Ideas & planning · Tip 1 of 82 · 4 min read
Where Do Story Ideas Come From?
Stuck for an idea? Ask "What if?" and look around you. Ideas are everywhere!
Lots of young writers say, "I don't know what to write about!" Here's a secret: ideas are hiding everywhere. You just need to know how to catch them.
The magic question: "What if?"
Almost every story starts with the question "What if...?" Take something ordinary and add a "what if" to it.
- What if my teacher was secretly a superhero?
- What if my dog could talk, but only on Tuesdays?
- What if I found a door in my wardrobe that led somewhere else?
- What if all the grown-ups in town fell asleep for a week?
- What if my shadow decided to go on holiday?
More places to find ideas
- Your life: a funny thing that happened at school, a family trip, a fight with your best friend
- Your dreams: keep a notebook by your bed and write dreams down when you wake up
- People watching: the man with the giant umbrella at the bus stop. Where is he going?
- Mix and match: take two things that don't go together, like a pirate and a library!
- Change a fairy tale: what if the three little pigs were the bad guys?
Real life: "I lost my tooth in my cereal." Story idea: "What if the Tooth Fairy came looking for the tooth, but got trapped in the cereal box?"