Writing From the Heart

One of the easiest ways to write a terrific story is to write about what you know. You can use prompts below to help you harness your own life and background to come up with story ideas that are easy to develop.

Story Ideas

• Look into your family tree. Is there anybody nobody knows anything about? Make up an explanation.
• What is the least convenient personal habit for a detective? Write about that detective.
• Think about your most offbeat friend. What if he/she had to fill a conventional and important role such as running the country
• What was the last thing you lost that never turned up? Write a story describing a sinister reason for its disappearance.
• Think about the last good decision you made. What would have happened if you'd made the wrong choice?
• Think about the more prudish person you know. Now sit him/her next to somebody behaving inappropriately on a train.
• Imagine you stumble upon a letter that was never sent. What was in it and why?
• Look at the last message you sent. What might have happened if you'd accidentally sent it to the wrong person?
• Think of a wish. Now imagine the granting of the wish has unexpected consequences.
• Look at the front page of your local paper. Could there be a conspiracy behind the main headline?
• You're on a jury and you distrust one of your fellow jurors. Why?
• Think of a celebrity you dislike. Now imagine your Sunday lunch if a member of your family brought him/her as a date.
• Look through your photographs until you find one with a stranger in the background. Write a fictional account of his/her five minutes leading up to the taking of the photograph.

Types of Story

Plot

According to Christopher Booker, there are seven types of story

Overcoming the Monster

The protagonist sets out to defeat something that threatens him/her or a group they belong to.

Rags to Riches

A protagonist is in some way misfortune, usually financially. Throughout the story, he/she acquires things such as power, wealth or a love interest.

The Quest

The protagonist sets out to acquire an object or get to a location, facing many obstacles and temptations along the way.

Voyage and Return

The protagonist goes to a strange land and, after overcoming the threats it poses to him or her, returns with experience.

Comedy

A humorous character faces conflict that becomes more and more confusing, but is at last made plain in a single clarifying event.

Tragedy

The protagonist is a hero who makes a mistake that brings about his/her downfall, evoking sympathy.

Rebirth

An important event forces the main character to change his/her ways, often making him/her a better person.

Genre

Although some plot types lend themselves more to some genres than others, genre is a different dimension to plot, and some plots may span across several genres.

Some examples:

Crime

Crime stories usually involve a flawed detective who has to defeat a monster (criminal). Often, the detective will fail to stop the criminal before another crime is committed (tragedy) before growing as a person (rebirth) and sometimes overcoming a personal barrier.

Romance

Ripe for misunderstandings, many romance stories are also comedies. A popular trope is for a character to believe that his/her love interest is out of their league and we watch the character move from rags (single and lonely) to dating their most desired mate (riches). Alternatively, we see a character who's genuinely flawed (often a commitment phobic) changed into a better person by love.

Fantasy

Fantasy is a great genre for exploring quests, such as finding a magical item or rescuing a Princess. A voyage allows for rich world building.