Romance Novel Where Girl Is Art Major and Uses College Athlete as Model for Project

All the all-time books showtime life every bit great book ideas. For some, inspiration strikes during a forenoon shower. For others, artistic writing is a more deliberate process. Fifty-fifty some of the most experienced authors write their best stories from writing prompts — or utilize other writers' tried-and-truthful strategies to gather book ideas from the earth around them.

The bottom line is: there's no correct way to get inspired. If you're gear up to kick writer's block to the curb and start writing your novel, here are 50 fresh book ideas ripe and ready for writing — and 10 ways to come with fifty-fifty more!

i. Employ a book idea generator

If you're searching for volume ideas to get started with creative writing, there's no better identify to beginning than with Reedsy'south plot generator. It asks only that yous choose your genre, and so randomly supplies a protagonist, a secondary character, a plot, and a twist! For example, if you generate a plot for a romance novel, it might look something like this:

You can lock in whatever elements you like and keep regenerating the rest until yous hitting upon the perfect combination. Here are a few more astonishing plot ideas courtesy of our generator:

1. • Information technology's a literary story about confronting reality. It kicks off at a temple with the finish of a relationship.
   • It'southward a dying earth fantasy nigh change versus tradition. It kicks off earlier a slap-up set of gates with a prophecy.
   • It'due south a thriller about against reality. Information technology kicks off at a McDonald's drive-through with the disappearance of a backpacker.
   • It's a gimmicky romance almost empowerment. It kicks off in Scotland with someone loudly maxim "I object" at a wedding.
   • It'southward a post-apocalyptic story nigh the definition of evolution. Information technology kicks off on a dead star with a conspiracy beingness uncovered.

With all the major elements sorted, you can then utilise a story structure like "The Hero's Journey" or "Save the True cat" to outline your entire volume. At that betoken, in that location'll be aught stopping you lot from plowing ahead!

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2. Aggrandize the plot of your brusk stories

Many esteemed authors, including Sylvia Plath and Stephen King, began their careers past writing short stories before eventually "graduating" to novels. Simply this development needn't take years. Sometimes, a character leaps off the page, you suddenly begin in the thick of ascension action, or a denouement leaves yous craving more, and what started as a curt story unfolds into l,000 words or more.

Demand a jumping-off bespeak? We've got y'all covered with our lovingly curated list of over 200 short story ideas. Here are a few to whet your appetite:

1. • "Say cheese!" You push the camera push, hear the click, and... that's when all hell breaks loose.
   • A person wakes up in bed, drenched in salty sea water.
   • You're sitting in a java shop watching someone type on their computer. They type the words, "It begins raining outside," and it instantly starts raining.
   • A plane takes off with 81 passengers. Information technology lands with 82.
   • A person dictates who they will appointment based on quantitative measures, such as horoscopes, how they perform on a test, etc.

With and then many volume ideas at your fingertips, the difficulty ofttimes lies in picking one to run with (and sticking with it). The indecisive author needs something to spur them on — and that's where Reedsy'southward weekly writing contest comes in.

iii. Adapt a writing prompt

Each calendar week, five nuggets of inspiration are delivered straight to your inbox. If a prompt takes your fancy, you have a calendar week to write a brusk story, which y'all and then pass under the noses of your fellow authors and Reedsy'south panel of judges. Then not merely are you getting your creative juices flowing, but you're also taking those ideas for a test run with a ready-made pool of beta readers.

Our "Snowfall Twenty-four hour period" themed prompts were especially popular:

1. • Write near 2 people going sledding for the commencement fourth dimension in many years.
   • First your story with someone looking out at the snow, and end it with them stepping tentatively onto a frozen surface.
   • Write well-nigh someone who gets stuck in their workplace during a blizzard and decides to explore rooms they aren't ordinarily allowed in.
   • Write a story ready in the summer, when suddenly it starts to snowfall.
   • Ready your story in a remote wintertime motel with no electricity, internet, or phone service.

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Of course, if you'd rather choose from an all-you lot-tin-swallow cafe of book ideas, then you can fill your plate from prompts contests past.

four. Describe inspiration from the earth of fiction

Bridget Jones's Diary was inspired by Jane Austen'due south Pride and Prejudice — and gave Colin Firth the chance to double-dip as Mr Darcy.

Many of us are wary of mining our reading material for book ideas, in case nosotros stumble into the black pit of plagiarism. Just lots of authors have found success working with other people's material — no strings attached.

