Some writers are lucky – ideas just pour out of them. Sometimes they have so many ideas they can’t even write them all down. Unfortunately, many writers have the opposite problem – they get stuck for ideas. Following are several tricks and tips to coming up with story ideas that may help you get kick started.

Let’s play what if.  Remember when you were a kid and you’d lie in the grass and play the game of what if in your head? What if the sky wasn’t blue? What if gravity made us rise up in the air instead of anchoring us to the ground? Well, it works just as well now that you’re a grown up. 'What if' has been used by writers as a process for fleshing out a story idea since writers started writing. Pick any topic and just start asking yourself what if questions. For example, let’s say you want to write a romance, you could start with questions like – ‘What if the perfect man arrived in my herione’s life? He’s handsome, strong, successful, funny, caring, intelligent and crazy about her, but he’s obsessed with his lucky numbers and she doesn’t fit into that paradigm?’ Just from that alone you could come up with something fresh and new in the romance department.

Newspaper headlines. Our daily news headlines offer countless ideas to inspire stories, from tragic life and death incidents to funny or hard to believe incidents. But particularly if you write crime and mystery stories, the news can be a real goldmine of possible ideas. Stories about mysterious disappearances, crimes and murders can easily inspire a mystery writer to get a story going. And don’t forget to look at past issues – unearthing an old unsolved crime could be just the ticket for your new thriller.

Putting characters first. My personal favorite is starting with a character. Perhaps I’ll notice a quirky habit or tone of voice in someone and that will get me thinking. What kind of person is this? What is it in their personal history that drove them to that quirk or habit? What secrets might they be harboring? If you love character development, this might be just the technique you need to creating an interesting story. Because once you have created this character and have gotten to know their world, the story often presents itself to you.

The tales of others. Go into any coffee shop or public gathering place and just listen. More often than not, you’ll hear the stories of other people without even trying. While you may not get the whole story, you may get enough of a kernel to start filling in your own details. Sometimes just going quiet and listening to others can lead you to inspiration. Also, think about the stories your older relatives told you as a child – perhaps your grandmother or a great-aunt had a wonderful adventure when she was young. Listen when friends and family tell stories from their lives, it may be pure gold.

Inspiration truly is everywhere and as a writer you need to keep your ears and eyes open at all times. You never know when inspiration might tap you on the shoulder and hand you a story that only you can write.