As a writer for the past five years, it can be difficult to come up with original ideas for stories. Over the years I learned some valuable ways to deal with writer's block and how to write something worth reading.
1. Real Life Event
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Benjamin Franklin. Some of the best stories are the ones that are personal and autobiographies can make for excellent stories. Write about how you accomplished a goal, or some experience you had to go through that you'd like to tell someone so they don't make the same mistake.
2. Mash Up
Take two or more of your favorite story genres and blend them together to see if you can make a story out of them. Sometimes fantasy could use a little horror element in it and slice-of-life can become a great backdrop for an adventure story for how everything changes.
3. What if?
Build a story on a " what if" scenario. Marvel is notorious for making character solely on this method alone. What if lasers shot from your eyes, what if you had the powers of a spider, or what if you were invisible? This can also be a valuable aspect if you are a fan-fiction writer. What if these two characters got together, what if this character didn't die or what if the fire nation attacked. Brainstorm and see if you can find something you'd like to see happen and play it out on paper.
4. Day in the life
If you have a character, but no story, this is a great way to start. Turn the ordinary day on its head and have it be the day that something drastic happened. Have fun and make it interesting!
5. Reverse engineer a scene
if you have a scene you like and want in your story, think of how the characters got there and "reverse- engineer" it to write a story and go from there to tell it.
6. News Stories
Read news stories! Sometimes there are really interesting stories that can happen and telling a story of how something crazy happened always makes for a good story. There's a reason there are so many, "based on a true story" movies out in media.
7. Copy Slope
Plagiarism is bad, but brainstorming with a start up in copying isn't bad. Copy a favorite story or book and gradually change it until it becomes something truly original that you can call your own.
A good method I learned was do this and mesh multiple stories that inspire me and go from there.
8. Location, Location, Location
Sometimes its not the characters, but the setting that makes for interesting stories living there. A perfect example for this would be Pokemon, where the world is the most intriguing place and daily life in that setting allows us to escape our own for a period.
9. Dissect Stories
Don't just watch movies, or TV shows, study them as you watch. Dissect and see if there is anything you can learn or borrow. There is no reason you can't learn while you are entertained.
10. Just Start Writing!
Sometimes all it takes is to just sit down and start a story and make it up as you go. The greatest enemy to any writer or artist is procrastination. Your stories won't be perfect and having any story is better than having written no story.
