How can I get a really good idea for a short story?

Everyone loves a story with a happy ending, there is a lot of people these days finding their real parents because of better record keeping and new laws allowing information out, you could write a story of a mother finding her los child from many years or maybe you could do a story how mother and child are both looking for each other and find each other through some bazaar way...

Hi positiveminded, I write stories as well and poems too but at the moment I have what you called a writers block. When you ask for heilp to write a short story, I just thought about a little boy and his father, a story about their relationship and how the boy grows up, well you can think about the story, so how about that? would it help? Tamara

i think you are quite gifted in writing. so guess it will never be problem for you to get a good idea. hope you can get it soon and write a good one.

Find ideas in the newspaper, on tv, stories you like can you sparks of ideas to us, check this site out as well:shortstoryideas.herb.me.uk/. When an idea hits you writie it down. Start a journal and go back over it periodically and see if anything stims to mind from it.

What i usually do is get away from all distractions (people) while just listening to some music that i'm in the mood for. Other times i write at night by candlelight under the stars then the words just flow most of the time. It just comes down to getting from what's in the way of letting you write.

You could write short stories from everyday life. For me that would be boring. Dreams are good sources for stories. My brother dared me to write a story in five minutes. That I did. Write something whimsical. Write about something from an animal's point of view. I wrote a short story about a parrot. My brother thought it was funny. Carry a pad of paper with you and when you get an idea write it down.

I am having that same problem with my Creative Writing course. I need to come up with poetry and short stories. The poetry is easy, the short stories are a lot more difficult. I usually just write about things that I go through and see, and I use different names for the people. Paint a picture with the scenes. Describe what you see as you would describe a painting.

Hi positivemined, I've always found that I had to be inspired before I could write, it comes from inside you not from another. My only advice would be to relax and let those creative juices flow. Blessings.

Hi, 30,000 Indian Rupees is really an amazing price/prize. Even I would have participated in this competition only if I would be a resident of Karnataka, I am a resident of Rajasthan actually. 1 month is a lot of time for a idea to "Flash" within you since you will take just 2 hours to pen-down the whole story. Now what I am going to write below may be boring but it will help you a lot, believe me. First of all, ask myLotters, Orkutters and local people in your area, which kind of story they like? For example, some may like humour stories, some may like love stories, some may like horror while some would be fond of emotional and heart-touching ones. Select the category that interests most of the people. Now you know which type of story you want to write. The next step is to develop a mentality to write that kind of stories. Like if you are going to write a horror story, then develop a horror mentality, like seeking for a ghost in a tree and all. If you are writing an emotional one, then seek the troubles people face in their life. Then, to get the idea, go for a long walk. Yes, go for a long walk of about 4-5 kilo meters and absorb the surroundings. New ideas will suddenly begin to flash depending on the type of mentality you developed. Make sure you have a pen and paper and jot down those ideas. Finally, come home, write the story and keep polishing it until it has a nice plot, amazing literature and is interesting to read. Write it in such a way that the reader never gets disconnected from it, unlike my Internet connection. This may help. Cheers! & Best of Luck for the competition, hope you win. AJ Rox.

I don't know which is worse... having an idea for a story but being unable to write it, or being able to write and not having an idea!!! From the age of 5 to about 7 or 8 years old I had a swing that hung from the cherry tree beside the lilac hedge at my grandmother's farm. I used to sit in my swing and have very profound thoughts about the sky. I always thought they were my own thoughts but I have come to realize the tree was 'talking' to me. I want to write a story about that little girl so badly but the words don't come. I want to see that story written so much that I am willing to give it to somebody else who might be able to write it! Maybe if you wrote it then your story would help me get mine going! Good luck with whatever you write though!

People watching is fabulous inspiration. I know you detest shopping, but how about sitting near the shopping centre and just watching the world go by for a while. Imagine lives for the people you see around you, and if you are lucky something will come to you. Good luck!

I forgot what the actual name of this technique is called, but it may help you out. They say to just take a pencil (or rest your fingers on the keyboard-which ever you prefer) and just start writing whatever pops into your head. It doesn't matter if it seems stupid, silly, etc. The fact is after awhile you will start drafting an actual quality piece and sometimes even get more ideas from the starter sentences that could lead to other stories. I have done this several times and came up with some fun stories. Good luck to you.

oh my friend ,i feel it is a serious problem .i am a stndent now and my teachers often compulsary our to write something from i went to school until now ,of course i often have nothing to write or have no good idea .if this condition appear ,i often relax myself by playing computer games ,watching tv or go out to looking some interesting things ,i hope you also can do this like me and my advices can help you .

Try to meditate. It is a good way to relax and just let your visions come. Look at things that you have done in life. Change the outcome to what it could have been or you wished it could have been. An adventure that you would like to take. These are all ways to write a story. Good luck.

I am afraid to say but your own inspirations will be the best, I could give you my ideas, but that does not me you are interested in them or can write them, that is why it has to come from you based on your own strengths as a writer.

there are plenty of great websites on the net that can offer you some great writing prompt ideas so maybe something like that could help you out? other than that, my suggestion to you would be to read, read, read!!

The only stories I have written came from my dreams. If I could remember dreaming about something, I could sometimes turn it into a short story. There are plenty of interesting true life stories in myLot discussions, why not invent a background to some of the topics you have seen discussed here. You could imagine how the situation came about, what sort of people would have been involved, and how it could be resolved.

Look areound yourself at everyday things, that's what I do, of course I'm not much of a writer. But if you can give a twist to the ordinary you should be able to get a story out of it. Good Luck