How to Never Run Out of Story Ideas

7 Ways to generate story ideas

Apr 08, 2025

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Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, there comes a time when you sit down at your computer, stare at a blank screen, and have no idea what to write. Some call this writer’s block. Some refer to it as a slump. Either way, the dreaded white screen is a plague all writers face at some point.

How do we avoid this dreaded moment? We do it by creating a process that continually generates story ideas. There are so many areas of life to pull from. Once you know where to look, you will never lack for ideas.

Personal stories

This is an obvious source of material. What’s happened to you? What have you done that’s interesting? Did you perform in Disney World? Did you go on a car trip from Maine to California?

Anything that you’ve done in your life is fair game, if you’re willing to share it. You can expand on this, if your family is willing to let you share some of their stories. I’ve shared stories about my mom’s passing and what that time was like. I’ve also changed names and places, but kept the bones of a story the same writing about things my family has done or gone through but didn’t want to be associated with.

There is a third category of personal stories which is that of strangers. Go sit in a coffee shop. Listen to those around you. Sit in the break room at work. Listen closely. You will hear all kinds of juicy details that can be spun into a world of wonder.

Everyday things

This is close to personal stories, but with a twist. I’m talking about the mundane everyday things. Try writing a story about someone brushing their teeth or hair. What about a story about two people having coffee for breakfast. Home in on the detail of what’s happening in this one moment and build it up. Leave no detail out. It might not turn into a full-blown story, but it will be an interesting exercise that gives you some ideas to work with.

What If’s

When the towers fell on 9/11 there were stories of people who weren’t there because they stopped to get coffee, their child asked them to stay home or even because they stopped to use the restroom. What possible disasters have you avoided by doing something so simple? Did you linger at a green light and, without knowing it, avoid being hit by someone running a red?

Write about the What If’s. The possibilities are endless. You can take your personal stories, your everyday things and spin them into a multitude of other stories simply by taking the path not taken.

Prompts

I’m a fan of writing prompts. I use them often. It helps me get started on short stories. You can use ChatGPT to generate ideas, buy a set of prompt cards or dice from Amazon, or look up inspiration online. There are countless websites dedicated to writing prompts.

Playlists

This is one of my favorite things to do. If I’m stuck on writing, I create my stories a playlist. What songs would my characters be listening to? What is the vibe of the story? What songs put me in the right mindset to write the story? This could take me an hour or more. The songs spark new ideas and give me something to listen to while I write—often generating even more inspiration.

Fan fiction

You generally can’t publish fan fiction for profit (as far as I know), but it’s a fun creative exercise and most of the work has been done for you. If you need an easy way to get the creative muscles started, pick a favorite movie or TV show and write a scene or story using those characters, setting, and universe. It takes the pressure off of trying to world build and create characters.

Keeping a List

Another way to have never ending ideas is to keep a list. Every time you think of something you want to write—maybe a sentence, a scene, or an article idea—write it down immediately or dictate it into your phone so it’s not lost.

Staring at a white screen doesn’t have to be your fate. It’s easy to come up with ideas if you know the right places to look and the right sources to pull from. Put these principles into practice and soon you’ll have a library of ideas that you can pull from whenever you sit down to write.