One way to do this is to revive stories in the public domain. Whether yous turn to Greco-Roman myth, Shakespearean tragedies, or a modernistic archetype like Mrs Dalloway, books that take fallen out of copyright comprise hundreds of vivid characters and rich plots — all of them up for grabs and ripe for rewriting. Here are a few ideas to chew on:

1. • A retelling of The Bang-up Gatsby, set during the new "Roaring Twenties" of this century.
   • A modernistic-day version of The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the "picture" is the main character's social media feed.
   • A gender-swapped retelling of a story with very gendered roles, similar Dracula or Macbeth.
   • A loose retelling of A Tale of Two Cities, in the context of a totally different revolution.
   • A version of Don Quixote in which the main character travels across the United States instead of Spain.

5. Revitalize a writing trope

On top of reading widely, reading the giants of your genre to familiarize yourself with common tropes is another important part of 'author training.' Authors of certain genres, such as romance and fantasy, who fail to include a single trope in their novel chance losing readers who accept come to await specific conventions. Also many tropes, and y'all take a chance reader déjà vu.

You can strike the right balance by acquainting yourself with pop tropes, then learning how to revitalize them to make an original book idea. Elementary twists like these might exist all yous demand to detect a fresh angle on the kind of stories yous dearest to read:

1. • Fool readers into thinking your silver-haired authority figure is a wise, chivalrous mentor, only to reveal that they're cowardly and selfish.
   • Write about a "chosen i" with a very large family.
   • Deconstruct the "friends to lovers" trope by having one character base their deportment and decisions on the hope that their friendship will get something more.
   • Lead readers to expect a dramatic, "final moments" rescue that never shows up.
   • Fix up a dear triangle in first person POV, then gradually reveal that one of the love interests never felt that way nearly your protagonist.

6. Inquire your characters questions

Once you lot have a graphic symbol in mind, earthworks into who they really are is a smashing way to develop your book idea. If yous aren't familiar with character profiles, check out this guide to acquire more. But in a nutshell, a graphic symbol contour helps you build a holistic picture of your graphic symbol, including their physical appearance, backstory, and psychology. Once you know all that, figuring out what they might practise in a novel should be a easy.

Here are a few character-related questions that may exist especially useful in terms of finding a stiff book idea:

1. • If your graphic symbol won the lottery, what would they do with the money?
   • Who was the first person to intermission your character'southward heart?
   • Has your grapheme ever done anything illegal?
   • What childhood memory still makes your character cringe?
   • Describe your character'due south bucket list at the ages of x, xx, 30, and xl.

seven. Plow to art for volume ideas

Many bestselling authors have plant inspiration in works of art. Tracy Chevalier, for case, built her make around historical novels that have a backside-the-scenes peek at iconic paintings. Of course, your book thought doesn't need to feature a work of art or its artist: musing over a painting by asking, "who is that person, and what are they doing in that location?" can also be a fun way to generate book ideas.

Alternatively, if paintings aren't successful at coaxing out your muse, why not immerse yourself in music, sentry a beautiful trip the light fantastic toe, admire your city'south architecture, or even soak up the mood, setting, and visuals of a picture show. Let's take a look at a few examples to get the ball rolling:

1. • Write a story from the perspective of Delilah in Hey There, Delilah by the Manifestly White T'due south.
   • Set your story in a cocky-sufficient floating urban center.
   • Set your story in Edward Hopper's diner, the nighttime something terrible happens.

Nighthawks, Edward Hopper

1. • Write a story inspired past the aesthetics (not the plot!) of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.

"Sometimes I stick leaves on my pilus. Information technology helps cool your caput down." [image: Focus Features]

1. • Write a historical novel almost one of the characters in Renoir's Dejeuner of the Canoeing Party.

Luncheon of a Boating Party, Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Check out this list of artistic writing examples for more inspiration!

viii. Journal near the people and places in your life

Armed with all the books, music, and art in the world, yous may notwithstanding find that your staunchest ally when it comes to inspiration is yourself. The notion of writing in a periodical commonly conjures upwards visions of high schoolers twirling fluffing pencils and scribbling, "Dear Diary." All the same, studies have shown that journaling is a not bad style to nurture your creativity.

There'southward no ane way to journal, and so try to think outside the box. Here are a few examples that should prepare a-whirring the right cogs in your encephalon:

1. • Write your twenty-four hour period out of chronological order.

Opening with an event from the center or cease of your day challenges you to think creatively near structure — an oft overlooked element of storytelling that might simply hold the central to your next great book idea.

1. • Write dialogue inspired past real life.

