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WAYS to GENERATE IDEAS

Ideas are all around you. A car is broken down. A murderer could pick up the stranded passenger and kidnap, rape or kill her. Two girls are ice-skating. One girl drowns and her ghost returns to visit the surviving girl. Readers love the macabre.

Look at an animal, a truck, or an object and think: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Example - you see a snake statue. Why is it there? Who owned it? What is the significance?

• Look at pictures and let your imagination run wild
• Look at a house and imagination what goes on inside
• Sit in a restaurant and eavesdrop. Imagine the rest.
• Think of a dramatic scene and embellish on it
• Walk around in a crowd and find a strange face that fills you with emotions. Look within. Make yourself and your experiences into a character.
• Take known problems from several people's lives and piece it together for a story

Stories  are  everywhere. At the end of this article you will find an address where you can search old newspapers. Read the stories of yesteryear, change the facts, rename the characters, and turn it into your own story.  http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/home.html

WRITING PROMPTS

Three men survive a swamped cabin cruiser. They float along in a raft with GPS, knowing land is three days away. The problem is, there  is just enough water for one  man  to survive. What happens?

Pick  something  that  exists in  the  present  but  might  not  exist  in the future. Imagine getting a visit from a time traveler who wants you  to   explain  what  the object  is and what it does and why it [is] so important to this time. (by Jim Cornish)

My first competition was the Writer’s Digest contest. You would think a beginner would know better than to enter such a huge contest, but I was very naïve. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise - ignorance can be bliss. But truth be told, I would not have expected to win if there had been only 50 entrants.

Thus, my entry was an act of futility – a dash for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – a quest for the Irish shamrock. I had a very unique story that I told from a very unique angle. I guess I just wanted someone to read it. So I entered for the fun ot it... and because the entry fee was only $15.

Months later, I received a large manila envelope from Writer’s Digest. Inside was a certificate for Honorable Mention. I stared at it in shock, and then read the accompanying letter that congratulated me for beating out 16,000 entries. Sitting dumbfounded, I stared at the Award in a new light.

I learned a lot that day. I learned that it is worth investing a few bucks to take a chance, and that taking chances can lead to new and exciting adventures. I learned that no matter how the deck is stacked, I still have a chance of winning. I learned that it takes a unique story told from a unique point of view to win a contest. And I learned that I would have never had that wonderful moment in my life if I had not thrown caution to the wind and made the effort.

You will know it when you hit upon a unique idea or angle, and when you do, don’t waste it on a magazine submission. Save it for a contest, as contestants can submit only unpublished material.

Don't try for the big contests until later. You have better chances of winning in smaller ones.

Look for three things: reading fees, entry fees, and deadlines. Fees generally total from $15 to $35. Choose your contests wisely and enter at least twice a year.

If you place in just one contest, you will be fired up for months to come. Take the chance! You’re worth it.

Twisting the ending of a story is like putting icing on the cake, or a cherry on top of a sundae. It is the ultimate satisfaction.

I'm supposing that most writers go through the same learning process that I did. In the early days, my first attention went to the opening line, then the plot, then the characters, and lastly the ending. (Which is the wrong order, btw.)

Twisting the ending didn't occur to me for many years, and when I finally did it, it was by accident. Now I like to twist almost every ending. But there is an art to twisting. It must be logical, but totally unexpected.

The art is in misleading the reader to believe something different than what is really going to happen. If you don't know what your ending is going to be, you need to plot its path.

Create a logical ending, and then think of an alternative twist.

Next, think of a common denominator between the two endings where you can make the story line similar, but later split the story line off in an unsuspecting direction at the last minute. One of the best twists will take you back to the beginning scene. This is called the loop effect.

Irony makes a great twist, too. Let's say a man loves a wolf. The county takes it away, saying it is dangerous. The man files a lawsuit and gets his wolf back. The reader thinks the climax has come and gone with the court room scene and the reunion with the wolf, but the real climax comes when the man takes the wolf for a romp in the snow and the animal tears his throat out.

If you can twist one story, you can twist all of them. Let's have fun doing the twist!  :-)