Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

This is a perennial question for writers. Many of them give unhelpful answers, e.g., "they just come to me." But ideas are truly all around us; it's just a matter of grabbing them and running with them. Here are some tips to get you started, whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction.

1. Eavesdrop. This is a highly underrated source of material - and entertainment. I once passed two women on a walking path just as one was saying to the other, "I didn't know that people were ever born with more than one of those." (I remain intrigued to this day - more than one of what?) So at least once in a while, turn off the iPod and tune into the things people are saying at the food store, on the bus, at the bar. Listening to real conversations also gives you a better ear when it comes to writing dialogue.

2. Your kids and/or pets. This one's a no-brainer. Keep a notepad handy, particularly when your firstborn tries to mount the black lab and ride him across the kitchen.

3. Your job. Whether you deal with the tax code, sexual harassers, or high-level RICO violations, law is a rich source of material for all kinds of writing (as are the nutty people you tend to come across in your average law firm. Where I used to work, we had a senior attorney who brought her pet parrot in to work every day, as well as an administrative temp who once lost it and thrust a pencil through a partner's hand. Comedy gold).

4. Your interests and hobbies. You may know all there is to know about fly fishing because you've done it since you were 8. That's a valuable repository of information you already have that other people would be interested in learning about - you could write a novel about a fly fisherman, a humorous essay about a day you spent out on the river, or a how-to book.

5. Questions you have. You may have always wondered how baseball umpires are trained, or how diamonds are cut, or how short-order cooks make all the eggs come out on time and cooked the right way. Chances are that other people are wondering the same thing. Research it and write an article about it.

6. Your life in general. There's nothing wrong with writing about a thinly veiled version of yourself. Feel free to make that version wittier, better looking, and the object of widespread devotion.