing challenge: Create a story. There must be a fairy, it must be silly, and it must use some body part. Go back to the basics. Sometimes we make writing too hard on ourselves and forget that we are writers in the first place because writing is a part of it. Once you put pen to paper and the words start coming, it's a cakewalk. Don't overthink, don't erase. Just have fun. And remember the hilarious Prince Hyacinth and his big nose.

ABOUT THE BLOGGER

Courtney Warren is a writer for her local newspaper, as well as a graduate student at Hollins University where she is pursuing a degree in Children’s Literature. She has a bachelor’s degree from Delta State University, the home of the Fighting Okra (which she is incredibly proud of). She loves to read just about anything placed on the shelves but has a special place in her heart for the Harry Potter series.

When she is not writing about herself in third person, she loves to write stories about middle schoolers with spunky attitudes who intend to save the world, as well as drinking Earl Grey tea from a very prissy teacup.

Check out her blog, Tea, the Spirit, & a Pen.

A Writer’s Life from a New Perspective

Leap Books is looking forward to publishing Tina Bustamante's As Waters Gone By in 2013. Not long after Tina's book was accepted, she moved. But not to another state, to another continent. As we swelter in the summer weather in the U.S., Tina's keeping warm in winter by stoking a wood stove.

We've asked Tina to tell you about her recent adventures and to share any tips she has on the writer's life:

After thirteen years of living in Seattle, my husband and I decided to move to his home country and start a new life. I arrived in Temuco, Chile, with my two children on June 27, 2012. . The other extreme of the world, where more than just the language is different. Chile is a country with rustic and striking landmarks, incredibly modern amenities, and a variety of people all intermingling to create an enchanting culture.

One of the most useful characteristics a writer can cultivate is to be someone who sees, who notices, who takes in what is going on around her and intuitively knows how to assimilate it into her life in such a way that she can use that particular truth, that keen observation in her writing life. A writer must perceive what others are too busy to notice, or too unaware to understand or deem important. The writer, in particular, the one who writes fiction must be someone who apprehends and takes truth so deeply inside herself, that she’s able to weave a made-up story that proves the truth more honestly than any non-fiction book ever could.

Most of us writers draw from our childhoods, our experiences, the things we know in order to spin our stories. I have the rare privilege to live in another land, hear new tales, new stories, and learn to weave an entirely new culture into my fiction. In fact, just yesterday I was listening to a man tell me about his upbringing. He grew up in the country, far from the city, among fourteen brothers and sisters. His wife works for my father-in-law. This man told me the utterly romantic story of his mom and dad. His father, an orphan, was studying to become a priest. He had gotten a few years into seminary and everything – quite a religious man. One day, he was out and about and saw a woman, and fell madly in love with her. He left seminary, rejecting the priests and all they’d given him. They tried to convince him he was making a mistake, but he was in love, absolutely in love. All his training, his schooling, all the investments the church had made for him as an orphan didn’t matter – he threw caution to the wind and married the woman. Her name was Maria Mercedes. Everyone said he’d regret it. He didn’t. They lived happily ever after – poor, no running water, no electricity, and fifteen children! The man told me he has wonderful memories of his childhood, that even though they were poor, he was happy. They had enough food and milk, they slept three or four to a bed. You can imagine what I was thinking the whole time I heard this story. What a wonderful story to knit into my writing.

Not only do I get to live in a new land and discover new things about people, I also get to feel things, experience things in new ways: loneliness, loss, culture barriers, the blessing of new friendships, the terrible pain of leaving all that I’ve known behind for what I don’t know, all mixing into my well of truth, my reservoir of story material. A writer uses what she has, what she knows.

Sometimes, I feel a bit isolated here, and that won’t go away anytime soon. There are days when Chile feels far away. However, the great blessing I have, which so many writers who have gone before me didn’t have, is the Internet. Today, we blog, we twitter, we facebook, we Skype, we FaceTime, and all those mediums connect us even if we’re miles – or continents – apart.
If you’re someone who’s trying to write, someone trying to figure out what it is that you and you alone are supposed to say, what it is that your words are supposed to bring to our culture – look around, notice things, watch people, open your eyes. You will see things that no one else notices. You will hear stories that are significant to you. You will perceive things that others miss. Those are the themes, the stories, the truths you are supposed to weave into stories. And you’re the only one who can.


Thanks for sharing, Tina! To learn more about Tina's life in Chile, you can visit her blog, Fragments, or follow her on Twitter and Facebook. And here's the blurb for her forthcoming book:

When Ellie moves in with her aunt on Orcas Island after her mother's death, she doesn't expect to have one of the most incredible summers of her life. She doesn't expect to restore a mysterious lighthouse that holds the truth about her family, or to rehabilitate a crazy dog, or to see a strange man who may or may not be a ghost. And the last thing she expects is to meet Will Larson, who flips her summer upside down.
 
But, when Will's past and her own collide, will their relationship survive the secrets they both conceal, or will these unshared secrets tear them apart? Can Ellie gain the courage to uncover the truth of who she really is and finally find a place where she belongs, or will she choose to remain an outsider?

Our teen readers loved it! Hope you will too!