This is Exactly How I Get My Ideas

And How You Can Generate Your Own.

Apr 28, 2025

One of the biggest surprises after publishing my first novel was how much I enjoyed talking to people about my book. I love answering questions about my writing process and my experience with self-publishing. The most common question I hear is, “How do you get your ideas?”

The first time I heard this question, I struggled to answer it. Can anyone relate?

Um…I just get ideas out of my imagination…

Of course, I said, “Mostly from real life,” because that’s what everyone says, right? But to be honest, I’d never given it any thought. I’ve been telling stories in some form for longer than I can remember. I had never thought about how the ideas come; I’ve just trusted they’d be there.

So, where exactly do I get my ideas?

It turns out that imagination, or the faculty to create ideas and visualize possibilities, comes from a region of the brain called the hippocampus. This region of the brain is responsible for creating memories. And according to scientists, ‘imagination depends largely, if not exclusively, on memory.” [1]

My brains takes bits and pieces of information, memories about the world and my experiences in it, and assembles them into a stream of ideas, possibilities, and potential outcomes. This process happens so quickly and seamlessly that it is practically unconscious.

For example, one of the major characters in my book is Sammi, a recent college graduate who wants to become a detective. She is bubbly, bright, and passionate. Her personality and motivations came to me pretty much all at once. I made a tweak here or there, but for the most part I didn’t have to “come up with” a character. She just is who she is.

But when I took time to break this character down further, I made an interesting discovery. She has the personality of one of my best friends from college. She has the ethnicity and positive outlook of one of my favorite celebrities. And she has the same enneagram number and motivation as another friend.

In Sammi’s case, I did not consciously think, “Hmm…what if I make a character with Amber’s personality and Rachel’s motivations?” My imagination took these bits of information from my memory and rearranged them until a character that resonated with me and my story popped out, fully baked!

For other characters, the thought process was more intentional. But at the end of the day, my ideas came from the process of my imagination and memory working together to generate characters, relationships, situations, locations, and plot points that I could incorporate into a novel.

So, if imagination and memory are so important for generating ideas, then we can cultivate creativity by feeding our memory and stretching our imagination. Here are a few examples of things that contribute to my memory, imagination, and creativity:

Trying new things

New experiences can spark creativity because it triggers new connections in our brains. Try cooking a new recipe, take a dance class, or pick up an instrument. Even if the experience is a flop, it creates a memory that our imagination can use later to generate new ideas. You never know when a new skill could make its way into a novel.

Exploring the World

Travel, visit an unfamiliar neighborhood, or read a book about someone else’s adventures! The more things you see and learn, the more raw material your imagination will have to turn into ideas. I love incorporating details from my travels into my fictional world to add depth and realism.

People-Watching

I love to see how people interact with each other and the world around them. I often find myself imagining the stories behind the people I see. Who are they? Where are they going? What are they thinking? People-watching lets me collect an endless supply of emotions, motivations, and quirks. Mixing my observations and imagination enables me to create new, complex characters or scenes in my novels.

Family Storytelling

Family dynamics are universal. Relationships within a family can bring out the best and the worst in us, often at the same time. I love the kind of stories that begin with, “Did I ever tell you about the time...?” These stories are usually full of humor, conflict, and unexpected twists. Our messy, complicated relationships shape who we are. By weaving elements of these stories into my work, I aim to craft story arcs that resonate with readers on a personal level.

Listening

People are fountains of information. Ask questions about someone’s job. Listen to their opinions. Showing a genuine interest in someone else is great for your relationships, AND for collecting tidbits your imagination can assemble into an idea later.

Bonus tip: Watch a TV show or listen to a podcast to hear other people’s stories from a variety of perspectives.

Writing

Last but not least, practice writing. Put those ideas to use. Let your imagination run wild, making connections that don’t seem possible and writing stories that no one will ever see. The more you let your mind think creatively, the easier it will become to make connections between disparate bits of information. Those connections are what we like to call ideas.

Check out my novel at amethystdrake.com and drop a comment to connect!

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