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The Writer's Idea Book: How to Develop Great Ideas for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, & Screenplays
Since its publication ten years ago, The Writer's Idea Book has become one of the most popular books for writers. The 'secret' to its success is the number of idea-generating exercises. In this new edition, every chapter will feature new exercises, text, and examples/models. Some of the updated text will be drawn from Heffron's original sequel to the first edition, The Writer's Idea Workshop (now out of print), and some will be original to this edition. In addition, a section called 'Questions to Consider' will be added at the end of each chapter to generate further ideas, insights, and, most importantly, writing.
353 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
February 7, 2020
Per molti versi, è il manuale sulla scrittura che stavo aspettando.
Ho sempre avuto la passione della scrittura, ma nel tempo il mio entusiasmo è scemato sempre più perchè non ero mai pienamente soddisfatta di quello che scrivevo: le idee che mi venivano in testa non mi convincevano pienamente e aspettavo di avere idee più complete, più belle, più meritevoli prima di mettermi all'opera.
...Questo libro è diventato un pò il mio personal trainer: mi ha convinto dell'importanza di scrivere per il fatto stesso allenare la scrittura, e non tanto per inseguire il fantasma di una buona idea. Perchè scrivere è un pò come andare in palestra: se per iniziare aspetti la giornata giusta, quando sarai dell'umore migliore, il tempo sarà buono e avrai l'abbigliamento giusto...quel giorno non arriverà mai!
L'autore propone svarianti spunti di scrittura validi sia per superare il blocco dello scrittore e scrivere anche se non si hanno particolari spunti in testa, sia esercizi per rianalizzare e riscrivere testi già scritti, per vederli sotto una nuova luce e valutare se è possibile migliorarli.
Una lettura davvero soddisfacente, la consiglio come regalo se conoscete degli scrittori e desiderate incoraggiarli in questa loro passione.
Ho sempre avuto la passione della scrittura, ma nel tempo il mio entusiasmo è scemato sempre più perchè non ero mai pienamente soddisfatta di quello che scrivevo: le idee che mi venivano in testa non mi convincevano pienamente e aspettavo di avere idee più complete, più belle, più meritevoli prima di mettermi all'opera.
...Questo libro è diventato un pò il mio personal trainer: mi ha convinto dell'importanza di scrivere per il fatto stesso allenare la scrittura, e non tanto per inseguire il fantasma di una buona idea. Perchè scrivere è un pò come andare in palestra: se per iniziare aspetti la giornata giusta, quando sarai dell'umore migliore, il tempo sarà buono e avrai l'abbigliamento giusto...quel giorno non arriverà mai!
L'autore propone svarianti spunti di scrittura validi sia per superare il blocco dello scrittore e scrivere anche se non si hanno particolari spunti in testa, sia esercizi per rianalizzare e riscrivere testi già scritti, per vederli sotto una nuova luce e valutare se è possibile migliorarli.
Una lettura davvero soddisfacente, la consiglio come regalo se conoscete degli scrittori e desiderate incoraggiarli in questa loro passione.
November 15, 2017
So, at the end of October, I spontaneously decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month that usually happens in November. Hence my decision to dive into this idea book that I just happened to already have on my Nook account, downloaded from who knows when, because I knew I'd want to try to get back into writing one day. I'm planning to refer to this book throughout my writing process, since I have not seriously written in such a long time.
This book definitely has plenty of prompts to spark that writing flame. I cannot deny that. However, many of them don't apply to my specific situation, or I just can't remember enough, such as when the prompt suggests to write about something that happened at a specific point in your past. Especially since the memories of my early 20s always tend to be a bit of a blur to my mind. But the chapter that has resonated with me the most is Chapter 17: Minding Other People's Business. It talks about paying attention to the world around you, and letting those simple observations spark ideas for writing, such as a conversation that you've overheard at an airport or in a restaurant. I already do this, whenever I'm out in public, because of a writing teacher I had that advised us to use the things you hear people say, as a potential beginning to a story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it has so many helpful tips and tricks to overcome the struggles of the writing process. I felt inspired throughout the journey of reading it, which is exactly what I needed to get out of it. And now I feel like I'm better prepared to dive right into my writing again.
