by Laura Lytton

Created on: July 06, 2007

Fiction writing is full of surprises: there is no limit to your imagination, it knows no bounds it can go anywhere, do anything; it can visit places that do not even exist. The process of finding new story ideas is exciting, sometimes scary, but always surprising.

The tips contained here will help you to recognize the opportunities that you are presented with everyday; it will help you to capitalize on what you already have and know the unique material that is already yours to create a work of fiction.

The material and tools you can draw on and use include:

- your own experiences of daily life
- your reading (books and magazines)
- your emotional experiences and dream
- your daily observations
- your free flowing ideas
- your writing journal

As far as your own experiences of daily life are concerned don't let your observations be lost. Carrying a writing journal is good for this. Situations of interest, snippets of conversations etc., write them down in your journal. By doing this you will be developing your powers of observation and what you amass might also lay the foundations for a story in the future.

A writer should always read, particularly within your genre, but also outside anything and everything. Whilst you obviously cannot plagiarize, you can glean useful ideas for developing characters. Weekly and monthly magazines are particularly good for this. Read the problem pages and develop the story further; look at the true life stories and begin to imagine the world of the people contained within them. Obviously, be careful here as you can't just lift' material and make it yours, but you can certainly use it to get ideas and develop story lines.

Your positive and negative emotional experiences can also be used to provide you with descriptive language which can be used to flesh out your characters. It is important when writing to allow your readers to connect with the characters. This is achieved when you reveal their emotions, feelings and desires.

Always keep a notebook and pen by the bed for those 2 am emerging from a dream state' wake ups. This is very useful when you're working on a plot or a character and have become a little stuck. The unconscious, when we sleep, often works on a problem that causes us difficulties during our waking life and can send some quite novel ideas which can be useful problem is remembering them: hence the note pad and pen beside the bed.

In terms of free flowing ideas. It is always useful to do this in a relaxed state: in the bath, laying on your bed or just before you're fully awake in the morning. All you do is let your mind drift around a subject, character or plot line. Just observe where it goes and when you've finished make notes. Allowing your mind free reign like this can often lead to a wealth of ideas.

Remember, inspiration often comes only after we've written the first line or the first few pages. It is certainly beneficial to write habitually, find your own rhythm of work and set yourself goals.

The key to finding story ideas is not to wait until you have the perfect idea or line. It is often the case that what starts out as perfect' ends up in the shredder by the end of the book. Try to think of your opening lines as being an opening' a door' which allows you entry into the space' that contains your story. The opening is far less important than what is contained within the space.

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