October 2004

Now is the time of year when ideas abound. Ok...ok…I admit that the rest of the year has plenty of ideas and that I am biased toward fall, and Halloween. You have to admit that interesting things tend to happen…and things tend to get a little…spookier!

How can you incorporate this time of year to generate ideas? Well, there is my favorite past-time of wandering outside with your favorite form of transportable writing materials…i.e. laptop, pen/pencil and paper, cassette recorder…and observing what is around. Or you can watch movies to get the ideas stimulated. Or how about those books? I don’t know about you, but even music can stimulate ideas. Another way that I like to stimulate ideas is to sit in a quiet room, close my eyes and play “mind movie.” I let my imagination free reign and see what comes out.

Speaking of books, Have you ever grabbed a book catalog, or went to an online bookstore and just browsed the titles? Just by reading the titles (not the descriptions) my mind started going crazy with ideas. It is also very interesting to see what others title their books.

When speaking of using movies or books as stimulation for your own ideas, I do not mean taking the idea of what you are reading or watching and rewriting it. Oh no. That’s not what I mean at all. I am talking about using something out of that which has grabbed your attention, reshaping it into something new and making a new story out of it.

Everyone knows of the Gremlin movies. You see different variations of that same theme over again. How can you reshape that into your own idea? I cannot presume to tell you of a specific way, as each writer is different, but I can tell you how I would reshape a gremlin or gremlin story into my own.

First I would decide which element I would like to expand for my own story, in this instance, the gremlin. Then I would modify its body and personality. (Yes, there is a lot of room to play with this type of thing, just let your imagination go and you might be surprised). Next I would revamp its settings. Oh, let’s say, put him into another dimensional world that way there is the entire landscape to play with. Next, hmm, he needs some friends to play with. Who plays well with him and who doesn’t? Finally I would come up with the plot. Perhaps, in this story, the gremlin might be a poor misunderstood unfortunate, who is always getting the raw end of the deal.

When getting ideas from other places outside of your own mind, there are a lot of places you can go to find them, but ultimately it is up to you and your imagination just what you will do with those ideas. Don’t be afraid to experiment and be as creative as you would like to be.