This book definitely has plenty of prompts to spark that writing flame. I cannot deny that. However, many of them don't apply to my specific situation, or I just can't remember enough, such as when the prompt suggests to write about something that happened at a specific point in your past. Especially since the memories of my early 20s always tend to be a bit of a blur to my mind. But the chapter that has resonated with me the most is Chapter 17: Minding Other People's Business. It talks about paying attention to the world around you, and letting those simple observations spark ideas for writing, such as a conversation that you've overheard at an airport or in a restaurant. I already do this, whenever I'm out in public, because of a writing teacher I had that advised us to use the things you hear people say, as a potential beginning to a story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it has so many helpful tips and tricks to overcome the struggles of the writing process. I felt inspired throughout the journey of reading it, which is exactly what I needed to get out of it. And now I feel like I'm better prepared to dive right into my writing again.
February 6, 2018
I stumbled upon this book years ago when I was looking for a last minute game for my writing group. From the title it was not what I expected, but that, in the end, is what I like the most about this book. Jack Heffron’s book has more prompts in it than I have seen in any other writing book. It’s really just a collection of small blurbs and then about five to ten prompts, sometimes just a pull page of prompts, and yes, I am still working my way through them. So many good prompts and so little time!
If you’re expecting this book to be filled with random silly little ideas that will give you a brilliant idea for that brilliant novel that will launch you to success, don’t waste your time. That book doesn’t exist. This book will have you look at yourself and your own experiences A LOT. It will have you figure out what you value, what you want as a writer and what you want to write. You will have a lot of fun, learn a lot about yourself, and yes, become a better writer. Just don’t expect this book to hold the key to Schenecktady.
What is wonderful about this book though is that it lets you figure out what kind of writer you want to be without spelling it out for you.
If you’re expecting this book to be filled with random silly little ideas that will give you a brilliant idea for that brilliant novel that will launch you to success, don’t waste your time. That book doesn’t exist. This book will have you look at yourself and your own experiences A LOT. It will have you figure out what you value, what you want as a writer and what you want to write. You will have a lot of fun, learn a lot about yourself, and yes, become a better writer. Just don’t expect this book to hold the key to Schenecktady.
What is wonderful about this book though is that it lets you figure out what kind of writer you want to be without spelling it out for you.
September 11, 2017
A literal gold mine of ideas, prompts and exercises to get a writer going. I use many of these in my own creative writing class. Granted not all of these will be to every writer's taste but there is enough in here for every writing to get a lot out of this book. Recommend it.
May 15, 2017
This book is perfect for writers looking to become more creative and polished. There are prompts to help get ideas on the page and can help if you're in a rut when it comes to new ideas. There are prompts to help revise previous writings you've done by changing point of view or voice, etc. Exercises to help you find the best way to convey your story or idea without being cliche or unoriginal. Really this book is an excellent way to improve your skill as a writer, the prompts/exercises are numerous and in depth, and the advice and ideas the author offers are manageable and felt encouraging. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking to improve their writing or get a jumpstart when you feel in a rut. (I wouldn't recommend this book if you are looking for journal prompts or just other things to write about, the material here isn't structured in that way.)
September 28, 2017
I found this book's writing prompts only moderately useful, because they involve many topics that I don't find directly relevant to story ideas, such as why one doesn't want to write or what one's beliefs on some issue are.
They're as good as anything in forcing one to write, about anything; and then the mind has a way of popping out thoughts that may prove unexpectedly relevant or useful to one's story, even directly involved in it. But...I'd rather move on and look at more interesting writing prompts.
Not recommended if the reader would like to write fiction, in which case I enthusiastically recommend The Writer's Idea Thesaurus, a book of much more interesting and offbeat prompts.
They're as good as anything in forcing one to write, about anything; and then the mind has a way of popping out thoughts that may prove unexpectedly relevant or useful to one's story, even directly involved in it. But...I'd rather move on and look at more interesting writing prompts.
Not recommended if the reader would like to write fiction, in which case I enthusiastically recommend The Writer's Idea Thesaurus, a book of much more interesting and offbeat prompts.
