How to Fan Your Short Story Idea Sparks into a Bright Fire

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: When you've trained yourself to think "big" when creating story ideas, it can be hard to think "short." Rayne Hall shares tips and questions on how to turns your idea sparks into stories.

How often have you thought, "I want to write a story about this”—and then waited for the muse to come? You may have visited an intriguing place, listened to a friend's marital vows, chuckled about a social media post, or heard about an astonishing true-life event. These ideas are like sparks, hot, bright and fascinating—but how do you get from idea to story, from a mere spark to a bright flame?

Staring at the spark, waiting for the muse to come and fan it into a fire, rarely works. The sparks die, and all that's left is a cold crumb of ember. To build a fire, you need tinder (crumpled newspaper, birch bark, cotton wool balls) which ignites when touched by a spark. Without tinder, you won't get a flame, and without a flame, you can't light the kindling which sets the logs on fire.

I'm going to give you the tinder that will grow your idea into a brightly burning flame.

Here are five kinds of ideas. To which group does yours belong? Play with the questions, try out different answers, and before long, you'll have the basics of a short story plot.

1. The 'Place' Idea

You're visiting an interesting location—a historical building, a tourist attraction, a friend's home, a wild landscape, a quaint village, a danger site, a spectacular view—and your heart hammers with excitement because you know this could be the setting for a great story.

This is how most of my Gothic stories start: I explore remote, creepy, spooky places—ancient ruins, derelict factories, abandoned homes—and then put characters into them.

Questions to ask:

• What kind of person might come to this kind of place? Why?
• What do they want here?
• Are they here voluntarily or against their will?
• Is someone with them, and if yes, who?
• Are they here to meet someone, and if yes, whom and what for?
• Are they trying to avoid someone, and if yes, whom and why?
• What if they don't realize that someone is already in this place? Who and why?
• What if someone arrives unexpectedly? Who and why?
• In what way does the new arrival cause a problem?
• How does the weather affect what they feel, what they need, what they do?
• How might the weather get worse, and what will they do about it?
• What can they do here that they cannot do in another place?
• What dangers might a character face in this place?
• What can they do to keep safe against those dangers?
• What do they not know about this place and find out later?

(Here’s more on 10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Setting)

2. The 'Character' Idea

You observe someone's behavior, hear their life story, listen to a friend telling you about someone they met, or get exasperated by a person's attitude. Or perhaps a minor character in a novel intrigues you, and you think, "I want to write a story about someone like her."

Questions to ask:

• What intrigues you personally about this character?
• Why is this aspect so interesting to you?
• What is this main personality trait—can you define it in a single word?
• What shaped this person to become like this—perhaps their upbringing, their religion, a traumatic event?
• What kind of situations trigger the character to show this sort of behavior?
• What are the two sides of the coin of the main character trait? Most traits have a positive and a negative side, for example, 'thrifty' and 'devout' are positive while 'stingy' and 'bigot' are negative, and this works really well in short stories.
• What benefits does the person get from their trait?
• What problems does it cause for them?
• What other people could benefit from the character's trait/weakness/flaw? In what way?
• Do they deliberately goad the character into this behavior to take advantage?
• Who suffers as a result of the person's trait/behavior/attitude?
• Are they trying to change the person? If yes, how, and with what results?
• What would have to happen for the character to change, learn or grow?
• What are the character's deeply held values?
• How do those values connect to the important trait or flaw?
• What's this character's self-image (how they see themselves)?
• Do other people see them the same way, or differently? How?
• What does this character want most? Why?
• What does this character need?
• Do they know they need it?

(Here’s more on Create a Powerful Story Cast: A Master List of Character-Building Resources)

3. The 'Situation' Idea

Sulu does a little dark reading

While reading a book or watching a film, or perhaps hearing people talk about their life experiences, a certain situation captivates you. Examples: A woman suspects that her husband is a bigamist. A mature woman goes on a blind date arranged by her daughter. Five people jointly inherit a house and can't agree what to do with it. A man buys a retirement home and settles in, and then someone else claims to be the legal owner and proves it. Siblings meet again for the first time in fifty years. You know this situation deserves a story of its own, and your heart beats fast with excitement at the prospect of writing it.

