Where do Story Ideas Come From?

I’ve been a storyteller for as long as I can remember. My mom tells me that I told my first story at age three, and I’ve found a story that I wrote in first grade about a horse that saves a cowboy from an angry bull. I’ve been writing fairly consistently since then, whether it was novels, short stories, plays, or even screenplays. The point is that I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t writing, and sometimes I forget some of the things I might take for granted that non-writers may not understand.

Ideas for stories is definitely one of those things. Usually, when I’m asked where I get my ideas for stories, I list what I consider to be some of my influences. I’ll mention particular authors, movies, and video games that I feel have helped shape the way I craft a story. I may even mention some life experiences that I’ve had that show up in various forms in my work. But everybody has some form of entertainment that they enjoy, and everyone (yes everyone!) has had life experiences that would entertain, fascinate, and inspire others. So what sets writers apart? Just where do all of those story ideas come from? I can only really answer this for myself, but I suspect that my experience is not unique.

I’m a daydreamer, which is a kind way of saying that I have trouble focusing. I’m easily bored with reality and regularly imagine myself taking part in situations and adventures far more interesting than my mundane surroundings. As a child and youth, this meant that I spent a lot of time by myself playing make-believe, and I never grew out of that. I still regularly retreat to my imagination to play, and that’s where most of my story ideas come from. I start by taking something that I like. A book, movie, or game that was fun but wasn’t exactly what I would have wanted it to be. Then I start taking elements of other things to add to it to make it better, and finally insert myself into the middle as the coolest, smartest, strongest hero possible.

Many of these daydreams remain just that, daydreams. They entertain me for the moment and then fade away. But some of them remain, and I build on them. As I find more things that I like, I add them to the daydream and it continues to grow. Eventually, I may have a daydream that has developed into something that sounds like it could work as a possible story. At that point, I start looking at the original idea with a critical eye and make adjustments so that it’s more accessible to other people. I change the hero slightly so that he isn’t blatantly me, giving the character his own strengths, flaws, hopes, and fears. I also give him a specific, primary conflict to solve, so that the plot can revolve around him getting from point A to the distant point B. Luckily, my daydreams are usually such a blended collage of random influences I rarely need to adjust the setting to set it apart from those sources that originally inspired it.

So that’s my best attempt at explaining where my ideas come from. For me, they’re all fantasies in my head that have slowly grown and developed to the point that I feel like I could develop them into something to share with my friends and fans. Perhaps this is why all of my stories are such personal works for me, and why I am always so happy when someone seems to genuinely connect with one of my pieces. In that moment, it’s like that lonely child playing by himself among the trees behind his house has a friend, and they’re both playing make-believe in perfect harmony. That’s why I write.


Thanks to Nicole from my Guild of Adventurers for suggesting this week’s subject.

Two New Online Homes For My Fans

Thanks to the amazing efforts of my Guild of Adventurers, there are two new places for fans of my work to interact and have fun. First, we have the Fans of Lindsay Schopfer Goodreads group page. Visitors to the group can find multiple conversation topics about my books and stories. Some of the topics you can check out include:

The Characters of The Beast Hunter

Would You Survive?

Questions for Lindsay

…and several others. You can also add your own conversation topics, as well as create polls, participate in challenges, and find similar book recommendations. All you need to participate is a free Goodreads account.

The second new online home for fans is the Lindsay Art Tumblr page. While there isn’t a lot of artwork up right now, the goal of this page is to provide a place for fan art, official artwork (covers, promotional art, etc.) and other related visuals. You can also ask questions specifically about the artwork of my stories here and even chat with some of the artists who have worked with me in the past. You do not need a Tumblr account to upload pictures or ask questions.

There’s also my Fans of Lindsay Schopfer Facebook page for those who are interested in less structured interactions. Whatever your tastes, I hope you take a moment to check out the hard work of my Guild of Adventurers and maybe even make some new friends. Have fun!

How do I Handle Character Dialogue?

Whenever I’m considering whether I’m going to buy a new novel, I’ll open to a few random pages and look for some dialogue. Generally, if I can’t find any dialogue at all, I put the book back down, as I’m not really interested in books that don’t show any social interactions. If I do find some conversations, I’ll look for warning signs of bad writing. Info-dumps, stilted dialogue, copious use of swearing… if I find any of these in abundance, I can be pretty sure that the story would not be one that I’d enjoy.

Dialogue between characters is one of the most engaging forms of storytelling we have. It’s highly effective at breaking down complex conflicts and ideas into digestible bites and gives life to an otherwise faceless cast of characters. But many writers struggle when giving voice to the people in their stories, and I’ve certainly had my share of difficulty in that regard. Still, I feel like I’ve gained a fair bit of insight as I’ve developed my dialogue-writing skills, and I’d like to share some of the more important lessons that I’ve learned.

Don’t get hung up on dialogue tags.

I’ve known many writers who obsess over finding synonyms for the word “said”. They seem convinced that the reader will toss their book away in derision if “said” is said once too often (joke intended). Perhaps it’s because I got my start by writing for the theater, but I don’t worry about dialogue tags. In a script, each line is designated by a character name and a colon afterwards. This quickly conveys the only essential information we need, namely, who is speaking. If you’re really concerned about overusing dialogue tags, you can use tricks like skipping several tags in a conversation between two people or using descriptions of body language to identify who is speaking. Just remember that the reader will likely be focusing on what a character is saying rather than the mechanics of how you identify the speaker.

