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    Roads To Writing 2. Finding Story Ideas
    Roads To Writing 2. Finding Story Ideas
    Roads To Writing 2. Finding Story Ideas
    Ebook41 pages29 minutes

    Roads To Writing 2. Finding Story Ideas

    By David McRobbie

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    About this ebook

    In the second Roads To Writing, we explore the important business of getting ideas for our stories. As David McRobbie, points out you need an idea to start your story and a whole succession of them to keep it going. The first part talks about the beginning of ideas and where they come from. The second part is a workshop on how to find ideas and what to do with them.
    The third part deals with the business of planning your stories. How far should you go and is a plan necessarily a good thing?
    The final part is in the form of a workshop where David shows how he got ideas for two of his successful stories and what he did to develop the them. There is also a story outline that has not been written and exists only as a few ideas. This gives you the opportunity to join in on this creative process and decide what you’d do.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDavid McRobbie
    Release dateSep 21, 2014
    ISBN9781310567353
    Roads To Writing 2. Finding Story Ideas
    Author

    David McRobbie

    David McRobbie was born in Glasgow in 1934. After an apprenticeship he joined the Merchant Navy as a marine engineer and sailed the world, or some of it. Eventually he worked his passage to Australia, got married and settled down for a bit only to move to Papua New Guinea where he trained as a teacher.Subsequently he found work as a college lecturer, then a researcher for parliament. Back in Australia in 1974 he joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a producer of radio and television programs for young people.In 1990 he gave up this work to become a full time writer for children and young adults. He has written over thirty paperbacks, mainly novels, but some are collections of short stories, plays and ‘how-to’ books on creative writing.Three of his novels were adapted for television, with David writing all of the sixty-five scripts — the first being The Wayne Manifesto in 1996, followed by Eugénie Sandler, PI then Fergus McPhail. These shows were broadcast throughout the world, including Australia and Britain on BBC and ITV.The BBC adapted another of David’s novels for television — See How They Run, which became the first BBC/ABC co-production.At the age of 79, David is still at work. His most recent paperback novels are Vinnie’s War, (Allen & Unwin) published in 2011, about childhood evacuation in the second world war. This was followed by To Brave The Seas, in 2013, a story about a 14-year-old boy who sails in Atlantic convoys during WW2. Both books are available online.

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    • 4/5
      I liked that it was short, to the point, and had good examples. "Start with the verb" is helpful. I prefer planning and outlining, so the argument for "pantsing" was interesting.

    Book preview

    Roads To Writing 2. Finding Story Ideas - David McRobbie

    Roads to Writing

    2. Finding Story Ideas

    A Personal View

    David McRobbie

    Copyright 2016 David McRobbie

    Smashwords Edition License Notes

    This e-book is licensed for your personal use only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this essay, please purchase an additional copy for each person with whom you share it. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, then you should buy your own copy.

    Thank you for respecting the writer’s work.

    Cover Image: Alice-Anne Boylan

    Contents

    Part One - Ideas: The First Question

    Part Two - Ideas: How To Find Them

    Part Three - Ideas: To Plan Or Not To Plan

    Part Four - Ideas: In the Workshop

    About the Writer

    Other Books by this Writer

    Part One - Ideas: The First Question

    Welcome to your second essay on creative writing hints and tips. This personal approach to the writing process deals with how to find ideas for your stories. To a writer, ideas are like gold. They can turn up any time, such as when you’re watching television, taking the dog for a walk or doing a hundred and one different things. When a story idea strikes, it can be a eureka moment, like a light bulb switching on above your head. And your plot idea often comes in the form of a single word or a short sentence, as in:

    I’m going to write a story about …

    Once you’ve published a few books, especially ones aimed at young readers, it won’t be long before you’re invited to a school to talk about your work. For a writer, this is a good thing. Firstly, it gets you out amongst the people who’ll read your books so you can hear what they have to say. Secondly, and better still, it makes a welcome change from the computer, and you’ll often be paid for your time, treated like an author, asked for your autograph.

    Standing in front of a classroom full of eager young people, you’ll discover the most commonly asked question is: ‘Where did you get the idea for that story?’ Or sometimes it can be a more general query, as in: ‘Where do you get your ideas?’

    To anticipate those questions, I started adding an essay at the end of some of my books to talk about the writing process. This touches on where I found the original idea and the work I had to do to bring the story alive and keep it moving. You’ll find tail-piece articles in my books such as Vinnie’s War, To Brave the Seas and Mandragora, all of which are available as e-books. (Amazon and Smashwords.)

    In those school visits, I’d usually answer the ‘Where ideas?’ question with an illustration. I’d draw a calm millpond, then say, ‘If you were to toss a stone into the water, the resulting splash will create ripples that spread out in widening circles.’

    I’d go on to say we can use those rings to represent all the knowledge and experience you have gathered in your life.

    As a very

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