How do writers start, anyway?

Slowly — with one word ... then another.

One sentence ... then another.

One paragraph ... then another.

Before you know it — PRESTO! POOF! POP!

You’ll have a story.

When should you write?

Don’t wait around for the perfect time and place to write. Train yourself to write any time and any place. When you first wake up ... at a desk ... up a tree ... while on a bus ... under a table ... in a leaf pile ... waiting in the dentist’s office ... on a rock ... in a car ... with your pet ... in the bathtub ... in a closet ... under your bedcovers before you sleep ...

Where do writers get ideas?

Professional writers do not have magic pots in which to brew ideas, or special traps with which to catch ideas, or extra powerful antennae for hearing ideas. They live in the same world as everyone else ... but they pay attention. They keep their “idea receptors” turned on and tuned in.

Writers are observers.

And ideas are everywhere. In the tree outside your window, under your great-aunt Tillie’s bed, in a bug’s ear, under a log, and stuck to your refrigerator with a magnet. Tune in and you’ll notice them.

Some writers notice interesting stories and articles in the news and get ideas that way; they often keep a file collection of these news pieces. Here’s a curious tidbit that was in a major New Jersey newspaper:

Garden tip: Give Juicy Fruit gum to woodchucks--they will eat the gum and not return. Unwrap the gum sticks and leave them where woodchucks have been feeding.

Writing Suggestion: Now, crank up your imagination and have some fun with this information. Imagine that it was your job to check with the woodchucks to see what kinds of gum they liked and didn’t like.

How did you get this job as tester of woodchuck gum preferences? How did the woodchucks behave
when offered Bubblicious? Bazooka bubble gum? Did they come back for more? How did they feel
about Dentyne? Were they worried about attracting attention with fresh, white teeth and flashy smiles? Put yourself in the place of a woodchuck — how would you feel about Mint-A-Burst? Clorets? Why would you go away and not come back after having a stick of Juicy Fruit?

See what news stories you can find that might grow into something more.