[LukeB]

I feel like writing an fiction story but need ideas what to write.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

marie laveau

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Scott

marie laveau

i never watched AHS

[Shaun]

a convent

[Braden]

What interests you?

You should write a first person account of what it's like to be in the Big Brother (US) house. I know you're watching a lot of the series, and it would be fun to create and describe different houseguests using your imagination.

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Braden

What interests you?

You should write a first person account of what it's like to be in the Big Brother (US) house. I know you're watching a lot of the series, and it would be fun to create and describe different houseguests using your imagination.

horror and drama fiction

and good idea

[Natalie.]

zombie soap

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Morrissey

zombie soap

omg yes

[andybigbro]

Can I be a character ?

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by andybigbro

Can I be a character ?

yes i should use tibb members

.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Write about cops murders a clever woman a grumpy man detective

Oh hang on thats what 99% of all the other lazy bastard writers make boring books about....

[kirklancaster]

There are various online 'story idea generators' online Luke.

[Ammi]

..I think mainly Luke..write about stuff you know/stuff that you're interested in/have some knowledge/personal experience of etc..because if you just 'pick a topic' randomly..?..it probably won't come to you and flow and make it pretty hard or much harder to write...maybe start with a short story, which is probably what you meant anyway..?..maybe a current topic like Halloween/Christmas etc and work in some of your own 'highlights' into the story..?...good luck, Luke...and don't force it if it doesn't come, it may take some time and then maybe something random will inspire you...

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

There are several methods which I use to generate story ideas. One is to start at the end of your story and work backwards. For example;

I set one award winning story; 'My Lady Will Not Come Tonight' - a 'first person' narrative - in the front room of an isolated, derelict country house at night. Outside the house, the wind batters the broken shutters, howls in through the broken window panes, and inside the dark front room, our protagonist is alone, sitting in front of a dying fire trying to stave off the bitter cold.

So having drafted the scene, now I ask myself; Who is this man? How did he come to be here? Why did he come here? What time period is the story set in?

The possibilities are endless; is he a criminal on the run and hiding out? If he is, what was his crime? Is he one of the original 'Gun Powder Plot' conspirators who plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament with Catesby and Fawkes but managed to escape? Is he a bank robber? A serial killer?

Is he a werewolf waiting in his lair for the full moon to steal from behind clouds so his transmogrification can be completed, before he sets out on his nocturnal hunt for victims?

You get the idea.

Another method I use, is to select an old photograph of unknown people - magazines, newspapers, the internet are all great sources, it doesn't matter - then imagine who they are, and what their stories are.

Paintings are other story generators. I won a writer's club award for a short I wrote based upon an Edward Hopper painting of 1942 called 'Nighthawks'. The painting features 'Phillies' bar and through the windows we see the bartender behind the counter and a man and woman seated at the far end of the counter and the rear view of another man seated nearest to us. The customers are all obviously dressed 1940's style with the men suited and wearing fedora hats.

I wrote my story in a 'hard-nosed' style associated with 1940's detective fiction writers such as Raymond Chandler, and had the guy who had his back to us as the protagonist telling the story in the 'first person'.

He was a regular at 'Phillies' - more so lately, because his wife had just 'run out' on him, and Phillies was somewhere to while away the lonely hours:

"... I could see Philly was all alone again as usual. I pushed open the door and sat down on my usual stool - the one which should have had a card on it which said; 'Reserved For Chump' but didn't."

We learn that not only does 'Philly' make lousy coffee but also that the protagonist blames himself for his wife leaving him because he was too busy working to pay her enough attention;

"Coffee or wives, I guess both grow cold if left alone for too long".

Then the young couple enter. They are both strangers and hand a photograph to Phillie then ask him if he's seen the girl in the photo?

It turns out the girl they're looking for is the woman's sister, but Phillie shakes his head, so they show it to our protagonist. We learn that not only is she a "beautiful looking broad", but also that he has seen her - a couple of days ago:

"I don't know if she was in a hurry to get away from someone or in a hurry to meet someone, but she came tearing down that road in her old Plymouth as if the Devil himself was chasing her and nearly ran into me"

Our protagonist relates how the girl stopped and apologised, then asked him if he knows somewhere where she could spend the night:

"...That's when I pointed down the road and told her about the 'cuckoo's' place."

He goes on to tell them how he told the girl that the 'cuckoo' was a local 'oddball' called Norman who ran the 'Bates Motel' with his mother, but that he was harmless really:

" She flashed a beautiful smile and said thank you, and as she got back into her car I asked her name; 'Crane' she said, 'Marion Crane'.

