Wednesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

HOW TO COAX STORY IDEAS OUT OF HIDING

By: Karen Wodward

Ever been stuck for a plot? You wanted to write something but all your ideas fled, leaving you with what seemed like an infinite white field of nothing? I have!

Here’s my theory: I think ideas tend to flee when we’re anxious or tense or feeling stressed. So something—anything—that helps us relax and not take our writing quite so seriously can be a gift from the gods. I’ve found idea generators can help me get into a playful mood and fill the idea-void.

NaNoWriMo & Idea Generators

In the early part of last century the only idea generators in existence were plot wheels; these days we click buttons rather than twirl disks, but it’s the same idea. (see: NaNoWriMo, Erle Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason and Plot Wheels)

Personally, I think random idea generators have their place. Though I practically never use their suggestions, idea generators can help coax out our own ideas, ones that have been hiding in our unconscious mind.

The FIG Idea Generator

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Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. 6 Tools to Make Your Life Easier - Books & Such Literary Management : Books & Such Literary Management http://ow.ly/Dsd7y
2. At Frankfurt Book Fair: Phoning up a book | The Bookseller http://ow.ly/DsiZd
3. Fiction University: Setting the Stage: How I Hook Readers From Page One http://ow.ly/Dsji7
4. Novels aren’t movies – how to handle passage of time in prose | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/Dslxb
5. Conjunctive Adverbs http://ow.ly/DslGV Daily Writing Tip
6. Creating Engaging Dialog by Using Subtext | Live Write Thrive http://ow.ly/DsmlY
7. Is your novel literary or mainstream fiction? http://ow.ly/Dsnyq
8. 7 Traps Waiting for Successful Bloggers, (Part 1) — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/Dso81
9. KDP Select & Kindle Unlimited: Why Ebooks Not Enrolled Are at a Disadvantage | Lindsay Buroker http://ow.ly/Dsook
10. Explaining Kindle Unlimited Rankings and Sales « The 4th Realm http://ow.ly/DsqvY
11. Cloud Computing For Authors: Can You Say “Dropbox?” | Molly Greene: Writer http://ow.ly/Dsr16
12. How to write a novel in a month, one day at a time http://ow.ly/Dsrph
13. How Researching Competitors Can Improve Your Blog Content | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/DsrBo
14. How Researching Competitors Can Improve Your Blog Content | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/DsrBo
15. Writer Unboxed » Story Mapmakers (No GPS Required) http://ow.ly/Dsszx
16. NaNoWriMo Prep | Ingrid's Notes http://ow.ly/Dst37
17. Karen Woodward: How To Coax Story Ideas Out Of Hiding http://ow.ly/Dstoy

Happy writing and running, Kathy