Topic Twists Or How To Generate A List Of Story Ideas

Whether you're a journalist or a fiction writer, you may rely on a brainstorming session to generate an idea list for an article or a plot twist.

Where should you start? Here's a technique I use every Wednesday, once the weekly where I serve as managing editor goes to print.

First, I look at the community calendar and see what's coming up in the next two weeks. Sometimes, I jot down specific events. Other times, I write a generalized tag - like basketball - that can be used in one of the upcoming steps.

Then, I take a look at holidays, especially those that are unique to a special time period. For instance, did you know that National Pancake Week wraps up today? If there's something relatable to my coverage area, I write it down.

Next, I list subtopics for each item, using the following demographics to develop a specific idea:

• woman's issue
• man's issue
• kid's/teen issue
• a twist
• outlandish idea
• evergreen idea

Let's use the basketball idea. My list might resemble this:

• woman's issue: check with area schools about girls' basketball participation numbers since participation is declining nationally
• man's issue: local town teams provide physical fitness
• kid's/teen issue: local team raised over $1,000 for Healthy Heart Month
• a twist: how local schools use social media to promote sports updates
• outlandish idea: local basketball players - Who would you beat in the latest NBA video game?
• evergreen idea: district basketball pairings released.

Right there I have at least six possible articles. While some may seem silly and will never make it to the paper, others are worth pursuing.

Generating a topic list allows you to think outside the box, to take a single word and twist and bend it to meet the needs of your publisher or editor.

And most important, the ideas work.

By LuAnn Schindler

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4 comments finding topics, LuAnn Schindler, topic lists, topic twists

Friday Speak Out!: Reduce. Re-use. Recycle., guest post by Sioux Roslawski

That 3-R’ed mantra that works so well for aluminum cans and paper also works for writing. I’ll bet you didn’t know that, huh?

Reduce. With my plan you can reduce the number of topics you need to come up with. The number of submissions you can churn out increases exponentially if you simply follow my advice. (Okay, exponentially is a bit of an exaggeration. But the amount of stuff you send out will increase.)

Re-use. Take one writing idea and use it in a completely different way for another market. If you originally wrote it as a piece of nonfiction, put a twist to it and transform it into a fictional piece. If it started out as a humorous piece but there’s a call for a romance anthology, throw in some heaving bosoms and a chiseled Fabio-esque chest, and voila! You’ve got another submission to send out.

Recycle. Send your piece back into the submission cycle. Just because it was not accepted by a particular editor doesn’t mean it’s without merit. Perhaps the tone of your story was not right for that publication. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for a different magazine or collection.

A couple of years ago I got my head stuck in a sink. It happened after my workday was over, in a staff bathroom with a tiny sink equipped with an overly-large faucet. I had a haircutting appointment right after work and was trying to wash my hair so I could save the $5 shampooing fee my stylist regularly tried to trap me with. Writing a creative nonfiction story about the experience ended exactly how that afternoon ended: a scraped scalp and a valuable lesson learned. (Stop being so darned cheap!) It ended up getting published in Not Your Mother’s Book…On Being a Woman.

Later, a different anthology was being developed, and in the proposed title was “bad hair day” so I figured my stuck-in-the-sink story would be a perfect fit. Unfortunately, these were supposed to be fictional stories. I deliberately did not have my original story in front of me as I crafted a fabricated tale about that experience, nor did I even skim it to reacquaint myself with the experience, because I wanted this new piece to sound fresh and new, instead of becoming a mere rehashing. In the end of this story, a fire truck was called. Hunky firefighters broke down the door and smashed the sink. I got my picture taken with them. My little slice-of-life story became transformed into a totally new fictional story and ended up being published in that anthology by Mozark Press.

So with a new year beginning, banish that much-hated R word (rejection). Take what you might consider your writing “trash”—it’s been published already or it was rejected—and turn it into published treasure by reducing…reusing…and recycling.

***

Sioux Roslawski has been published in three (so far) Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, as well as several Not Your Mother's Book collections. A third grade teacher with the Ferguson-Florissant School District, she is also one of the five founding members of the famed WWWP writing critique group. Her musings can be found at http://siouxspage.blogspot.com

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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10 comments finding topics, Friday Speak Out, rejection, repurposing ideas, rewriting, Sioux Roslawski

Tap Into TV for Ideas

I'll be the first to admit that the TV in our house is tuned in close to 15 hours a day, either to The Weather Channel (my husband farms and weather dictates his daily routine) or a news network.

The majority of the time, neither of us watches.

But, I listen. Intently.

In fact, the idea for this blog post title came from a commercial for a new fall sit-com that uses the word 'tap' to make a point.

That commercial got me thinking. Television supplies myriad ideas for writing, both fiction and non-fiction. A lot of times, I'll watch segments of Today and wonder how the latest news item applies to the region where I live. I also investigate Natalie's "Trending Topics" and try to find a correlation. Then, I send a query to a magazine or newspaper where the story is a good fit. And usually, I land an assignment.

If you get wrapped up in The Doctors or Dr. Oz, you may just find a topic for an article. Or maybe a disease that the antagonist suffers from in your latest fiction.

The History Channel, Biography, TLC, Current TV, ESPN, The Food Network. Each channel has its own specific format and programming list, but select a show and you'll discover a list of possible topics.

Need help with character development? Watch a sitcom or drama and you'll undoubtedly come up with mannerisms, speech patterns, or quirks that can easily take your character from dull to daring.

I'm not advocating you sit in front of the tube all day. But, I do believe the TV should be viewed as another idea source, offering a wealth of information on a wide range of topics.

So, go ahead, grab the remote, and tap into an overflowing resource of ideas.

by LuAnn Schindler. Original graphic by LuAnn Schindler. Read more of LuAnn's work at her website.

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