November 24, 2019
Anche se non si può propriamente parlare di una bella, ricca ‘lettura’ - il libro si articola in capitoli che dopo una breve introduzione propongono una lunga serie di esercizi per stimolare la creatività, roba che a svolgerli tutti te ne fai da qui al prossimo Ferragosto - sicuramente l’idea di base è ben articolata e supportata.
La scrittura, spiega questo testo sacro nel suo genere negli USA - è datato 2000, ma non pare sia ancora passato di moda - è in piccola parte genio&talento, e in gran parte pratica. Costanza. Impegno. Regolarità. Sudore&fatica.
Agli amanti della penna, oltre che del Kindle, consiglio anche ‘On Writing’ del grande Stephen King e ‘Come si scrive un giallo’ di Patricia Highsmith.
La scrittura, spiega questo testo sacro nel suo genere negli USA - è datato 2000, ma non pare sia ancora passato di moda - è in piccola parte genio&talento, e in gran parte pratica. Costanza. Impegno. Regolarità. Sudore&fatica.
Agli amanti della penna, oltre che del Kindle, consiglio anche ‘On Writing’ del grande Stephen King e ‘Come si scrive un giallo’ di Patricia Highsmith.
August 5, 2012
This is a fantastic book! I will be using it for years I'm sure! Each chapter starts out with a description of what you'll be working with whether it is the basics of making sure you are writing every day or more complex topics as character development. Then throughout the chapter you get different prompts and exercizes to work through to help work on those topics.
I found the backstories to be very interesting and the exercizes to be fun and ones that can be done many times.
I found the backstories to be very interesting and the exercizes to be fun and ones that can be done many times.
October 7, 2015
This book has so many great ideas! It's ideal for writers, but is also a great resource for teachers who might be looking to help students with short story ideas. Definitely something you'll want to add to your bookcase!
June 25, 2018
This will give you how to capture an idea. How little things about your day to day life can trigger a concept. It shows you the practice of how to capture the character, his her motivation and how to see your present world in a different way so as create new stories.
September 19, 2018
Writing prompt books have never interested me, but I thought to give this one a try. I think because I’m 7 years late reading this book, everything seems old and cliche to me. I did find the exercises useful. But when working with writing prompts, it feels like I’m writing what everybody else is writing, which is meaningless.
On the back cover blurb, the author does tell you that it’s up to you to put your own spin on the ideas provided. Because everyone has ideas, it’s hard to write something that’s not already published. This book is good for those who only want to practice writing things they have no intentions on ever publishing. Anything to stimulate minds and help writers polish their skills is a great desktop companion.
I, however am not short on ideas. I have more ideas than I have room to contain them. But executing them to an attentive audience is my biggest challenge. I did not find the ideas useful. But I got a good brain and hand workout, so I’m not complaining. Three stars because most of the information I already knew or didn’t find helpful.
On the back cover blurb, the author does tell you that it’s up to you to put your own spin on the ideas provided. Because everyone has ideas, it’s hard to write something that’s not already published. This book is good for those who only want to practice writing things they have no intentions on ever publishing. Anything to stimulate minds and help writers polish their skills is a great desktop companion.
I, however am not short on ideas. I have more ideas than I have room to contain them. But executing them to an attentive audience is my biggest challenge. I did not find the ideas useful. But I got a good brain and hand workout, so I’m not complaining. Three stars because most of the information I already knew or didn’t find helpful.
August 30, 2019
If you're looking for a book filled with a wide range of writing prompts, this is the book. From creating ideas to exploring ideas to evaluating ideas, the prompts expanded my writing depth and forced (allowed?) me to turn my characters world upside down to better understand my characters origins.
PROMPT:
Longings usually are associated with the past, the desire to reunite with a time or place or person who is no longer around. Create a characters who longs for someone or something in her past but show the reader (rather than telling her) that the character's longing never will be fulfilled because they never existed in the way the character remembers them. (p.104)
PROMPT:
Longings usually are associated with the past, the desire to reunite with a time or place or person who is no longer around. Create a characters who longs for someone or something in her past but show the reader (rather than telling her) that the character's longing never will be fulfilled because they never existed in the way the character remembers them. (p.104)
March 14, 2019
I struggled to get through this book. While it might have been good for writing prompts (which I wasn't really looking for), as far as actual information, I found it pretty sparse. Especially when you consider that there wasn't a lot of examples given for some of the direction. I wish there was a how-to approach with it.
