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Short Story Ideas How To Have Them
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Hopefully, when you want short story ideas, you don't sit there waiting for inspiration. It's better to write anything, and do it right now. English writer Graham Green attributes much of his success to a simple habit: He forced himself to write at least 500 words daily, whether he felt like it or not. Perhaps creative inspiration can strike at any time, but it strikes more often when there is work instead of waiting.
What do you write though? Here are a couple new ideas for generating new short story ideas.
Explain This
I once created a car travel game called "Explain This." Someone suggests an unusual scenario in a sentence or two, and then each player explains it in a plausible way. It's an entertaining way to pass the miles, but also a great way to come up with short story ideas.
Just start with an odd scene, anything that pops into your head. You might start, for example, with "Todd handed out the dollar bills to the people as they walked by, trying to distribute as many as he could quickly, before the police could stop him." Now explain that. Our minds insist on explaining things, so you'll find an explanation if you try. If it's interesting enough, you have your next short story.
As I look at the scene in my mind, I imagine the dollar bills are signed or otherwise identifiable, and they can be traded at a big seminar for a gift worth even more. A person could spend it and get a soda - or get something truly valuable for it. Maybe this will go in the marketing ideas file instead of the short story ideas file.
Maybe Todd is handing out the last of his money as per the instructions of his spiritual leader. Could it be a "get rich quick" cult that requires all members to start from zero? A religious movement based on getting rich? Someone could make it into a plausible story.
Short Story Ideas From Combining Stories
Here's a fun technique that is hopefully useful, but is at least worth a few laughs. Just combine old stories into new ones. The less similar the stories you start with, the better. The story of Adam and Eve combined with "I Robot," for example, could lead to an interesting new story. Maybe a pair of robots start a new world. "Original sin" might be the arising of their own consciousness, or their rejection of man as their master.
Hmm... "The Miracle Worker" and "Gorillas In The Mist?" Struggles of an ape that learns at last to speak and be independent? "Star Wars" and "Cool Hand Luke?" The story of a man who livens up the deathly atmosphere of a penal colony in space? "Frankenstein" and "Gone With The Wind?" The possibilities are endless. Start cranking out those new short story ideas.
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BONUS : Should I Self-publish Or Pitch My Book To A Publisher?
You've spent many nights working on your book. You've rewritten it, edited it, and you used a professional proofreader to proof it. Your book is done  finally -- and you're ready to send your precious manuscript off to a publisher, thinking that writing it was the hardest part.
In reality, getting your blood, sweat and tears published may be the hardest part of the whole process. You'll need to decide if your book requires a publisher, or if you'd rather self-publish your book. Both venues have pros and cons, some of which I discuss below.
To work with a book publisher, you'll need to send out query letters and/or a book proposal. This is a letter or a few pages briefly describing your text, why your book is unique, characteristics of your target market, and how you can help market your book. Most publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need to convince them to read yours, or find a literary agent to represent you. If a book publisher requests that you forward your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be prepared to send more than one query and don't expect a response next week. An excellent software program to help format your manuscript and create a book proposal is called Wizards For Word at http://www.wizardsforword.com
Publishers look for three things: platform, hook, and execution. This means a writer should have a built-in audience (ideally, a national platform such as a radio or TV show or a column in a major publication), an interesting hook, and strong writing skills.
The problem if you're an unagented author is that most publishers won't take your call or read your proposal. Then even if they do, you'll have a tough time creating a bidding war or running an auction to get the best offer, and you also won't have leverage negotiating the important deal points, such as ancillary rights and royalties.
There are writer's guides that serve as excellent resources to find publishers and literary agents who specialize in your particular genre. These guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don't forget that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and marketing of your text.
Another route you may want to consider is self-publishing. Self-publishing requires you to print, distribute and market your book using your money, but you will also retain all profits. There are book printing companies as well as companies that specialize in assisting self-publishers through every step along the way.
Many authors debate which method is better, using a publishing company or self publishing your own book. You know your situation and you know what will work best for you. You'll want to consider how much time or money you have to invest in the project. That should give you an idea which route to take. Using a publisher takes less time on your part, but you'll forfeit some of the royalties by using this method. If you self publish, you'll have to pay "up front costs" and do the initial legwork to begin generating sales for your book. Either way, publishing is your call. With persistence and hard work you can get your book in the marketplace.
You've spent many nights working on your book. You've rewritten it, edited it, and you used a professional proofreader to proof it. Your book is done  finally -- and you're ready to send your precious manuscript off to a publisher, thinking that writing it was the hardest part.
In reality, getting your blood, sweat and tears published may be the hardest part of the whole process. You'll need to decide if your book requires a publisher, or if you'd rather self-publish your book. Both venues have pros and cons, some of which I discuss below.
To work with a book publisher, you'll need to send out query letters and/or a book proposal. This is a letter or a few pages briefly describing your text, why your book is unique, characteristics of your target market, and how you can help market your book. Most publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need to convince them to read yours, or find a literary agent to represent you. If a book publisher requests that you forward your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be prepared to send more than one query and don't expect a response next week. An excellent software program to help format your manuscript and create a book proposal is called Wizards For Word at http://www.wizardsforword.com
Publishers look for three things: platform, hook, and execution. This means a writer should have a built-in audience (ideally, a national platform such as a radio or TV show or a column in a major publication), an interesting hook, and strong writing skills.
The problem if you're an unagented author is that most publishers won't take your call or read your proposal. Then even if they do, you'll have a tough time creating a bidding war or running an auction to get the best offer, and you also won't have leverage negotiating the important deal points, such as ancillary rights and royalties.
There are writer's guides that serve as excellent resources to find publishers and literary agents who specialize in your particular genre. These guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don't forget that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and marketing of your text.
Another route you may want to consider is self-publishing. Self-publishing requires you to print, distribute and market your book using your money, but you will also retain all profits. There are book printing companies as well as companies that specialize in assisting self-publishers through every step along the way.
Many authors debate which method is better, using a publishing company or self publishing your own book. You know your situation and you know what will work best for you. You'll want to consider how much time or money you have to invest in the project. That should give you an idea which route to take. Using a publisher takes less time on your part, but you'll forfeit some of the royalties by using this method. If you self publish, you'll have to pay "up front costs" and do the initial legwork to begin generating sales for your book. Either way, publishing is your call. With persistence and hard work you can get your book in the marketplace.
