how to come up with story ideas 🪄

[@KrisMF]

hi y'all i'll be opening up beta reading slots again on sept 1 (and sharing some cool stuff) over on ko-fi! ko-fi.com/krismf/tiers

[@kenbryan339]

Love this video! I’m not short of story ideas more like scene by scene ideas. For me, sometimes a word or phrase from a book or a premise of a movie etc might suddenly trigger an idea and then I keep getting triggered until I have more and more info on that idea. Like my brain working in the background. Sometimes I mash ideas from books and movies together. Take pieces from here and there and then shuffle them around until I have something I like.

[@KrisMF]

i’m also a very scene-based writer! sometimes i work backwards from what i think is a cool scene idea

[@kenbryan339]

@@KrisMF The problem is I usually have the starting scene and no ending so it so hard to figure out all the others. xc

[@nahlanoelle8825]

TBH, I feel that anything that resonates with you, even quickly, resonates for a reason. So if you use a prompt-generator and something strikes you, it's all about figuring out WHY. Why am I so drawn to this idea and within that WHY you can find that passion. So I think any idea whether it's yours or not, can work. After all, most of our ideas don't come from ourselves but are triggered by things around us. We read a book and we think of something, see a film and go, I really like that, hear some kind of news event that just gets stuck in our head. I don't see why a prompt-generator would be different.

[@KrisMF]

i agree, i think my thesaurus analogy didn’t make that clear enough but that’s how i feel about writing prompt generators too

[@bydianaalexandria]

this is some of the most constructive, yet gentle advice i’ve heard for writers. i deeply appreciate it, thank you for sharing!

[@lydiabell7304]

Kris!! I just finished interview with a vampire too, absolutely obsessed! But I came here to say that you reframing 'write what you know' to 'write what matters to you' is actually such an incredible and more useful way of looking at it, so thank you!

[@theceeativelifeofana]

This was so inspiring! Thank you ❤

[@AdamFishkin]

The deeply helpful thing you've pointed out here is that ideas are the building blocks, and a premise is the result. Following this logistically: the premise builds out into the structure, and through the structure you pack the storytelling meat. Then prose is threaded as a layer around the meat. I'm so happy for this metaphor. As for theme, we as author sort of collaborate on this with the readers. To resonate with a theme is to interpret, and if observing other people's interpretations has taught me anything (which I hope it hasn't), it's that we will collectively take the most basic possible theme and use it to fatally beat all of the horses. Remember, kids, sleep deprivation is not your friend. Happy Tuesday, Kris.

[@KrisMF]

all themes are technically “basic” without the context of a story and that’s okay. sorry to the horses

[@AdamFishkin]

I'm sorry too. You'll hear people say the horses were dead when they got there, but that's not true. It was either David Benioff or D.B. Weiss who said "themes are for 8th grade book reports". They were joking. I look forward to a future where more authors have fun.

[@rachehester]

WOW new kris video IM SUDDENLY HAPPY T___T

[@jennlimwrites]

Okiee the lighting and video quality here is amazing ✨ my brain is a little fuzzy right now so I’ll need to rewatch a few times to let it soak in but I’ll definitely be trying that log line exercise.

[@charis9185]

aaah new video, i love the warmer lighting, you look so pretty 💖

[@that.writer.girly.7]

Personally I love self inserts even if it’s in small ways because it gives almost a reference to make the characters more complex

[@excusemeyourock]

pitches and blurbs are honestly so fun as part of the ideation process hehe it's like being able to roll around in an idea like a cat with catnip LOL

[@DiinoLeHarlequin]

Omg I can't WAIT for season 3 of interview with the vampire!!

[@madebymalayka]

I never considered writing log lines before! 🩷 Some of these ideas have been stewing around in my brain for nearly a decade and they're just as messy as they were when I was 15 😅 Love this, Kris!

[@nataliejaneshields]

My favorite thing to do when brainstorming a new story idea is to write down the elements of a story that I want. For my historical romance novel, that was a stubborn/strong-willed female lead, the setting to feel like a character, and disability representation through the love interest. From there I started listing plot elements that would use all three until something clicked!

[@briellewrites]

Your advice is always so valuable and you are so so well spoken!!!! Will be taking so many of these tips into my process going forward 💖

[@kelleyiswriting]

I have so many story ideas so this topic has always been really interesting to me!! I love the way you break down ideation 💛Maybe I'll make a video like this on my channel...sometime before the new year 😆

[@KrisMF]

hehehe yes make it!!!!! ✨

[@hal_dd2218]

Oh, I really love you! Thank you so much! I remember asking you this question. I don't know if you saw it or not, but I really need this video❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@KrisMF]

yeah i remember! i’ve been getting requests for this video so hopefully it can be helpful

[@that.writer.girly.7]

The only time I’ll use writing prompts is if it’s like a short few minutes of writing for honors English

[@Lara_Ameen]

As someone who is a screenwriter, novelist, and short fiction writer, I really appreciate your discussion of loglines! I always think in loglines because of my screenwriting background, so 1 line pitches come a bit easier to me for novels now because of it. And thank you for being open to changing your language regarding our ongoing pandemic (I saw your comment on another post.) As a disabled/immunocompromised viewer who is also BIPOC and queer, I appreciate your willingness to learn. Please keep making awesome videos! 🥰

[@whatareyousayinggirl]

just a heads up but language like "during the pandemic" ignores the reality that the pandemic is still ongoing and that many disabled, immunocompromised, and elderly people are still largely unable to leave their homes. Disabled, BIPOC, and queer communities are being hit the hardest in this "post pandemic" time, and as a viewer who is affected and who watches your videos for comfort, it can hurt to hear the pandemic spoken about as though it is in the past ❤ love your work

[@KrisMF]

@@whatareyousayinggirl i should have specified i meant 2020 specifically. thank you for the reminder 🫶

[@Lara_Ameen]

Thank you for saying this! As a disabled/immunocompromised, queer, and BIPOC viewer who is very COVID conscious, I’m really glad someone else pointed this out! I’m never sure if I should or not, so thank you! 💜