Got the proofs back for Under the Western Sky. Why do you always catch those repeated words and phrases when you get those back, instead of when you do your final edits before sending the story in the first time?

I didn’t find any actual typos in the story — they did a good job setting it up. I do wish I could change a couple of lines though!

The best way to edit your story or proof is to print the thing out. This is the step I skipped because my printer was acting up that week. Somehow, printing the story makes it easier to find typos and wrong word choices. Start at the end of the story and read backwards, looking at every word until you get to the beginning. Misspellings leap out this way, as do grammatical errors of most kinds and repeated words.

I’ll get you a link to the finished book once it’s out on the market. We’re hoping for a November release. I’ll be entering the story in the Peacemaker and Spur awards, too. Probably never going to win since it’s not a “traditional” Western (my protagonists are unrepentant outlaws), but …

Coming up with new story ideas is easy for some writers – they have trouble narrowing their ideas down to just one!

However, some writers have more trouble figuring out a good plot to go with their characters. For those who do, here are some tried and true tips:

• Ask “what if?” – look at any ordinary situation and imagine what would happen if …. What if the blind date that man is waiting for at the table next to yours turns out to be a psychopath — or his soulmate? What if that off-the-beaten-path trail leads to a murder scene? What if the train derails just as it pulls into the station?
• Finish this quote: _____ was not what it seemed. You can make an unlimited number of stories this way. The new neighbors were not what they seemed. The charming hotel was not what it seemed. The road trip was not what it seemed.
• Finish this quote as well: If only she/he hadn’t ______. This is another practically infinite prompt. If only he hadn’t taken that short cut. If only she hadn’t tried that new restaurant. If only they hadn’t decided to vacation here.
• Eavesdrop. This is always a great way to get story ideas. You hear the oddest things in a public location, and any one of them could turn into a great story for you.
• Reinvent a scene from a book or movie. Take an insignificant scene from a book or movie and imagine that as the opening scene for your story.
• Surf the net. Type a subject into your search engine and just start clicking anything that looks interesting. You’re bound to come up with something that stirs your imagination pretty quickly.
• Catch up with the news. Watch online or on TV, or read the newspaper. Something’s sure to catch your eye and trigger your emotions.

These aren’t all the ways a writer can come up with great story ideas, of course, but they’re ones that have always worked.

What are your tried and true idea generating ideas?