Where do your ideas come from?

[KS Crooks]

When it comes to specific ideas for a novel, those sparks come from any number of places. It could be whatever I am doing at the moment, something I see while walking down the street, from a show on tv, or a dream. I find that once I have a story idea different people I know will say something that fits one of my proposed characters or plot line.

[KL9999]

I know this sounds vague, but my ideas just come from my life experiences. Sometimes I'm dreaming, reading, gardening, playing with my animals, or many times I'll be in the shower when an idea will just pop into my head. I've gotten up in the middle of the night on more than one occasion to frantically scribble a couple pages of notes before they disappear (because the good ideas never stick around long, they'll move onto someone new if you don't reach out and grab them). When it's a good idea I'll feel a surge of energy and typically dedicate the next few days to writing an outline. Even if I'm not going to write the entire text right away, it's helpful to have the outline when I'm ready to put pencil to paper.

[gailaking]

I tend to agree with the notion that ideas for writing a short story, novella, or novel tend to come in vague ways and are short-lived if not written down.

I may just be daydreaming or people-watching and suddenly I'll get an idea - usually in the form of a title or tagline! It's weird and strange because both of those are followed with a strong desire to jot down a plot line ... and if I don't do it immediately, the jest of my "idea" is gone.

I usually try to record these on my phone or tablet, whichever one is handiest; my computer if I'm sitting in my home office. Although semi-retired, I lead an extremely active lifestyle which includes raising a teenage granddaughter, giving care to my youngest daughter who is in a wheelchair - but only when needed - and lastly by taking time with my middle daughter who has recently been diagnosed with a very rare form of leukemia. So while I dream of finishing the many manuscripts in assorted degrees of "done" which reside in limbo in a box beneath my bed, I keep getting new ideas on a daily basis! What to do? I'm not sure.

I have ideas aplenty - just no time to do anything concrete with them!

[Leethemuse]

Your children have a great woman supporting them!
I used to write my ideas in a blog which I deleted after a lot changed with my life.

I recently thought about writing again but to turn into a book. That blog was going to be my memoir of being an Army man's fiance.
Not sure where it'll go

[Kate_But_Not_Kaitlyn]

I write what I'd want to read. Say I like the concept of Maze Runner and that youth are taken from their homes and placed in a strange place with no memory of the outside world, but I don't like that their teenagers. So I start writing a story about if they had been taken at birth to be raised as the government's little science project. In Maze Runner the teenagers are searching for their families, well say I flip that and now the people who had their children taken from them by the government are searching for this hidden enclave where the children are kept.
Suddenly I have an original story that I myself would enjoy reading.

[clint_csperry-org]

Mostly from the world around me. Sometimes they come from dreams, and sometimes from writers prompts.

[Aisha_123]

From my emotions at that particular moment. I write really well when I am angry or sad.

[GalmOne]

I've got two main inspiration sources: music and travel.
When I like a song, I'm always ending up creating a "music video" for it based on something I'm writing, and then I'm turning this "video" into an actual part of the story, an actual chapter of the book. I even have two characters who exist solely because of songs!
And then, there's travel. What I see, the people I meet, what I hear and eat... It makes me want to write. I don't travel that much by myself as it's expensive, so I'm taking advantage from everything I can: the memories of the school trips I did as a kid, the internships abroad I did in university, and now, my professional trips! I mean, I went to the Balkans to do insurance estimations for some of these villas in Montenegro, sure, I did spend most of my days there trying to speak with an architect from a foreign branch of the company and driving, but it did give birth to tons of ideas.

[DD129]

Most of my ideas come from my daydreams. I'll just be sitting around and suddenly a scene will pop up in my head. My imagination can spawn whole stores if left alone for long enough. Other than that, I take inspiration from other books, games, and movies.

[Inkroverts]

If I can choose any genre, I'll choose mystery/ detective because I like to put puzzle pieces and clues together. But among scifi, horror and romance... I'll choose romance because I just know more about it than the other two.

[humusays]

My ideas aslo comes from my daydreams. My imagination can spawn whole stories if i walk alone lot of time. Other than that, I take inspiration from other books, games, and movies

[Acalaue João]

My writings ideas are triggered by daily life events that I come across with. I do not have something specific for that purpose, it just happens spontaneously.

[Wildflowertheorist]

My brains

[Julia Hanna]

My ideas come out of the blue! I just come up with the idea while doing something completely irrelevant to what I need to write about. That is why I used to jot down each and every idea once I have it, in order not to forget it. Then, I develop this idea and adjust it, so that I can write it later on.

[hayisa]

My ideas come from almost everywhere actually, from prompts, inspirations, anime, manga, dreams, fun facts, and weird things that I just randomly thought of. Sometimes, I'll just be eating and an idea already comes to mind.