Short Story Ideas

How do you come up with short story ideas? Hopefully you don't just sit there waiting for inspiration. Write anything right now. The English writer Graham Green attributes much of his success to a simple habit: He forced himself to write at least 500 words daily, whether he felt like it or not. Perhaps creative inspiration can strike at any time, but it strikes more often when there is work instead of waiting.

Of course, as useful as that advice may be, it is an old idea. This is a site about new ideas, so below are a couple new ways to get short story ideas.

Have A Dozen New Ideas Today Imagine writing new stories, thinking new thoughts, inventing things and being the life of the conversation. How? Use the powerful techniques in this the ebook, "How To Have New Ideas." It's free when you when you subscribe to the weekly Brainpower Newsletter. (I hate spam too - no one else will get your address.) What's The Brainpower Newsletter? Be the smartest person you know, with the help of the Brainpower Newsletter. Raise your IQ, have better concentration, think more clearly and creatively. All it takes is your name and email address, so why not subscribe right now?

Explain This

There is a car travel game I created called "Explain This." The idea is to suggest an unusual scenario in a sentence or two, and then have each player explain it in a plausible way. I found that it is also a great way to come up with short story ideas.

Start with an odd scene, perhaps just anything that pops into your head. For example, "Todd handed out the dollar bills to the people as they walked by, trying to distribute as many as he could quickly, before the police could stop him." Explain that. The human mind insists on explaining things, so you will find an explanation if you try. If it's an interesting enough explanation, you have your next short story.

I imagine the dollar bills are signed or otherwise identifiable, and they can be traded at a big seminar for a gift worth even more. Spend it and get soda? Or get something truly valuable for it? Okay, this may go in the marketing ideas file instead of the short story ideas file.

Could Todd be handing out the last of his money as per the instructions of his spiritual leader? Maybe it is a "get rich quick" cult that requires all members to start from zero. A religious movement based on getting rich? Who knows? I imagine someone could make it into a plausible story.

Short Story Ideas From Old Stories

This is a fun technique. It is hopefully useful, but is at least worth a few laughs. The idea is to combine old stories into new ones. The less similar the stories you start with, the better. For example, the story of Adam and Eve combined with "I robot," could lead to an interesting new story. Perhaps a pair of robots start a new world. Their "original sin" might be the arising of their own consciousness, or the rejection of man as their master.

How about "The Miracle Worker" and "Gorillas In The Mist?" The struggles of an ape that learns at last to speak and be independent? "Cool Hand Luke" and "Star Wars?" The story of a man who brings life to the deathly atmosphere of a penal colony in space? "Gone With The Wind" and "Frankenstein?" The possibilities are endless.

See the page Short Story Questions for another way to get short story ideas.

999 Ideas | Short Story Ideas