March 16, 2020
This book opened my mind to what treasures were already inside me. It's the first writing prompt book I've read and I loved it. I found it incredibly helpful and motivating for improving and growing my writing skills.
May 29, 2021
Some interesting ideas in this for anyone looking for writing exercises, but best bought in paperback - it's the sort of book you will want to dip in and out of. I ploughed through it on kindle, and it was a long, hard slog.
July 27, 2021
Some interesting ideas in this for anyone looking for writing exercises, but best bought in paperback - it's the sort of book you will want to dip in and out of. I ploughed through it on kindle, and it was a long, hard slog.
January 18, 2021
Davvero ricco di spunti! Dopo averlo letto il problema non sarà più “Non ho niente da dire”!
April 6, 2024
Not only does this book give wise suggestions for your own writing, several ways of approaching each subject are offered to try out yourself. Rich with ideas.
August 23, 2016
Spent the whole day on this book. Great info; however, way too detailed for me. I feel like I'm back in college again. This is a book you will want to own and chew like you are eating an elephant. I think I could read every day for the rest of my life and never finish this book. And in a way, this is a good thing. I don't have the patience at the moment.
Two of my best "take away" chapters, and they aren't separated numerically from many others, is chapter 38 and 43. The writing prompts in 38...here's one in summary: (1) make a list of as many aspects of my life as possible. Big or small, it doesn't matter. I am taking a life inventory. I decided, to list my present day; it just felt easier. (2) pull out one item and write a few pages about it. It could be a personal essay or it can be fictionalized in some way. I chose a personal essay about a particular food I like to eat that I'm making for dinner.
Another technique I enjoyed was similar to the above except to arrange some of the items in the list into headings (or categories), such as my hobbies, passions, gifts, habits I want to break...etc. Then, again, write several pages on it. I chose one of my passions -- learning. I found out quickly, on page 1 of my page (which was paper and pen) that I needed to narrow this down; otherwise, I would be writing for years (probably not but that's my thinking at the time). So I made a more detailed list. I actually got bogged down and write pages on what and why I like to learn. I learned a lot about myself while writing this.
This is a library book and I do have it out for another few weeks, I am choosing to stop here and record all the notes I took from the reading...there's so much to apply I'm going to need to figure out where to begin to apply. I'm going to return the book to the library tomorrow and take note that if I ever need to gather new ideas or get stuck on idea generating, this is the book to re-read.
This book is great; however, I do recommend skipping and choosing rather than trying to plow through it like I have.
Two of my best "take away" chapters, and they aren't separated numerically from many others, is chapter 38 and 43. The writing prompts in 38...here's one in summary: (1) make a list of as many aspects of my life as possible. Big or small, it doesn't matter. I am taking a life inventory. I decided, to list my present day; it just felt easier. (2) pull out one item and write a few pages about it. It could be a personal essay or it can be fictionalized in some way. I chose a personal essay about a particular food I like to eat that I'm making for dinner.
Another technique I enjoyed was similar to the above except to arrange some of the items in the list into headings (or categories), such as my hobbies, passions, gifts, habits I want to break...etc. Then, again, write several pages on it. I chose one of my passions -- learning. I found out quickly, on page 1 of my page (which was paper and pen) that I needed to narrow this down; otherwise, I would be writing for years (probably not but that's my thinking at the time). So I made a more detailed list. I actually got bogged down and write pages on what and why I like to learn. I learned a lot about myself while writing this.
This is a library book and I do have it out for another few weeks, I am choosing to stop here and record all the notes I took from the reading...there's so much to apply I'm going to need to figure out where to begin to apply. I'm going to return the book to the library tomorrow and take note that if I ever need to gather new ideas or get stuck on idea generating, this is the book to re-read.
This book is great; however, I do recommend skipping and choosing rather than trying to plow through it like I have.
August 13, 2008
I'm reading sections out of this book to help inspire me to write and push myself back into the writing realm and I believe it's doing a good job. It's my first book like this, so it maybe seem obvious to some people some of the stuff in the begining. There is a begining part about different stresses that writers have on them to not write-- like feeling we have other more important responsibilities, or writing/thinking as "The Author" rather than just letting the creative juices flow. So far I quite like it although the "ideas" section, so far that hasn't left me with a lot of urge to write...
