#IWSG: Where do they come from?

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. It’s an opportunity to talk about doubts and fears you have conquered. To discuss your struggles and triumphs and to offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.

The awesome co-hosts for the July 5 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, Gwen Gardner, Pat Garcia, and Natalie Aguirre– do take a moment to visit them.

July 5 question – 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?

I’ve dreamt what happens next, but the core story idea or inspiration hasn’t come from a dream… at least, not yet 😉

My ideas have come from an image, a piece in the newspaper or a magazine, a conversation I’ve overheard, or a place I’ve visited. Depending on what’s happening at the time, I either allow myself to go off on a bit of daydreaming, or I make a note of it on my phone to re-visit later.

Another favourite is a writing prompt. Whenever I have a dry spell, I turn to writing prompts as a way to start the ball rolling again. I particularly enjoy them, as they’re often the stories which go in a direction where I’d not normally go – into the realms of fantasy for example. To date, that’s mostly been only flash fiction or short stories, but – one day – I’d like to see whether it could lead to a full length piece of work, although maybe I’ll aim for a novella initially!

At the moment, I’m working on a family memoir, so I’m mining my memories, and using old photographs as an occasional useful reminder.

Are you able to track where your ideas come from, or do they arrive fully formed?

© Debra Carey, 2023

Author: debscarey

Writer, Reader, Photographer and Random Scribbler. The random scribbling happens at Debs Despatches, I showcase my non-fiction writing at Debs Carey, and I co-host Fiction Can Be Fun, where my #IWSG reflections can be found. All links below.

18 thoughts on “#IWSG: Where do they come from?”

    1. Where would we be without them? I am so grateful to those who put time & effort into generating them, and then sharing them with us.

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    1. When I first started writing fiction, I relied on them completely as they allowed me to focus on the process and not worry about generating an idea. These days, I save them for when I’ve hit a dry spell and need to get the ball rolling again. Fortunately I mostly get so filled up from observing life that I don’t need to (and long may that continue).

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    1. As a photographer (however amateur), I have to agree with you. I’ve one which went badly wrong, as I was playing around with some filters and forgot to re-set it, but the result made me think of something positively dystopian!

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    1. Lee, apologies for the late response. WP is not playing nicely with me at present.

      I’ve learned a fair bit about the writing of them by working with a writing coach. My first time giving proper planning a go! We’ll see how that pans out and whether it impacts on my normal pantser approach.

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      1. I’ve just started the process to dump WordPress. I’ve dealt with that enough to know I’ll never have smooth sailing. If you run into Gabi Coatsworth online, get to know her. She’s also an excellent memoire writer.

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      2. Thank you for the recommendation, I’ll go seek out Gabi.

        Interesting to hear about your decision with WordPress. What option have you chosen to replace it?

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      3. I’ll keep my website up until it’s time to renew with GoDaddy since I’ve pre-paid for their service. I hope to gradually ease over to Substack and rely on it for staying connected with readers and writers online. I’m still exploring, so all is new for me.

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    1. Alex, apologies for the delayed response (WP and I seem not to be communicating properly). I find them useful for getting me going when I’m in a slump. Once the writing gets flowing, then the ideas start to flow too – although not usually related to the prompts.

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  7. I honestly don’t know where my ideas come from. Not dreams. I don’t remember enough of my dreams for them to be useful in my writing. The fun part for me is when I have a few separate ideas and realize that they actually fit together into a cohesive story.

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    1. James, apologies to you – WP not sending me notifications and my brain has been elsewhere so I didn’t check.

      I don’t tend to remember dreams either, but I did dream about the story when in the intensive writing phase of November Deadline. It was strange, but also rather enjoyable.

      I love the sound of separate ideas becoming a cohesive story – brilliant!

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