There are two types of question we are often faced with at The Writers' Workshop.

One is Alfons's: ‘I have a great idea, but am unable to write it. Could you do it for me?’ Zabrina, on the other hand is less assertive: ‘I would like to be a writer, but I have no ideas. Where do you get them from?’

These questions are based on the same basic misunderstanding. This Quick Guide will set you straight.

_________________________________________________________________________

Ideas are everywhere

Zabrina thinks she has no ideas. Alfons thinks not only that he has one, but that it's unique. Neither of them are really right. Ideas are always available, but neither Zabrina nor Alfons have actually uncovered them properly.

Zabrina almost certainly has plenty of ideas, but also has a pesky little voice which says ‘No, no, no! You can’t write that! That’s stupid! You’re stupid!’ If Zabrina wants to be a writer, she has - in the early stages of writing - to ignore that voice completely.

How do I uncover my ideas?

Just write. Sit down and write a list of all the ideas that come to your head at that moment. Do this as fast as you can, without giving any thought to whether the ideas are good or not. Bingo! You've got some ideas. Almost any idea, no matter how bizarre can be turned into a good story. A psychic rabbit leading his companions away from a threatened warren despite the opposition of other, militant, rabbits? That would be Watership Down, one of the most successful novels of the 20th century.

If you find this exercise hard, try writing in the form of ‘What if…?’ I.e. ‘What if an old fisherman were to find himself alone out on the Gulf Stream, struggling with the biggest catch of his life?’ This idea forms the basis of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, which secured him a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize.

If this kind of brainstorming doesn’t work for you, then take someone else’s idea. All ideas boil down to a certain number of basic plots - so take one of Shakespeare’s ideas, and use it as the germ for a story of your own. Or steal from the Greeks, like Homer or Ovid. Nick a good parable from the Bible. Obviously, you must build your story and people it with your characters, but the idea it rests on will be one with proven potential -- Zabrina's problem is solved.

And what about Alfons?

Alfons may think that his idea is genuinely unique. Perhaps it is. (Though we doubt it). But it’s still not worth anything to a publisher or another writer. You won’t find a writer willing to develop it into a book, because writers have their own ideas that they want to write, and lots of them at that. These are ideas they will have faith in. They know from experience that the idea you may be willing to provide them with is not enough to drive a story – what drives the story is their writing. So if you’ve got an idea, and it’s so compelling you think the world should hear it, then it should be compelling enough for you to make an attempt at writing it.

But what if I'm not a great writer?

You'll never know till you try, and you won't improve without practice. Once you've been able to put say 10-20,000 words to paper, you might decide you'd like to receive some professional feedback, to let you know if you're doing your idea justice. That's when you can turn to us. If you would like to know more about what we've got to offer, please have a look at our services.

__________________________________________________________________________

The Writers’ Workshop Run by writers for writers