Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash
In an upcoming podcast episode of Academy Days, Miss Tomer, the English teacher at Easton Christian Academy high school, tells Lacey that ideas can come from anywhere. It’s true. Writers weave all kinds of tidbits into their writing—things they’ve absorbed from multiple places. The following are just a few examples of where you can glean ideas.
People’s Names
Note interesting names! A name I used this summer in a podcast manuscript came from a relative’s acquaintance that I then remembered incorrectly! Don’t settle for generic—explore names of different ethnicities and cultures. It’s not that you’ll never need to name a character a good solid “John” or a boy-next-door “Sam,” but don’t default. Make the name fit the character.
Experiences, Even Old Ones
I’ve been to England once, lived down South during my college and grad school years, and have been to the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. I’ll probably never publish an autobiography, but the sights I saw even years ago can become spots in my imagined stories. When I was elementary age, my family and I visited a lighthouse island in North Carolina. We had to take a boat to reach the location. Our excursion was so long ago, I don’t remember tons of distinct details, but one of our souvenirs from our NC trip was a black and white lighthouse figurine. Now, years later, in an Academy Days episode, London ends up in the witness protection program with her parents and is taken to a lighthouse island. Never take an experience for granted—it could be a seed, ready to burst open in a future writing project.
What if . . .
Fiction is the place where adventures can come true—for you! Not many of us have to go undercover, need to solve a mystery, or are told that we’re actually princesses, but we can imagine ourselves into such worlds and experiences. Now, this may mean doing some research, but the facts you discover are good for multiple projects. Stories are where we go on adventures—and when you write, you can take the adventure nobody else has written yet or put your own spin on an old idea. In the Academy Days podcast, Carmen goes from living in a trailer to a mansion. Lacey lives in a Victorian-style house with one of those tower-like structures on the corner. Who knows—I may send one of my characters to the England I’d like to visit again someday.
Personalities
Even if you are still a teenager, you’ve met lots of people and so, have had glimpses into the behaviors of other personalities. You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that the way people behave has something to do with their background and the way they think. Take such information and translate it into fictional characters. A writer doesn’t have to be tied to biographical and autobiographical details but can translate, exaggerate, and combine what they know about people to make fictional characters that are relatable. Never under-estimate the value of meeting different types of people. Take the time to chat with that older woman or that girl who is younger than you. Ask questions—don’t just talk about yourself—and you’ll learn about others’ interests, doubts, fears, and work. Think about the “why” behind people’s actions and create true characters who have to work through true internal and external experiences.
Quirks
Speaking of observing people’s personalities, your own and other’s “quirks” are good fodder for humor. Don’t be nasty. Don’t tear down. But exaggeration and hyperbole are good places to find humor. Know somebody who loves to garden? Exaggerate that characteristic into a gardener who makes it her personal responsibility to look after the plants of everyone in her neighborhood—whether the help is welcome or not. Know someone who refurbishes furniture? Create a furniture snob who can’t stand the thought of prefabricated tables and chairs. Extremes can also be a way to explore how interests and desires have the power to rule us if those things aren’t surrendered to God.
Names, experiences, what-ifs, personalities, and quirks lend themselves to story material. Maybe you’ll want to keep a notebook handy to write down ideas—personally that’s not what I do, but it might work for you! Or as you write, just let the things you’ve absorbed show up and then turn them into a creation all your own.