Wordpreneur.com

BY DAWN ARKIN

“Where do you get your story ideas from?”

Every writer, famous or not, has been asked that question at lease once. Most of the time, the answer is, “they just come to me.”

But what about the times ideas don’t just come to us? What can writers do to spark a story idea without a lot of fancy planning or book purchases? Why not take a walk on the wild side?

Did you hear the one about the man who bought a Corvette for $500? No, honest, it really happened to a friend of my friend! What does this make you think of? Yep, an urban legend. Everything from deadly candy to alligators in New York’s sewers. Not a day goes by that I don’t receive at least one email warning me about the serial killer who uses a five dollar bill to snatch his victims or that using underarm deodorant causes breast cancer in women. Have you every wondered where some of these stories come from, and if they are true?

Well, there is a wonderful website devoted to examining all of those urban legends that have plagued our inboxes and mailboxes all these years. You can find the history for almost any “pass this on to everyone in your address book” emails. Just go to Snopes.com. The site is sorted by categories and has a great search engine too.

Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with writing. Well, I’m going to tell you. When I get stuck for an idea, or when I haven’t a clue where my story is going, I go to this site and read a few of the latest entries. I have had wonderful ideas pop into my head while reading about the “toilet paper shortage the California wildfires caused” — not true. Or the “civilians give up their seats to returning soldiers from Iraq” — true.

It’s also a great place to find an unusual twist for your story. How about a hero who has a secret fear of spiders living in his hair. Or a killer who believes that earwigs really will eat his brain. There are many ways that an urban legend can be worked into a story to spice it up, and give your reader a bit of a laugh before a chill.

Need an unusual way for your victim to die? Just wander the halls of this collection and you’re bound to find something that will catch your eye and spark your imagination. There’s really something for everyone on this website.

So, if your muse is a little quiet today, or you have a story that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, take a walk on the wild side. And watch out for the alligators!

Dawn Arkin is an author on Writing.com, an online comunity for writers. Check out her portfolio.

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