January 28, 2022
One of my favorite writing books so far. Filled with more prompts than you can imagine, this will be one book I will return to over and over again as I find myself stumped in writing.
Heffron does an amazing job in creating a book about everything imaginable and drawing not only examples from popular literature but creating ideas for writers to use to create their works as well. The includes, but is not limited to, writing about all kinds of love, heartache, pain, and joy; events in life including birth, death and marriage; tips on how to begin and end; character development and relationships; and so many more things it’s hard to grasp them all in one reading.
Heffron does an amazing job in creating a book about everything imaginable and drawing not only examples from popular literature but creating ideas for writers to use to create their works as well. The includes, but is not limited to, writing about all kinds of love, heartache, pain, and joy; events in life including birth, death and marriage; tips on how to begin and end; character development and relationships; and so many more things it’s hard to grasp them all in one reading.
October 27, 2013
Many good prompts, but they are not the true value of this book. The book's tone keeps me writing when I want to stop. It's about "quit your whining and just WRITE for god's sakes." And it makes me keep writing and writing even when I want to stop because it's all crap flowing onto the paper, and nobody will ever want to read this crud, and how in the world am I going to convince anyone I'm a writer, and on and on. I keep this book on my desk as inspiration for those critical sessions of debilitating self-doubt. It might do the same for you.
October 13, 2008
One of my favorite prompt books. Heffron offers a little coaching but this book is all about the writing. I've found it very helpful in tapping into my own life, past and present, for traits and emotions I can project onto my characters. It makes you dig, even into things that hurt, and as a result my characters and stories now go deeper. It's excellent for getting a handle on raw emotions but also for jump starting ideas.
February 5, 2010
So I didn't actually finish this one. It was due back at the library. But while I had it, it was great. I'd certainly check it out again. I picked it up for some, you know, 'ideas', of which there were plenty. In some ways it's 'just another writing' book. Good ideas and plenty of excercises to do that are helpful. As far as advice, etc. it's nothing I haven't heard before. Just keep writing!
November 29, 2011
I picked up this book because it's full of writing prompts, though only a portion are fiction-specific. There were some good tidbits of advice sprinkled throughout, but some of the book's encouraging nature became tired after a while. This book is one I would recommend to writers who feel they suffer from so-called writer's block (I personally feel that's a lame excuse for laziness), or to writers in the early stages of the craft or who are in need encouragement.
March 7, 2012
Heffron provides "Prompts," i.e. writing exercises, to jump-start your creativity in various areas, such as exploring ideas to start with and what to do when when your project goes flat and you need to up the stakes. The latter is what I found to be particularly helpful, and why I gave the book 4*s. I'm not usually into books that involve writing exercises, but this one got me thinking outside the box I was in.
January 2, 2014
It's rare for a "self-help" kind of book to really make an impact with me. They all seem so cookie-cutter, filled with the same endless diatribes and platitudes. Within the first few pages, Jack Heffron's book grabbed me by the horns and left me shaking with my eyed filled with tears. Here, at last, was someone who understood the writers' struggle. I recommend it heartily to any and all of my writerly friends.
December 11, 2009
This book is really great for just getting some ideas rolling around in your head that you can turn around and do something with. A couple of times, the prompts were confusing and the reading got stale. Though this was only a few instances, otherwise his tone was light and encouraging and the prompts were really unique.
December 30, 2012
Excellent book packed with ideas to get the creative thoughts going. Twenty nine chapters in 4 main sections: bending and stretching, exploring, finding form, assessing and developing.
Each chapter has a brief introduction and is then packed with prompts giving writers and aspiring writers plenty of opportuity to noodle around and explore different ideas.
Each chapter has a brief introduction and is then packed with prompts giving writers and aspiring writers plenty of opportuity to noodle around and explore different ideas.
March 11, 2014
I love the writing prompts in this book. I have been keeping a journal off and on for 25 years. I'm planning on writing down some of Neil great stories and I even got a voice recorder app to record them so that when I write them down, I don't miss out on details. I love to write true stories. I'm not very good at writing fiction.
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