Writing Magazine

A fantastic idea

Anyone who’s been to a reasonable number of writing events will have heard the immortal question at a Q&A – ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ For a lot of authors that’s not an easy answer – and sadly there’s not a secret website or a magic spell to cast that can provide them. If only it were that simple.

While it does get asked an awful lot, it is a valid question. Ideas are ultimately the stock-in-trade of the writer. If there’s no idea, then there’s no story, and nothing to write about. Some people have too many – and indeed there is such a thing – while some people just don’t have enough, or can struggle for a long time without one.

It’s a question I’ve often found floated to writers of fantasy fiction – which makes sense too. These are not tales grounded in the world around us, but incredible voyages into settings often born completely of the writer’s imagination. That’s no simple thing to

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