Tag Archives: story ideas

STORYSTORM 2018 Update

 

In case you forgot, STORYSTORM, founded by Tara Lazar is taking place this month. If you’ve never participated in STORYSTORM, I encourage you to consider it for next year. I’ve been providing updates as I’ve moved along this month. I am happy to say that I finished STORYSTORM a few days early. And just to prove I’m a bit of an overachiever, I went with 31 ideas instead of 30.

Next month I’ll take these ideas on vacation with me and comb through to see what’s worth working on and what might have to stay hidden for a while until it rattles around in my brain some more. There might even be some that just need to hit the trash bin.

Did you participate in STORYSTORM this year? How are you doing?

 

STORYSTORM 2018 is Coming!

Tara Lazar’s STORYSTORM 2018 will start tomorrow! Thanks to this annual event (formerly known as Picture Book Idea Month), I have come up with numerous story ideas over the last few years, including one that became my third published book, Macaroni and Cheese for Thanksgiving, and also Amos Faces His Bully, which will be released by Guardian Angel Publishing in 2018. The children’s story I recently wrote at writing group also came about thanks to this challenge.
Any writer interested in brainstorming new story ideas in January is invited to join. Any genre, any style; student, amateur, hobbyist, aspiring author or professional.

How does STORYSTORM work? It’s simple…

  • Register at Tara’s blog by signing your name ONCE in the comments on the registration post. Registering makes you eligible for prizes.
  • Visit her blog daily (taralazar.com) in January for inspirational essays by guest bloggers—professional authors, illustrators and experts in creativity.
  • Instead of visiting the blog directly, you can receive the daily posts via email by clicking the “Follow Tara’s Blog” button in the left column—look under her photo for it.
  • After you have read the daily inspiration, jot down a daily story idea in a journal (the annual CafePress journal will be linked when ready), computer, anywhere you like to write. Some days you might have no ideas, but some days you might have five or more.
  • At the end of January, if you have at least 30 ideas, sign the STORYSTORM pledge she posts and qualify for prizes.
  • Prizes include professional consults, signed books, original art, writerly gadgets and gizmos.

In previous years, I’ve posted my ideas here on my blog. This year I’ll track them on my computer and give a weekly update on my progress.

Good luck to all participants!

Blogging at CCA – Praying for Confidence

This is the first Friday of the month, so I am blogging at Christian Children’s Authors (CCA). I’m sharing some thoughts on last weekend’s author fair and how I prepared for it. You can find my post at http://christianchildrensauthors.com/2017/05/05/praying-for-confidence

One of the things I did at this event is have a poster board where attendees could vote on which story ideas I’ve come up with over the past few years that they would most like to see. I also had a typed out sheet for Middle Grade/Tween and another for Young Adult and Adult. I’ll be sharing those results soon.

STORYSTORM Story Ideas 1 -3

storystorm

 

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be participating in STORYSTORM this month where I endeavor to create 30 story ideas in 30 days. I’ll be posting my ideas at this blog to keep track of them. Since I’ve been busy goofing off, I was a few days behind in getting started. Here are my first three story ideas:

  • Idea 1: As you may know, I am a lover of history. I would like to start a time travel series where two or three kids (maybe siblings, maybe friends) travel to the past via a certain object (perhaps an old diary from an ancestor or locket). The kids would meet historical figures along the way and help solve some problem. Once the problem is solved the object would bring them back home. My first stop would be Colonial America, then maybe America during the Civil War, and perhaps they would even spend some time with one of our former presidents.
  • Idea 2: I would also like to create a Scooby-Doo type mystery series where a group of kids get themselves mixed up in solving crazy mysteries.
  • Idea 3: Last idea for today would be a short story about Mother Goose characters getting their rhymes all mixed up.

Does STORYSTORM sound like something you would enjoy? Registration is open through January 7.