If you wanted to get something off your chest or initiate a chat with a stranger, just you didn't take the courage, and so put it to paper and see where your imagination takes you lot — hopefully to your side by side book idea!

1. • Write about your twenty-four hour period from the perspective of your favorite fictional grapheme.

Add together a fictional twist to your journaling and look at it as a form of narrative storytelling rather than a laundry listing of events. This will make it much easier to find inspiration in the mundane.

1. • Ask yourself the 36 questions that lead to love.

Go to know yourself amend with questions like, "Do I have a secret hunch about how I'll die?" or "What would constitute my perfect day?". These might unearth a creative gem you didn't know you had inside you.

1. • Bring a photo to life.

Photographs accept an unmatched ability to unearth cached memories — perhaps even those faded, vintage memories that contain the settings, characters, events, or emotions of your next volume idea.

9. Write a story based on tarot cards

Is your present-day life remarkably uninspiring? Why not accept a peek into your future? Using either a deck of tarot cards or a tarot app, depict 3 cards at random and weave them into a story. You tin can research traditional tarot symbolism if you lot like but information technology's also fine to make your own associations, cartoon on how the images brand you experience. You don't need to be a fortune-teller to use tarot cards, just a storyteller!

1. • A literary fiction story virtually personal growth (Three of Pentacles): the protagonist withdraws from daily life (The Hermit) and embarks on a new adventure (The Fool).
   • A romance about a love triangle (Two of Swords): the protagonist is injure by the return of an old flame (The Emperor) but eventually chooses inner forcefulness and independence (Four of Swords).
   • An adventure story most a group of drifters looking for the cup of eternal youth (Ix of Cups). The group falls apart (V of Swords), and at that place's neat betrayal and loss (Ten of Swords).
   • A suspense story most a character who's wracked with guilt (The Hierophant): they withdraw from society (Eight of Cups), and so discover a secret that changes things completely (Ace of Cups).
   • A immature adult romance about a character who discovers a love of painting (Eight of Pentacles) and the love of their life (The Lovers) during the summer earlier higher (The Sun).

x. Heed to friends, family members, and strangers

When yous're on the chase for a volume idea, society gives you a free pass to indulge in a flake of eavesdropping — and if you pay close enough attending, you're bound to find the seed of an idea. But if you lot've been keeping your ears peeled and only tuning in to ho-hum conversations, so information technology might exist time to head to TED.com, where some of the nearly interesting people in the world speak on everything and anything from business, to activism, to personal growth. Here are few volume ideas inspired by our favorite TED talks:

1. • A sci-fi novel nigh a community trying to live in harmony with Mother Nature. Inspired by The ancient, earth-friendly wisdom of Mongolian Nomads (Khulan Batkhuyang).
   • A comic novel almost a chronic procrastinator who realizes he'south letting life pass him by. Inspired by Within the mind of a master procrastinator (Tim Urban).
   • A heartbreaking YA novel nearly a daughter who gives up everything when she'south scouted by a modeling agency. Inspired by Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model. (Cameron Russell).
   • A thriller that follows a psychopathic liar and the detective trying to figure him out. Inspired by How to spot a liar (Pamela Meyer).
   • A magical realism novel nigh someone who gradually learns that they can exercise incredible things. Inspired by How I held my breath for seventeen minutes (David Blaine).

Looking for something a little less high brow? Effort listening to a communicative podcast, or 'eavesdropping' on an agony aunt. You'll detect more lurid, heartbreaking, and dramatic material in the pages of Dear Prudence and Ask Polly than y'all'll know what to do with.

11. Browse Craigslist for tips

For a truthful window into the lives of others, you tin can't practise much better than Craigslist.com: the infamous classified advertisements site. If you scan through its sprawling pages for long enough, information technology's difficult not to come beyond something intriguing that would work every bit a plot indicate or the setting of a story.

You really have to see the site for yourself to capeesh its potential, but here are a few examples to give you a flavor:

1. • Seeking a Valentine's date for my best friend.
   • Haunted doll for sale.
   • Looking for someone to pretend to be my friend so he thinks he's been replaced.
   • Selling my soul for money to buy holiday gifts.
   • Looking to flat swap: Hong Kong for London.

Whatever you're in the market for, from mysteries to social commentary to meet-cutes, Craigslist has got you covered.

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Once you've plant your idea, have simply 1 more step earlier diving headlong into your novel and check out this guide to planning. Yep, discovery writers besides! No matter how you write, y'all'll find many universal tips in that postal service that will help y'all class a solid foundation for your next writing try. Good luck!

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Source: https://blog.reedsy.com/book-ideas/

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