When seeking out writing ideas, it’s perfectly acceptable to draw inspiration from other people’s work. Checking out what other writers have done and using them to find possible material is actually a great way of finding new stuff to write about.
If you’re stuck on what subject to write an essay for class on, for instance, you can draw plenty of ideas from old student essays in the library. You can adapt them to for your own purposes, add your personal viewpoint or supplant it with new research to turn it into a whole different piece.
This is the same manner in which a lot of professional feature writers get their ideas, staying on the lookout by perusing multiple magazines, newsletters and other publications, particularly ones with a focused local bent. In fact, many working professionals make this a part of their daily habits, maintaining a ridiculously large RSS subscription list, apart from the piles of physical materials they regularly go over.
A small sidebar item on a magazine, for instance, can be turned into a full-fledged article for a writer willing to add a little more research to it. Even a small incident on a historical essay, in a similar way, can be expanded to serve as the core topic for your own class assignment.
When spinning off ideas from other writers, it’s important to consider what value you’re going to add to the piece. After all, if you just rewrite what the other writer has previously covered, you’ll likely just land in trouble with your editor or class professor, whichever the case may be. At the least, try to improve upon it by either expanding the coverage or adding depth.
Similarly, make sure to use a good writing software to help you out. The last thing you want is for people to compare the material and find yours riddled with plenty of deficiencies.
Tags: ideas, writing ideas
