It's a rare bonus episode.

Today's topics are generating story ideas and overcoming writer's block.

Matt from College Park wrote in saying that the podcast has helped his writing and now

his only problem is finding something to write about.

He wants to know if I have any tips for overcoming writer's block or figuring out where to begin

writing.

Okay, back to story ideas.

First, I'll talk about nonfiction writing and then I'll talk about fiction writing

because I think the process is different for each.

I made my living as a freelance magazine writer for a few years, so my ability to pay my

bills rested on my ability to generate marketable story ideas.

For the first couple of months it was difficult, but much to my surprise after I got into

the groove and became familiar with my target publications, I saw story ideas everywhere.

Some days I would come up with as many as five story ideas.

Some of them weren't so great, but with that many to choose from, I could easily pick

the winners.

For me, generating story ideas was all about having the right mindset and surrounding

myself with people and publications.

Here's some specific advice.

Adopt a curious mindset.

You want to know the details about everything.

I once got a great story idea for a science trade magazine just from a friend's casual

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