You will have to look up the synopsis of the Hitchcock classic film 'Psycho', to understand how I weaved that fiction into my fiction but the point is that the Hopper painting 'Nighthawks' inspired my writing.

I am not a professional writer, though I have sold a couple of shorts and had very 'near misses' with a couple of screenplays, but I will impress upon you, that in my opinion, there is a need in all short story writing for a gripping 'hook' to entice the reader into your story. This is especially true with the horror genre, and I won another award from a magazine for a horror story I wrote which had the following opening:

"I cannot tell you at what precise moment my father's finger fell away from his rotting corpse...."

Good luck with your writing and if none of he above ideas suit you, then there are 'story idea generators' online which you can try.

Coffee or wives, I guess both grow cold if left alone for too long..that's a great line, Kirk and I love how you've developed the subjects from the painting which is probably why you won a prize.....I find all of Hopper's paintings evocative of thought because they portray 'loneliness'/inner loneliness..?..and The House by The Railroad is a good one, it being Halloween soon and all...but the Raymond Chandler influence is also good because his works do all have a 'film noir' feel..and it's also that thing which fascinates me most of all/not just their 'stories' and imagining them..?..but are they looking out at us or are we looking in on them....hmmmmm....

[Jay.]

you could write my biography?

no but I like the idea of using characters from tibb

[Kyle]

If you like being really creative what about science fiction or fantasy with Tibb members like people have said?

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Ammi

Coffee or wives, I guess both grow cold if left alone for too long..that's a great line, Kirk and I love how you've developed the subjects from the painting which is probably why you won a prize.....I find all of Hopper's paintings evocative of thought because they portray 'loneliness'/inner loneliness..?..and The House by The Railroad is a good one, it being Halloween soon and all...but the Raymond Chandler influence is also good because his works do all have a 'film noir' feel..and it's also that thing which fascinates me most of all/not just their 'stories' and imagining them..?..but are they looking out at us or are we looking in on them....hmmmmm....

Coming off track from Luke's post for a sec Ammi - 'The House by The Railroad'--what a great idea for a story subject, and you're absolutely right about Hopper's paintings, they all have an underlying sense of loneliness. I never thought about the; "are they looking out at us or are we looking in on them" aspect, but you're right - especially 'The House by Railroad'

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Jay.

you could write my biography?

no but I like the idea of using characters from tibb

tell me your life story then oj

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Kyle

If you like being really creative what about science fiction or fantasy with Tibb members like people have said?

baggsy I be the evil Starship Captain who wants to destroy the world and has a very attractive first mate with 4 tits and 3 fannies

[Jay.]

Originally Posted by LukeB

tell me your life story then oj

Well where shall I start?
It was 1995, a pretty bleak time in the 90's...
Then one day, a baby was born...
He had blue eyes, a willy and brown hair. His parent's called him Jay.
But he wasn't like any of the other babies, because Jay, well, he had his tongue tied to the roof of his mouth (queue screams of pain and shock omg!) Yes, he had countless operations... and to this day, it hurts.

To be continued...

tempted to actually write my autobiography now

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

baggsy I be the evil Starship Captain who wants to destroy the world and has a very attractive first mate with 4 tits and 3 fannies

You and your little cocktail sausage wouldn't know what to do with 3 fannies

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Jay.

Well where shall I start?
It was 1995, a pretty bleak time in the 90's...
Then one day, a baby was born...
He had blue eyes, a willy and brown hair. His parent's called him Jay.
But he wasn't like any of the other babies, because Jay, well, he had his tongue tied to the roof of his mouth (queue screams of pain and shock omg!) Yes, he had countless operations... and to this day, it hurts.

To be continued...

tempted to actually write my autobiography now

- takes notes-

[lostalex]

a story about a wife that dies during child birth and her soul is instantly transferred into her baby. and so she is seeing her husband and family around her, and then her husband molests her as a child, and she is conflicted because she is sexually attracted to her husband, but she also hates him for raping his daughter. Lots of room for complex psychological drama.

At first she is grateful to be still connected to her family, but as she goes through childhood she starts to hate her own family. and see how ****ed up the people she thought she loved really are.

[jennyjuniper]

Originally Posted by LukeB

I feel like writing an fiction story but need ideas what to write.

Usually it's best to write what you know about. Also something that interests you. Are you into sci fi, murder mystery etc. What books do you like reading?
Good luck.

[Jay.]

Well not here for you stealing my novel idea, the butternuts