10 Ways to Find Story Ideas for Your Next Novel

Let’s talk about story ideas and where they come from.

“How do you come up with all your story ideas?”

That’s a question I get quite a bit from writers and readers alike. So, I started thinking about it, trying to figure out exactly where my ideas come from, and realized they’re simply all around me. Most of the time, all I have to do is reach out and pluck one to turn into a story. Other times, I have to do a little digging. Over the years, I’ve discovered several reliable ways to find inspiration for my suspense novels.

Here are my top 10 places to find story ideas—and maybe they’ll help spark your next book, too.

1. I ask friends, brainstorm with other authors, or post on Social Media: “What do you want me to write about next?” This tends to generate a LOT of eager responses which is GREAT. I can sift through those and generally find something to turn into a story.

2. Look around you. Life happens. People talk to you. Listen to their stories, their experiences and I guarantee, you’ll find an idea for a book in there somewhere.

3. Watch television or movies in the same genre you want to write. A lot of times, there will be something in the show that will spark an idea.  For example, in my Women of Justice series, the first book, Too Close to Home, was about teens lured into trafficking via a fake modeling agency. Yeah, yeah, not exactly the most unique idea ever generated, but I took that idea from the movie and turned it into something that was very much my own idea.

4. Think about places you’ve traveled to and the history there. Is there something you can take from that and spin it into a clever idea for a story?

5. Think about your own challenges and what’s going on in your life at the moment. Can you take a life situation and spin it into a story? Maybe blow the whole thing out of proportion and generate some real conflict?

6. Is there an organization that you support or are a part of that is near and dear to your heart? If so, do a little brainstorming and put that organization and the people involved at the heart of the story. Now, granted, you might want to change the names, but still, the story should be there.

7. Read the newspaper or watch the news. There are all kinds of ideas just waiting to be turned Into a fiction story.

8. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it’s great for figuring out a plot. What are you curious about? What professions do you want to know more about? Choose one and then start your research.

9. Speaking of research, this is a great place to start. All kinds of story ideas can pop up while researching. I get a lot of scene ideas while researching.

10. Read the back covers of books that are in the genre you want to write in. Take one idea, combine it with another and another and soon you have you’re own unique premise for a great story.

If you’re looking for more brainstorming techniques, Writer’s Digest has some great exercises to get those creative wheels turning. Check it out here: https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/whats-the-big-idea-20-out-of-the-box-writing-exercises-story-starters

And this is another great place to find ideas: https://www.writersdigest.com/28-writing-prompts-for-the-2026-flash-fiction-challenge

This is definitely not an all-inclusive list. What about you? If you’re a writer, where do you get your ideas? If you’re a reader, what kind of stories would you like to see me write?

Thanks for stopping by.