The question most often asked to every fiction writer is about where we get our ideas.
If only it were an easy question to answer.
The best advice I would give to anyone thinking about putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard would be to pay attention to your thoughts.
I carry a small moleskin notebook in my pocketbook at all times. I listen to the banter of the people around me on lines, at work, in the stores (dialogue is my weakest link - while I can talk a blue streak, writing it seems to paralyze me, go figure.) If something catches my attention - a turn of phrase I haven't heard before, a slang word - I write in my book.
While in the car, out walking or exercising most of us listen to music. Have you listened to the words lately? There are some songs that just make you move, but others have a story, an emotion that jiggles at the heartstrings or pulls at a memory. Sometimes it sparks a "what if" moment that before you know it has characters attached or the beginning of a plot! Take notes...your imagination is calling you.
Watching TV or at the movies? Have you ever thought you would have ended it differently? Change up the characters and try to change the ending to suit you.
I'd like to say the corner coffeeshop has fresh ideas every morning to serve up with your grande mocha latte, but it's just not that easy. Most authors will tell you there actually are no new ideas, it's all in how we spin them that makes that idea seem fresh and new.
So grab your voice recorder or your favorite pen and a pad and start to pay attention to what's going on around you. Take notes when your blood pressure spikes or are overwhelmed by a good deed. Listen and observe.
Then when you sit down to write - read those notes, remember the feelings, let the characters run free in your imagination and you just might have a story in there!
Is every idea book worthy? NO. And that really isn't the point here. Even great ideas need to be developed, nutured into something that can grow to be a great book, it all takes time. But you never know where the next great idea is going to come from. The point is to be ready for it when it hits!
Go forth and take notes, open your mind and grab those ideas as they rush by.
Make it a saucy weekend! 
Angelika Devlyn (1)
David Bridger (1)
Debora (1)
George Allwynn (1)
Kissa Starling (1)
What fab advice! I'm fairly new to the whole writing thing…well sort of. I've always been good at expressing myself and it seems to come naturally when I write – I just didn't know it.
But I love your writing to stay sane badge at the top! And the notebook is priceless, I often write down a thing or two here and there that becomes a grander idea later on.
Love the post, thanks for sharing! xx Mesina(Quote)