Whenever i get done reading a fantasy story, i always want to try and write fantasy. but when i sit down to...

Question

...write, all of my ideas sort of copy or have to do with the story i just finished! how can i figure out how to get my own ideas???? i think forever, but i cant think of anything!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

make an outline for a plot and insert your own characters

Answer 2

From one writer to another, I'll give you a few tips.

First, change where you do your brainstorming. Go sit in the mall and watch people go by, or sit by a lake, or any other environment you normally wouldn't go to when thinking up story ideas.

Second, WRITE AN OUTLINE of your plot before you start writing. Set down a basic story in steps, and then fill in the details as you write. If your plot looks like something you've already written, change it. Don't write the story until you have an original plot. Change the "rules" of your characters.

Lastly, when you think you're starting to write the same thing you've written before, STOP, and look at the story as if you were one of the characters, but not the one you normally look through the eyes of. Have someone do something that doesn't quite fit the situation, and then rebuild the story around why they did it.

Answer 3

Think up an original character first. Maybe one based on someone you know. Then try to imagine what would cause that character a whole lot of trouble. That's where your story begins. Tell the story about how your character faces and deals with the dwindling water supply and a truck load of alternative life forms chasing him or her through the scorching heat of Death Valley. A word of caution though: good writers make writing look effortless. It's not.

That said, just get writing.

Answer 4

Take a writing class, developing ideas is an important part of such classes.

Don't think you have to sit down and write a novel. Start small! Think of a character, then develop it. Write details about this character. Then do another.

Write a paragraph describing a scene. Don't worry about a plot, just capture the setting.

Any time you get an idea for anything, a plot, character, even a neat phrase you think up, write it down.

A class can take you through small steps like these to begin developing your writing talents.

Answer 5

Try to come up with a main character for your story. Write down a description - male, female, eye color, etc. etc.

Then take this character and imagine then in some odd place or scenario – anything goes! Write down ideas on what would have to happen to your character or how they would react to the scenario you placed them in.

You can do this for multiple characters if you like.

This may seem futile, but it will help you flesh out some characters and give you insight into what you may want to happen to this type of character in a potential story. You may even come up with multiple story lines!

Strong well crafted main characters can inspire readers to love your story as well as drive you to write a great story for these imagined beings to be in! :-)

Answer 6

personally, as a writer, I find having these ideas is just another type of writers block. that odd part of my psyche that seems to always be trying to get me to stop writing.

If its not some nagging feeling about my work being "unoriginal" or "bad" then its ideas about how playing some video games or watch bad television will energize me, and in the end if i give in to any of them, I end up AWAY from the writing, not to return any time soon and definately not with anything new or prodeuctive.

I say write, let the words fall as they may, ignore your feelings about copying, and write. worry about the quality in the editing and numerous re-write stages.

cheers and good luck

Answer 7

Been there, done that. Specially when a read a crappy book. I wonder, "how could someone write this and be published?, I can do better." I start, the ideas are in my head but I can't put on a paper. I guess that is the difference between wanna be and a successful writer.

Answer 8

Let the story reveal itself to you instead of trying to force it out. Forget plot, focus on the story and let the characters talk to you and talk to them, ask them questions and watch them move through the story. I know it sounds a bit weird, but it works for me.

You can emulate your favorite authors, which is a common way to develop your own voice, and then when you're comfortable, you move on to your own fiction. Writing a story, either 1 page or 1,000 pages doesn't happen overnight. It is something that takes time and effort- don't rush it, enjoy it! Writing is fun and when you start to craft stories and characters (no plots, they are the death of stories), you will see your story take on a life of its own.

Have fun and keep writing.

Answer 9

You might try thinking like H.G.Wells, who wrote The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds and The Invisble Man---he liked to write about reality, and then add one fantastic element and see how it changed everything around it.
The magic words are: What if?
Whole worlds have been built out of them!

Answer 10

The best fantasy/fiction stories have some truth to them. Think about interpersonal relationships, environments that could exist but don't. Cultures that could inhabit that environment and how they relate to each other. This worked for C.S Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, two of the best.

Answer 11

Maybe you can go ahead and write the copycat stories, for practice and then as you get used to writing, ideas of your own will come. Give it time.