People are going to sound similar.

Much like dialogue tags, some writers fixate on trying to make all their characters sound like distinct, different people. While this is a commendable goal, at some point an author needs to accept that many of his characters will sound similar, and that’s ok. Trying to make everyone feel totally different is like trying to write a plot that no-one has ever heard before, it’s amazing if you can do it, but it isn’t necessary to telling a great story. Better to focus on a few key characters and give them distinct voices and phrases to set them apart from what the average person in your story sounds like.

Not every line has to serve the main plot.

While you should definitely consider cutting or changing an entire scene that doesn’t contribute to the storyline, not every statement made by a character has to be directly tied to the hero’s journey. Sometimes the reader needs a break. Sometimes a few lines of dialogue is the ‘flavor text’ of a story, not essential, but colorful and entertaining. Funny interludes, character studies, and brief heart-to-hearts all have their place within the overarching narrative.

Avoid writing business meetings.

While dialogue is a great way to consolidate plot information and facilitate action, anyone who has been in a long business meeting knows that sometimes lots of talking can result in nothing but numb rear ends. The same is true for fictional business meetings. Any time you have a large group of characters sitting around talking about their situation for pages (I’ve even seen meetings that lasted multiple chapters!) without doing anything, you run the risk of losing your reader. Keep focused, and keep the number of conversationalists to a manageable level.

Major thanks to Derek from my Guild of Adventurers for suggesting this week's subject!

Updates to my Guild of Adventurers

Recently, I sent a survey to the members of my street team (aka my Guild of Adventurers) in an effort to improve how we do things. What follows are the newly updated details I sent to all current adventurers.

Note: If you’re not in my Guild of Adventurers but would like to join, all you need to do is sign up for my monthly newsletter and provide a link to an honest Amazon review you’ve written for one of my stories.

The Goals of the Guild

The way I see it, the Guild of Adventurers has three main purposes:

1. Increase my fan base.
2. Develop a growing community among my fans. 
3. Spread the social and promotional workload so that I can dedicate more time to writing.

I am humbled and so very grateful to know that I have fans that care enough about these goals to dedicate their time and talents to make them happen. Thank you again for your support!

What a Guild Member Does

Several adventurers said in the recent survey that they weren’t sure what they should be doing as a member of the guild. Here’s a list of some of the things that a typical guild member does:

• Like and/or +1 posts from Lindsay's author accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.
• Share/re-tweet posts from Lindsay's author accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.
• Comment on posts from Lindsay's author accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.
• Comment on Lindsay's blog posts.
• Participate in discussions on Lindsay's fan pages on Facebook and/or Goodreads.
• Recommend one of Lindsay’s books to a friend or group.
• Request one or more of Lindsay's books at a local bookstore, library, or school.
• Recommend one of Lindsay's online writing courses to a friend or group.

A typical guild member does one or more of these types of activities at least a couple of times a month.

"I Want to Do More!"

In addition to the typical types of activities listed above, there are plenty of ways for guild members to take their volunteering one step further. Here are some ideas:

• Approach a bookstore/library/school/writing group about an author appearance from Lindsay.
• Be an admin and/or moderator for a Lindsay Schopfer fan page on a social media platform. (examples include Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)
• Coordinate/GM an online role-play for Guild members.
• Make/craft something for Lindsay's swag bag.

The Benefits of Being in the Guild

While participating in the guild is a voluntary activity, there are some benefits to being one of my adventurers. Guild members get first look at new artwork, story updates, and “behind-the-scenes” details on my work. They’re also the first to be invited to participate in beta reads and fan surveys. Guild members will receive a monthly newsletter featuring Guild-specific news and updates. All adventurers will also be invited to a monthly, online video hangout where we can all chat together and build friendships and community. For those who are interested, there will also be a monthly online game hosted by a guild member.

In addition to these universal benefits, there will be a special “goody bag” for those guild members that go above and beyond on a given month. Examples of these sort of adventurers include group moderators, blog writers that feature a guest blog from me, crafters and artists that donate their work, and those special folks who set up author appearances for me. These adventurers will receive special mention in the monthly Guild newsletter and will be invited to pick something from the goody bag.

For Those Who Feel Overwhelmed

Several people answered in the survey that they felt like they didn’t have time to participate in the guild. First off, it doesn’t take much to be helpful. Every time you like/comment/share on a post or blog article, online algorithms show those items to more of my fans. This is true of both social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) So, a minute or two to read the post or blog and two seconds to respond to it. Like I said, it doesn’t take much to be helpful.

If this still seems like too much work, then the Guild probably isn’t for you. I’d recommend joining one of my online fan groups instead. You’ll still get regular updates on what’s going on with me from those guild members serving as moderators and admins, and you can participate when it’s convenient for you. I don’t plan on policing the activity of guild members, but if you feel like you’re not able to be a participating guild member, then I invite you to let me know that you’d like out of the guild. I promise that I won’t take offense and that we’ll still be friends!



Again, if you’d like to join the Guild, all you have to do is sign up for my newsletter and link to an honest Amazon review that you’ve written for one of my books. We’d love to have you onboard!