© 2003, Don Vaughan Where do you get your ideas? That's gotta be the one question that irritates fiction writers the most--and for good reason. The idea for a short story or a novel isn't something you simply order from a catalog. In most cases, it just appears, a welcome gift from the writer's personal muse. When people ask me where I get my ideas, I tell them The Miami Herald. Of course, I write nonfiction. Sometimes saleable ideas just hit me (usually while I'm taking a shower and unable to write them down). But 99 percent of the time, they come from another source, most frequently a local newspaper. I subscribe to the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post, and both subscriptions have paid for themselves many times over in freelance sales. Area newspapers and regional magazines are a great place to look for local stories with national appeal. They're also a good springboard for "issue" stories. I recently wrote an article for Hustler on medicinal marijuana, an issue that I first read about in the Miami Herald. When others saw that article, they probably thought, "How interesting." When I saw it, I thought, "Gee, this is a great idea for Hustler." And I was right. Not only did that article give me the idea, it gave me the names of potential sources (who were then supplemented with sources developed on my own). If you don't subscribe to at least one daily newspaper, you should; they're one of the best and most consistent sources of marketable ideas I've been able to find. My office is piled high with file folders crammed with interesting clips for use now or later. Every morning, I feel like I've been visited by the Idea Fairy. Before I continue, let's clear up one thing. I'm not talking about ripping off a newspaper article; I'm talking about spotting a saleable idea. There's a big difference. To swipe liberally from an article is plagiarism and wholly illegal. But you can't copyright an idea. Anyone can write about medicinal marijuana. In this case, the Miami Herald did it first, followed by me. And certainly more articles on that particular subject will be forthcoming from other writers. Newspapers aren't my only source of ideas; I also get a lot of inspiration from local television and radio news. I keep pads of paper in my living room, bedroom and car because you never know when a great idea will literally fall in your lap. Friends and relatives make good stories, too. One of the first freelance articles I ever sold concerned my girlfriend (now my wife). She was a nurse who happened to collect nurse dolls. I queried the now-defunct Collectibles Illustrated, which loved the idea. My girlfriend became a local celebrity and I got a nice check. Another example: My friend Maryanne Chewning had a cat that was blind as a bat, so naturally she became the focus of a Cat Fancy feature on living with vision-impaired pets. And I've managed to sell two well-paying profiles of my friend Cliff Linedecker, a prominent writer of true-crime who has received very little publicity locally. Think closely about your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Do they have a unique past, job or hobby? If so, chances are good that someone will be interested in them. You just have to find the right market. State colleges and universities are another wealth of potential magazine articles. To keep up on what's happening, just call the public information office and ask to be put on their mailing list. Soon you'll be inundated with press releases, most of which will be of no interest whatsoever. However, for every 100 that get thrown away, there will almost certainly be at least one priceless gem. It also pays to talk to complete strangers, especially grocery clerks, waiters and others in the service industry. You'd be amazed at what people think, what they've seen, what they've experienced--and how interesting it all is. I recently had my rug cleaned by Stanley Steemer, and talked to one of the workers while he took a break. I asked him about the weirdest things he'd ever seen, and he was off and running: Roxanne Pulitzer pinched his ass and asked for a discount; another woman accidentally left a giant marital aid on the living room table. I immediately realized I was listening to the makings of a truly great magazine article. Once you get an idea, it's time to think about markets. That's where the annual Writer's Market becomes essential. And don't limit your idea to one magazine or type of magazine. Most ideas can be twisted to fit a number of different areas, thus widening your market base and increasing your profit potential. Say you're writing a piece on arson dogs for Dog Fancy, a national magazine read primarily by dog owners. Could the piece be rewritten from a different perspective for a firefighter's magazine? How about the general-interest press, such as Grit? Do you have a local magazine or newspaper that would find the idea of interest? Could it be "dumbed down" a little for the kiddie market? Is there an angle that would appeal to senior citizens? Does the dog's trainer belong to a service organization, such as Kiwanis or the Elks? All of a sudden, your simple piece on an arson dog has appeal to half a dozen different and non-overlapping markets. And if you sell First North American Serial Rights (or something similar), you can turn around and sell reprint rights to other magazines within each type of market. Does this really work? Absolutely! The only way for a nonfiction writer to make good, consistent money is to sell the hell out of each idea. And the time involved in minimal. After your initial research, each resale should require just a short update interview and perhaps one or two new sources. The best I've ever done is about $4000 on a single idea: A Miami cosmetic surgeon who developed a procedure to enlarge the penis. I first sold it to Penthouse Forum for $1500, then rewrote the idea for Screw for another $200. I later wrote a short on the subject for Omni for $175, then was asked to write a humorous rebuttal to an editorial on penis size in the British edition of Penthouse Forum, for which I received another $1500, plus $350 for photos. Everyone wanted this story, I was able to give it to them. You, too, can have this kind of luck by training yourself to see potential ideas in everything you do and everyone you meet. Here are some other tips:
* Keep clip files on subjects that interest you, whether you can use them now or not. I once sat on an idea for nearly a decade before I finally found a market that could use it. |
