3 Places Your Next Book Idea is Hiding

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You’re ready to write your book.

But every time you sit down, you can’t seem to write past the first page.

What you thought you wanted to write, doesn’t seem to fit anymore. And you can’t seem to brainstorm a story you’re excited about.

So, where do you find the right idea for your book? Well, your next book idea is probably hiding in one of these three places. It’s time for you to find it.

1. Old Notes and Journals

I don’t know a writer who doesn’t have ideas or pieces of stories in multiple places. In a meeting and feel a line pop up? Jot it down in your planner because you’ll surely remember it’s there, right?

Unless, you have a system for transferring notes (which if you do, I’d love to know what it is!), you’re likely sitting on a trove of story ideas you have long forgotten about.

Gather your planner, notepads, journals and any other places you scribble notes down. Go through drawers and even the Notes section of your phone. 

Just like when you lose your keys and you’re retracing your steps — look at your space with new eyes for all the places notes could be. 

And then give yourself an hour or two to go through it all. Read slowly and write down any ideas that jump out at you. Keep a running list on a separate sheet of paper strictly for book ideas. Without knowing it, you just created part of a note-keeping process.

2. Inside a Previous Story

In addition to your stockpile of notes and half-filled journals, you probably have a decent collection of stories sitting somewhere. 

Now is the time to revisit them — no matter what your writing group or voice deep down says about it. Likely, you’ve had time away from your writing, so read with fresh eyes. Instead of looking at where you went wrong, see what was going right and how you can make it new.

Maybe, you revise what you already have or you take pieces from other stories to craft a fresh one. You spent time putting ink on pages, so don’t throw everything away just because you wrote it awhile ago. 

3. Repeated Conversations with Friends and Family

There are few family gatherings I can escape without hearing about someone’s idea for their great novel. And they’re not new ideas. The same family friend wants to write a cookbook about wild game, and one uncle believes the cold case he broke would make a thrilling book (I believe it too).

So, what’s the story you keep telling people you want to write? It’s the idea that keeps you up at night — the one you can’t seem to get rid of.

Feel like you still don’t have one?

Ask your friends and family what book they wish you’d write. Be prepared for some suggestions you won’t love, but be open to their input. We often don’t see our strengths or full value, so there could be a killer book idea among your most trusted group of people you would never have seen for yourself.

Choosing your next book idea is daunting. You have one choice to move forward, so it better be good. But when you remember that you’re already sitting on a wealth of ideas, it’ll be less scary.

And maybe you have too many ideas...or maybe, it just means you have more books to write after this one.