Questions to ask:

• What exactly is it that fascinates you about this situation?
• Why does it resonate so strongly with you?
• Does it bring up old memories, cherished daydreams, long-held romantic fantasies?
• To what kind of person could this happen, i.e. who might find themselves in such a situation?
• How did they get into this situation?
• How do they feel about it?
• What could they do about it?
• What will they do? (Tip: if you were inspired by someone else's story, make the main character, the preceding events and the resulting actions different. Don't clone the existing tale: create your own original story.)
• What dilemma does this situation pose (inner conflict)?
• Whom else does this situation affect?

(Here’s more on Dilemma: The Source of Our Story)

4. The 'Inner Conflict' Idea

Someone tells you about a dilemma they face, or you hear about someone who was forced to make a horrible choice, or perhaps you yourself have to make a tough decision. A character forced to choose between her lover and her child, between love and loyalty, between their faith and their family can kindle stories with great emotional power.

Questions to ask:

• What kind of person (other than the one to whom it happened in reality) might face this kind of choice?
• How might they have gotten into this situation?
• What options do they have?
• In what way is each of these choices wrong?
• What are the disastrous consequences of each choice?
• Can you raise the stakes and make the consequences even more dire?
• Which of their personal values or beliefs are affected by this?
• With each option, what sacrifices would the character have to bring?
• What other people might be affected by the character's choice?
• What do they have to gain or lose?
• Will they try to apply pressure on the character?

(Here’s more on The Inner Struggle: Guides for Using Internal Conflict That Make Sense)

5. The 'Activity' Idea

While working in your day-job or enjoying your hobby, you think, "I'd like to write a story about this." Or perhaps it's your friend's or brother's career that inspires you, or you watch someone carry out an activity or remember a task you used to do. Activities make great short story backgrounds, especially if you can write about them with authenticity of personal experience.

Questions to ask:

• What kind of person might practice this activity? (Tip: make your story interesting by avoiding stereotypes. How about a female boxer, a highly educated bodybuilder and a mature pop singer?)
• What are the routine tasks involved in this activity?
• What could go wrong while doing this?
• What are the risks and dangerous involved? (With knitting, the risks may be moderate—stitches may drop, or the cardigan may not be the right size for the child. With mountaineering, an incorrectly tied knot can be lethal.)
• Who or what can cause problems? For example, an inexperienced new team member may make a mistake, a business rival may sabotage the equipment, a careless colleague may skip safety measures.
• What might happen to disrupt a normal daily activity?
• What does a practitioner of this hobby/sport/profession dream of achieving? Could this be the goal they pursue during the story?
• Why is this so difficult to attain?

(Here’s more on An Easy Tip for Developing Story Ideas)

Lighting the Fire

I find that the best method for this is to write my answers by hand into a notebook, and to continue freewriting the thoughts that come into my head. Soon, the idea will ignite into a strong flame. You might even get several ideas. In this case, chose the one that excites you most. You can always return to the other ideas later and create more stories.

When you build a fire, you touch the spark (from the match, firelighter, flint etc.) to the tinder (bark, paper, cardboard, cotton wool etc.) to create a flame.

Your idea is the spark, my questions are the tinder, and your answers are the kindling. Together, they make the beginnings of a bright fire.

Now it's time to add the fuel (logs, charcoal, eco-briquettes etc.) to create beautiful, long-lasting heat. You can either develop a structured plot outline or write a first draft from the seat of your pants.

Do you have any ideas you want to develop into stories? To which group do most of your story ideas belong? We'd love to hear about this in the Comments.

Rayne Hall is the author of over seventy books, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Her books have been published by several publishers in several countries, and translated into several languages. A trained publishing manager with more than thirty years’ experience in the industry, she also publishes her own books and champions indie-publishing for authors. She is the editor and publisher of the Ten Tales short story anthologies.

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About Writing Dark Stories

Learn to haunt your readers with powerful, chilling tales. Make their spines tingle with anticipation and their skins crawl with delicious fear. Disturb their world-view and invite them to look into the dark corners of their own souls.

This book gives you a wealth of tools and techniques for writing great short stories. It is part of the acclaimed Writer's Craft series.

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