A Fun Way to Brainstorm Your Next Story Idea

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

 
Your favorite story, movie, or TV show can be the key to your next great novel idea.

I think for most of us, ideas are pretty easy. They pop into our heads all the time, either as a general concept, a fun character, or an interesting situation. What’s hard, is turning that idea into a workable conflict with a plot that will become a strong novel. That’s where the real skill comes in.

Next time you’re stuck on what to do with your idea, or just need a way to generate an idea, turn to your favorite movies and books and “steal” what you love about them (and no, I’m not advocating plagiarism here, bear with me).

One of my favorite movies is Mama, a creepy, horror/psychological suspense that turns the whole idea of conflict and what it means it be an antagonist on its head. 

 

While I enjoyed the details of this story, what really blew me away was how the writers built a multi-layered conflict with no actual “bad guy,” even though one of the main characters is a homicidal, yet maternal ghost.

After seeing it, I wanted to write a story like it. Not the ghost part, but the “problem where there is no clear-cut right or wrong” part. A story with no true bad guy.

That’s what I mean by “steal.” 

Take a concept or technique of a story you love or were impressed by, and use it in your own way.

For example, if you used Mama:

Don’t Copy: Two children are adopted by a creepy monster who wants to keep and care for them.

Do Use: An emotional story with layered conflict where no one is truly right or wrong.

It’s much easier to come up with an original plot using this concept. Any type of story could fall into this structure, and all you have to do is find a good conflict that works on multiple levels.

(Here's more on What “Mama” Can Teach Us About Tension & Suspense)

You can use this technique on any story. Say you’re a big fan of the superhero movies, and love superhero teams. Maybe you love The Avengers and Age of Ultron is your favorite movies. You might try:

Don’t Copy: Superheroes team up to defeat a killer robot one of them created (Age of Ultron).

Do Use: A group of gifted people with strong personalities must work together to overcome a threat.

You could set this format anywhere—a hospital, a middle school, another planet. But if the fun aspects of the “team movie” is what you enjoyed, you can put a team into any circumstance anywhere.

(Here's more with An Easy Tip for Developing Story Ideas)

Besides generating novel ideas, this is also a great exercise at writing pitch lines. Condensing a story idea to one line helps you identify what that story is about. 

Here are some of my favorites movies as examples:

Don’t Copy: A woman with alien experience must advise a team of space marines when they go to an alien-infested planet to rescue colonists (Aliens).

Do Use: The sole survivor of a disaster must face and overcome her fear to protect those she cares about.

Don’t Copy: A weird young girl adopts a destructive alien as a pet (Lilo and Stitch)

Do Use: Two misfits find each other and discover what makes them weird is just what the other needs to be happy.

Don’t Copy: A young woman disguises herself as a boy to fight a war in her father’s place (Mulan).

Do Use: A person goes undercover to protect a family member, and discovers hidden strengths they never knew they had.

In an afternoon, I could probably come up with several rough plot ideas for each of those concepts. It’s just a matter of finding the story details that work within that conceptual framework and character arc. Once you have something to guide you, it’s much easier to direct your brainstorming along those lines. It’s the blank “what to do?” page that tends to stump us.

The trick with this technique is to not try to make your own version of your favorite story. 

You don’t want to write an alien meets space marines tale, or a girl adopts and alien story, or a girl pretends to be a boy to fight a war saga. Those are too close to the original.

However…

If what you love about Aliens is the space marines kicking alien butt, then you’d have to get a little more creative about finding the conceptual idea. If might be:

• Soldiers encounter an unknown and dangerous foe
• Space marines encounter something they’re utterly unprepared to fight and must somehow survive
• A highly skilled team goes up against creatures who put their skills to the test

Using the same general details is much harder, but it can be done. Just find ways to make your alien-butt-kicking space marines different from James Cameron’s. You’re not copying what he did, you’re using an aspect of his story to inspire you to write your own.

(Here's more with Using Story Archetypes to Find Your Plot)

Look at your bookshelf or movie library. What types of stories are the most common? What elements from your favorites could you play with?

As the adage says, there are only seven plots in the world, so we’re all “stealing” inspiration from each other to tell our own stories. Don’t be afraid to build off another idea, as long as you’re respectful to the original creator and take that idea in a new direction.

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Try taking a handful of your favorite stories and breaking them down into single sentences as I did in my examples. Next, re-describe the stories using the conceptual things you enjoyed about them.  

What are your favorite stories? What might you use for inspiration? 

*Originally published April 2017. Last updated November 2022

For more help on plotting or writing a novel check out my Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure.

Go step-by-step through plotting and writing a novel. Learn how to find and develop ideas, brainstorm stories from that first spark of inspiration, develop the right characters, setting, plots and subplots, as well as teach you how to identify where your novel fits in the market, and if your idea has what it takes to be a series.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure offers ten self-guided workshops with more than 100 different exercises to help you craft a solid novel. Learn how to:

• Create compelling characters readers will love
• Choose the right point of view for your story
• Determine the conflicts that will drive your plot (and hook readers!)
• Find the best writing process for your writing style
• Create a solid plot from the spark of your idea

Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure also helps you develop the critical elements for submitting and selling your novel once it’s finished. You’ll find exercises on how to:

• Craft your one-sentence pitch
• Create your summary hook blurb
• Develop a solid working synopsis And so much more!

Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure is an easy-to-follow guide to writing your novel or fixing a novel that isn’t quite working. 

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound