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A weekly column from children’s author Simon Rose

NOTE: For the month of February, Simon Rose will focus on where ideas come from and how writers turn them into stories.

One of the most common questions asked of authors, whether from children during school visits or in interviews, is where do you get your ideas? In so many ways, ideas are all around us – in newspapers, magazines, pictures, photographs, other books (whether fiction or non fiction), television, movies, even video games.

History can be a constant source of inspiration for writers, but so are personal experiences, family vacations, family, friends or pets. Many writers have had ideas come to them in dreams, often not an entire novel, but at least a significant enough piece of the puzzle to set them on their way to crafting the actual story.

My own ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. Perhaps when out walking the dog, in the car, something in a conversation, a newspaper story, a billboard, an item on the evening news, TV, movies, books of all kinds, song lyrics, historical events, ancient mysteries, long lost civilizations, the supernatural, ghost stories, the paranormal or something completely out of the blue.

Sometimes the challenge is to stop having ideas. Although I have been known to get ten ideas at once, which amazes my school audiences, I also have to point out that I can go for six months with no ideas at all. Some of the ideas may never be used, and may only be part of a story or a title. They could even feature a character or a piece of dialogue and you aren’t sure where it comes from. However, I do try to record as many ideas as I can, since I never know when they might fit in with a story I’m writing. Even ideas that don’t seem to work right away may have a use in the future.