Over on twitter, I asked my followers what they would like to see me cover in some posts of this blog. Lothiriel84 asked:
Where do you find your plot bunnies, and how do you managed to develop them so nicely?
Now, this is actually quite a huge question. It actually asks for two sets of advice, albeit related: how to get ideas and how to develop ideas into fully formed plots.
Of course, I am completely happy to cover this in my blog, as well as using this as a device to encourage me to think more deeply about my writing! However, this means that this is going to develop into a little series of themed posts. So, thank you, Lothiriel84! This means I have plenty of work to do to answer your question fully. I hope my answers will help, but I cannot guarantee that. My mind is a very strange place and some of my processes will not be transferable at all.
But, I’m going to start with the question of ‘just where do I get my ideas from?’ and today, it’s going to be one of the least helpful of all:
Bunnies, Bunnies Everywhere…? 1.
Dreams
Yes, you read that right. I dream of plot bunnies. Literally. This is exactly what I mean about some of my ideas being completely untransferable to other people. I’m lucky; I often dream quite vividly and end up waking up and thinking ‘that would make an excellent story.’ I make no secret of this. In the past, for a Big Bang challenge, I took a scene I dreamed of and made a 36,000 word fanfiction out of it.
The novel which I’m currently working on. It started out as a dream and the idea expanded from there.
I’ve had another original story idea from a dream too, one which I currently don’t have the time to write as the first is my priority and this one needs far more developing before I go any further with it.
But, dreams can provide excellent resources. I don’t always remember them, but the most vivid always stay with me. These are the ones which I feel like I remember for a reason. Usually, there’s a way you can translate them into text. It just takes a little working (and/or reworking) because you’re taking images and putting them down. But really, that’s half of the fun of it.
Sorry that this one isn’t particularly helpful, but I think it might be interesting for some people.
Tracie Writes 
Nope, not helpful in the slightest.
But that’s okay. I know your weird-brain-ness and it’s all good. Dreams are a good place because I think some people see them as a way of processing thoughts, sometimes thoughts you didn’t realise you were having. Definitely an interesting aspect of plot bunny birthing.
Ah, I knew it wasn’t going to be helpful; I think it was partially the reason why I chose to get that specific muselet out of the way first. It’s one of those things that either helps you or really doesn’t.
But I do wish I could remember more dreams. Or maybe not; we both know how fertile my imagination is already!
My dreams never seem to make any sense, so there’s no way I’m going to get plot bunnies out of them. It’s intriguing that it works for you anyway.
My mind works in very strange ways. I’m lucky when it comes to getting ideas.
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