The Secret to Creating an Avalanche of Book Ideas
You can have an avalanche of new book ideas, fiction and non-fiction, cascading down around you, any day of the week, any moment of the day.
So many ideas, in fact, that your most difficult task will be deciding on just one, or just a few, to use in your next book.
All that's required is an observant eye and a flick of the mental wrist.
Before you know it your only concern will be that there's only 24 hours in a day.
Most books or 'experts' on the topic of writing books will simply tell you that there are ideas for books everywhere.
They stretch that thought into an entire chapter without saying much more, and then move on to character development.
I'm going to do so much more for you in this one article, so let's get started.
We'll start with fiction.
Everywhere around you are ideas for plots.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you hear, see or experience, that's plot potential.
A simple idea, no mater how mundane, is just one or two thoughts away from becoming a fantastic premise for a novel.
I look at the newspaper and there's a bus strike in one city, the idea of using cash as an incentive to help people lose weight, and a photo of the world's smallest boy.
No editing there.
Those are the first three stories on a very slow news day.
The first option is to deal with these ideas straight up.
You deal with the people (characters) who are affected by the events, how their lives are influenced, changed, ruined, improved.
For the bus strike you've got to have a bus driver and her family, the mayor of the city, a university student trying to make classes, the head of the union who seriously in debt because his wife has given all their money to a cult leader.
Cash as an incentive for people to lose weight? Well, the researcher who has just discovered the magic pill, the surgeon who specializes in gastric surgery (you can give him financial troubles, too, if you want), and the 832 pound man who is confined to his house because he can't fit through the doors.
Oh yes, the money element.
The minister of health in Britain who is weighing (sorry) the costs of obesity in society with the costs of cash as an incentive.
The world's smallest boy? That's way too easy.
I'll leave it as a homework assignment you can do yourself.
Each of these are books in themselves.
The next strategy is to take the idea and give it a mental 'what if' twist.
I watched a program from Britain about a man who had the task of traveling around the country on just 5 pounds a day (sorry, couldn't find the 'pounds sterling' symbol on my keyboard).
He had to ask people to be generous and charitable.
Some success, but not a lot.
My twist? Give him a testimonial letter from someone who would vouch for him.
After a person had been generously kind to him, he would ask them to write a similar letter he could show to the next person so they would be generously kind to him as well.
Something simple, like, "not only was he no trouble when he spent the night in our fire hall, he also helped out with quite a few chores.
If you get the chance to help him it will be worth your effort.
" Do you see how the original idea was given just a slight twist, an amusing addition, a change of some kind that should take more than about 10 seconds to create.
How about the world's smallest girl, or the world's smallest father, or the world's smallest successful politician? How about the world's second tallest man.
He doesn't get the acclaim and celebrity of tallest, but still has all the challenges.
How about the world's smartest man and how a terrible childhood, poverty, abusive parents, misdiagnosis and societal fear robbed him of a life that would fulfill his potential? He views normal people with the same humor and disdain that you have for those who don't have the intellect to tie their shoes, but wonders why he's simply not successful.
Oops! Ran out of time again.
Next up will be an article about creating an avalanche of non-fiction ideas.
So many ideas, in fact, that your most difficult task will be deciding on just one, or just a few, to use in your next book.
All that's required is an observant eye and a flick of the mental wrist.
Before you know it your only concern will be that there's only 24 hours in a day.
Most books or 'experts' on the topic of writing books will simply tell you that there are ideas for books everywhere.
They stretch that thought into an entire chapter without saying much more, and then move on to character development.
I'm going to do so much more for you in this one article, so let's get started.
We'll start with fiction.
Everywhere around you are ideas for plots.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you hear, see or experience, that's plot potential.
A simple idea, no mater how mundane, is just one or two thoughts away from becoming a fantastic premise for a novel.
I look at the newspaper and there's a bus strike in one city, the idea of using cash as an incentive to help people lose weight, and a photo of the world's smallest boy.
No editing there.
Those are the first three stories on a very slow news day.
The first option is to deal with these ideas straight up.
You deal with the people (characters) who are affected by the events, how their lives are influenced, changed, ruined, improved.
For the bus strike you've got to have a bus driver and her family, the mayor of the city, a university student trying to make classes, the head of the union who seriously in debt because his wife has given all their money to a cult leader.
Cash as an incentive for people to lose weight? Well, the researcher who has just discovered the magic pill, the surgeon who specializes in gastric surgery (you can give him financial troubles, too, if you want), and the 832 pound man who is confined to his house because he can't fit through the doors.
Oh yes, the money element.
The minister of health in Britain who is weighing (sorry) the costs of obesity in society with the costs of cash as an incentive.
The world's smallest boy? That's way too easy.
I'll leave it as a homework assignment you can do yourself.
Each of these are books in themselves.
The next strategy is to take the idea and give it a mental 'what if' twist.
I watched a program from Britain about a man who had the task of traveling around the country on just 5 pounds a day (sorry, couldn't find the 'pounds sterling' symbol on my keyboard).
He had to ask people to be generous and charitable.
Some success, but not a lot.
My twist? Give him a testimonial letter from someone who would vouch for him.
After a person had been generously kind to him, he would ask them to write a similar letter he could show to the next person so they would be generously kind to him as well.
Something simple, like, "not only was he no trouble when he spent the night in our fire hall, he also helped out with quite a few chores.
If you get the chance to help him it will be worth your effort.
" Do you see how the original idea was given just a slight twist, an amusing addition, a change of some kind that should take more than about 10 seconds to create.
How about the world's smallest girl, or the world's smallest father, or the world's smallest successful politician? How about the world's second tallest man.
He doesn't get the acclaim and celebrity of tallest, but still has all the challenges.
How about the world's smartest man and how a terrible childhood, poverty, abusive parents, misdiagnosis and societal fear robbed him of a life that would fulfill his potential? He views normal people with the same humor and disdain that you have for those who don't have the intellect to tie their shoes, but wonders why he's simply not successful.
Oops! Ran out of time again.
Next up will be an article about creating an avalanche of non-fiction ideas.
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