Methods for coming up with storyline ideas.

I was thinking that a few writers could state one of their favorite methods for coming up with story ideas. I’d like to see what methods of thought people like to use.

One of the tricks I like to use to come up with story ideas is to think of a single scene. A short description that I rather enjoy. Then to set down and try to think of various story ideas that could possible lead up to such a moment and what may happen after the event.

Here is a example of one such scene:
*Standing amongst the blood and gore. The death dispensed from her hands the young woman curled up in a corner.* "I am not a demon." *Tears flowed down her cheeks despite her tightly closed eyes.* "No matter how I look. I am not a demon. So why do they hunt me?"

Storyline ideas are easy. I can't not come up with storyline ideas. They just fizzle up out of somewhere in my brain that I haven't adequately explored yet and simmer until I write them (rarely) or they get displaced by a fresh batch of new story ideas.

Actual stories, on the other hand, take work. I have so far written one, and while it's not a disgrace, I haven't taken it where I initially expected to take it (specifically, I haven't taken it beyond chapter 1). My story ideas don't typically lend themselves to short story format, so I never end up finishing anything, and knowing that I won't, it's hard to justify starting it.

Anybody have a good way to get ideas for good short story ideas?

> Anybody have a good way to get ideas for good short story ideas?

Who, me? I initially wrote "Julie" as a short story and look where that's gotten me

AK

> Anybody have a good way to get ideas for good short story ideas?

Who, me? I initially wrote "Julie" as a short story and look where that's gotten me

AK

Speaking of which, Julie is entirely too short. More, please!

Hey, it's worth a shot.

Fans actually. I YIM around a lot with "both" of my fans. This one for example started the other night after one of my "two" fans continued to throw herself at me, desperately wanting to personally fulfill my every ubergirl desire, the more intimate the better...most inspiring, but not polished for copy yet:

She came at me like a bad switchblade/hydrogen bomb crossbreed. Her razor-sharp curves flicked and clicked around in the dim light of the parking garage as she stabbed across the stalls. Her visibly throbbing muscles and those anvil-hammering breasts backed that fuse-like twinkle in her eye--that twinkle--that thirst to level the city in a blink.
She could not be stopped.
Whiplash. My whole body felt torn a blink later. It would have been better if I’d rag-dolled. I slunk, back against the dent she’d made of me in my aging Honda Civic, seeing stars. The alarm blared behind me, but its feeble pain generator seemed almost soothing.
So this is how it’s to end? College. Only four girl friends? New job in the city? I suppose I never liked it anyway. Car I can’t afford. Making it big drew me here, but it was a sick trap. Might as well end here.
I wasn’t going anywhere with this.
Her toes ground in the concrete either side of me as she knelt down. She about smothered me, pressed my nose hard to the taught mylar “S” stretched straining between those massive breasts of hers. She made a show of the near tearing sounds it made when she flexed like a thundercloud gathering over me as she said those three little words that would have knocked any mortal skidding for blocks on his ass.
“Make three wishes.”
What?
I must have lost that over the sound of me crapping myself.
“Wh—wh--?”
“I said make three wishes.”
...

And so on.

That, and a lot of late night Sci-fi on TV. Not that I just rewrite them. I'm a synthysist, really. My stories tend to be a smash-together of about 10 things I saw on that "Mulberry Street" box over the years. News, sci-fi, music videos, whatever. I really haven't written an original word in my life, just a lot of recycled words nobody's seen in that combination before. I write my MTV. And yeah. I get a lot of really geeky ideas from company projects I hear about at work.

But fans. She's..um...THEY'RE my favorite inspiration...(there's four ways to read into that: pick one). :twisted:

Carry on...as if somebody cares.

Wuv,
-White Paw

Believe or not, I get my ideas through thinking about my story whilst I'm at work. Scrapping and putting in CD's, making boxes, working on the line is atcually very theraputic to me, and I brainstorm whilst keeping the other half of my mind on the line.

Few have said to me that my stories are just hashes of other works that I've cobbled together, with 'little originality save the glue that holds them together.' Basically I focus on aspects of things I like and things I don't like from very specific sources: games,videos, autistic frustrations, sociality, and things I brew in my subconcious when I attempt to control my dreams. My imagination takes it from there.

-OCT