In this section of the podcast I provide a couple of ideas or ways of getting story ideas as well as seven sentence starts taken from my ‘sentencestarts’ Twitter page (one a day as it’s a weekly podcast). Obviously you don’t have to use these at the beginning of a story but by starting at this point it will hopefully set an idea in motion. Here are today’s idea tips:
1. In large lettering (or on the computer in a large font) write down a list of objects, either from magazines or from what you see around you and then cut out each item and put them in a tub or dish. At random pick one word and make it the focus of your story;
2. Buy a newspaper or magazine with an agony column in it and see if any of them inspire a story.
It’s often recommended that you write something every day so if you don’t have any inspiration yourself, these may help. Because I mentioned point of view earlier in the episode, the sentence starts in episode two were three first person, three second person and two third person…
1. I’d never felt so cold until…
2. I was sure it would all end in tears…
3. You don’t know what to say to spare her feelings…
4. You think you’ve got life sussed but then…
5. You had plenty of sleep but you still feel tired…
6. Joshua giggled as the…
7. Natalie’s fingers moved slowly over the…
