Mining For Ideas

Every now and again a good idea strikes with such force that the writer feels as though they are channeling the idea from some mysterious cosmic fiction-fountain. The rest of the time, however, coming up with a good idea is a pain in the ass and can be quite discouraging. This week, I'd like to talk about the brainstorming process and how to take seemingly "stupid" ideas and turn them into interesting stories.

I've found that the best place for me to start is with a "what if..." question. This can range from something as mundane as "What if I switched laundry detergents for a month?" to something as far-fetched as "What if an extra-terrestrial being is monitoring my use of plastic knives in conjunction with buttering my toast?"

Now, it's very easy to dismiss these questions with a chuckle. After all, laundry detergent is hardly significant in the grand scheme of things, right? Right... unless you make it otherwise. Think about it: What are the differences between two laundry detergents? The biggies are color and scent, but the amount that is used could vary as could the thickness. But again, who really cares? Perhaps your clothes do.

Okay, so this is still sounding ridiculous. "Why the hell would clothes care about what detergent is used on them?" This is where things can start to become interesting. Why would they care? That is the central question, and it is the path to your story.

(In case you are wondering, there are many reasons why an assortment of shirts and pants would care about laundry detergents. Perhaps they are living entities, and some members have specific allergies, and the detergent aggrivates them. Or maybe the clothing exists in the future or in an alternate universe, and is outfitted with several nanomachines that are responsible for regulating body temperature and maintaining camoflage. The wrong detergent could cause something to glitch out, resulting in any number of strange situations.)

The main thing to keep in mind during this process is that any idea, no matter how stupid it seems, can be fashioned into something relatively interesting. It just takes some work.

Challenge: Take your dumbest idea and think of what implications it might have in the real world, then write that down.