If you’re still stuck for an idea of something to write about after the first 9, then try the next Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #10:
10. Mining Your Past.
Consider using your past as a source of story ideas. To help prime the pump, get out your old school reports and school magazines. Was there a teacher you especially loved or hated? Maybe you could write a story about him or her. Similarly, did you have a close friend or a sworn enemy among your classmates? Maybe you could update the relationship and turn it into a story about two adults. Bring out your old family photographs and memorabilia. Do those photos of a summer picnic, a sports day or a seaside holiday suggest ideas for stories?
Sometimes it’s easier to get going when you start with something you’ve personally experienced rather than trying to make up something from scratch. The old adage ‘write what you know’ has worked well for people like Frank McCourt (ANGELA’S ASHES) or Pat Conroy (MY LOSING SEASON, THE PRINCE OF TIDES) who’ve based part or all their work on their own pasts and became bestselling authors doing it.
Just be very careful about using real, identifiable, people in your writing as not everyone wants to be immortalized in print and may feel a bit litigious over your characterizations – the family portrayed in RUNNING WITH SCISSORS by Augusten Burroughs sued, alleging defamation of character, invasion of privacy, and emotional distress stating that Burroughs had fabricated or exaggerated various descriptions of their activities…
So the idea isn’t to write a memoir, unless you really feel the need to share your life with the rest of the world, but is more to help practice writing stories that resonate with the resemblance of reality (or at least, as they say, ‘give artistic verisimilitude to [what would be] an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative’…)
(These ideas are adapted from the work of Nick Daws, who is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England. His book, “Write Any Book in Just 28 Days OR LESS” is available at writequickly.com )
