What do you do when you’re super passionate about writing, but can’t come up with any good plots or stories?

[Guest]

Share with me your suggestions.

[Denisa]

Write something else, non fiction, your thoughts, a journal. Slowly the stories will come, and this time you spend now will be training for then

[Tabitha]

When I can't come up with plots or stories, I read. Sometimes a break is in order.

[Douglas]

Read Charles Booker's Seven Basic Plots, which shows how many famous (and outwardly very different) stories have basically the same structure, just a different setting, characters and genre. Take one of those plots and insert your own elements to make it unique. Most genres follow the same formula time after time, but no one cares as long as the situation, the characters and the dialogue are fresh.

[John]

I would say that you aren’t ready to write yet. I read nonstop, sometimes 3 books at a time and there is nothing worse than a story than is not ready to be written. I never finish reading than.

My last book was started five years ago and I didn’t get past the first chapter before I set it aside.

I write two others and then suddenly I was ready to write that one.

My 1st advice, I give this in workshops, is to write a series of short stories. One of them very likely will be the one you make into a book.

2nd advice, when you find the story to write spend time designing the cover. Make it part of the story and it will set the mood you want for your book. I don’t mean boilerplate covers either. Think about it. What is the 1st thing a potential reader sees.

Good luck and remember, if you are meant to be a writer then you will write, because you have too.

[Clarence]

For the last two years I have done James Altucher's Idea Generating Machine. Where each day you commit to writing ten ideas.

I've got a list of 7000 ideas. I'd say 95% are not good. 3% are worth investigating 1% need more flushing out and I've published 6 novels in the last year and gotten a million pages read on kindle and sold about 1200 copies.

[Batman]

More Posts:

• Why are writers all worked up about a magazine accepting their stories?
• I never studied anything related to creative writing
• What's the rule about resubmission to agents?
• What do you guys do on your down days to get some words in?
• Does anyone else get tired of reading their own book before it's finally published?