You’re taking a walk one evening and whoosh, an idea drops into your mind. As you walk on, it begins to take shape and you pull out your phone to record the mind-blowing idea.
You finish your walk, and head back home. Now what?
How do you develop that idea into a story, a poem, or a piece of creative writing?
One: Capture the idea.
Some writers say their ideas fly as soon as they can’t take note of it and soon enough they’ll find a book in the markets of that same idea they had. Weird or not, it is true.
Thus, you must be prepared to capture your ideas immediately. Here is how to do that:
- Having a writing routine: Set aside a place and a time to write daily or weekly.
- Take notes: Go about with a notepad or your phone to take down ideas as soon as they come.
- Have a time for reflection: This is a time when to enjoy the quiet. Stillness has been known for boosting inspiration and creativity. You’ll always be sure to catch an idea or two there.
Two: Collate your ideas.
Have a notebook, or a special folder on your phone or computer where you record all the story/writing ideas you have.
Sort them out into different themes and genres.
Three: Sleep on your ideas.
Allow the ideas to soak in your mind, let them incubate. This will give them room to either dissolve or get stronger.
Most times, you’ll not even be interested in continuing with them and other times those ideas will keep you up at night. That’s when you know you have a good one.
Four: Research your book idea.
A little research never hurt anyone so use this time to find out if there are similar books on the market. Check them out, find out where they didn’t make it, things they left out, and make sure to include that in yours. You can also find out beforehand what kind of books your intended readers would want to read, and if they will be interested in your ideas.
Make use of search engines, type in your ideas, and see what comes up.
Five: Experiment and see which ideas will fly.
Sketch a few scenes and characters. Write an outline and get a feel of how it would go.
What likely combinations will your audience fall for? That’s what you should develop.
Six: Test the idea.
Tell it to your friends and family and note their reaction. Where they awed or unbothered? That should tell you something. T worst thing to happen to you would be for you to spend time developing an idea that would be rejected. So it’s better to test it first and who is best for that than friends and family?
You must know however, that most of your ideas might end up in the unused corner of the house or the deep end of your wardrobe and never see the light of day. Don’t let that discourage you.