November 5, 2010

Want to know an easy way to think of both ideas for story conflicts and ideas for nonfiction? I read this idea in a newsletter by Angela Booth, and I wanted to pass it along.

People want to learn how to do things, how to solve things, and how to overcome problems.

Challenges in All Sizes

People have small problems and huge problems to overcome. They want to accomplish small things (organize an office), overcome medium challenges (potty train a toddler), and survive huge things (like being laid off from a job).

Do you write for kids? Just scale down the ideas. Children and teens want to organize their bedrooms, paper train a puppy, and survive their dad being laid off. Each “want to do” activity could be an article, a whole series of online articles, or the central plot of a book (either serious or humorous).

Technique to Generate Ideas

“Go to Google.com and enter ‘How do I’ with a VERB into the search query field. With the magic of Google Instant, you’ll get lots of ideas,” says Angela Booth.

For example, I entered “How do I make” (without quotes) and got:

• How do I make clear ice cubes like in a restaurant?
• How do I make my hair grow faster?
• How do I make an electromagnet?
• How do I make a pinewood derby car do faster? 

This doesn’t just generate ideas. It generates ideas that thousands of people are interested in! It generates topics for your writing that people want to read about. And many of the topics can be adjusted if you write for children and teens. (Example from above: a child may not care about making clear ice cubes for his dinner party, but it would make a great science fair project. And that science fair project can be a nonfiction article or a plot/subplot in your novel.)

See the possibilities? Try lots of verbs in your search, Googling “how do I build” and “how do I create” and “how do I quit” and so many others!

If you try this technique, give an example in a comment. I bet we could come up with some really unusual ideas this way!

6 Comments »

1. 

   I did ‘how do I try’ and I got results like:
   ~ How do I try out for American Idol
   ~ When should I try to bring down a fever
   ~ How do I try to go back to school

   They all have potential for good non-fiction pieces, and the first and the third could make some interesting fiction stories…the third would be especially good for children (facing bullies) or teens/YA facing university.

   With this google idea a person need not worry about what to do.

   Comment by Andrea — November 5, 2010 @ 9:28 am

2. 

   Andrea, those are good examples of what I meant. It sparks so many ideas I would never have thought of! And sometimes my tired brain needs a jump start!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 5, 2010 @ 10:16 am

3. 

   I love this idea. I’ve used something similar for plotting. Google instant was a bother when it first started now it fascinates me just because it presents the most searched for questions. It give you a kind of global insight into human concerns and interests.

   Comment by Kate Higgins — November 5, 2010 @ 10:57 am

4. 

   Kate, I hate to admit it, but I had never heard of or noticed Google instant before today! And it’s fascinating to see what concerns people, isn’t it?

   Comment by Kristi Holl — November 5, 2010 @ 3:17 pm

5. 

   Thanks for sharing this idea, Kristi! I will give it a try!

   Comment by Kerstin T — November 5, 2010 @ 9:53 pm

6. 

   This is a really interesting idea! I’m definitely going to try it! Thanks

   Comment by Susanna — November 6, 2010 @ 6:04 am

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