Hearing the stories people tell when with friends can be a wonderful source of writing ideas for our writer
Each one of your friends carries a basket full of stories and ideas for writing everywhere they go and, if you can find the right button to press, they might be persuaded to release some of their stories to you.
Each friend probably needs to be approached slightly differently but the one thing they all have in common is a need for a friendly ear. We all appreciate somebody to talk to at times. Given the right approach, a bucket full of stories can come your way. Used tactfully and responsibly, they can give you ideas for writing that will keep you busy for many hours.
Of course, you will constantly need to ask yourself the question ’so what if?’ and elaborate on the material you have gathered. It is a starting point from which you can weave your storyline, discover characters and spring surprises on your reader to thrill and intrigue.
A truly Machiavellian writing researcher can sometimes achieve remarkable results by persuading their friends to speculate extensions to what they actually know thus surreptitiously involving them in creatively writing the story themselves. Getting your friends to talk about their family, grandparents, parents and their friends can put their story at arm’s length. It enables them to speculate more easily which, sometimes, through the process of Chinese whispers, creates inventive twists and turns.
Ideas for writing come from people’s relationships. Your relationships with the people around you and with your family and friends are fertile fields for discovering ideas for writing. Once you have an idea or a thought to follow, it is up to you to devise twists, turns, mysteries and a thrilling plot to make them more than just a simple narration.
Ideas for writing don’t have to be sensational, they can be quite commonplace but written very well with feeling and still be extremely successful. Often the most important thing about an idea for writing is that you have come across something to which you are drawn and which inspires you to put pen to paper and your fingers on your keyboard.
I once saw two doves on a flat roof near to where I was writing then got into a conversation about their migration habits with a friend. This was enough to stimulate my short flash fiction story Turtle Dove Winter Love.
When ideas for writing come to you in the process of chatting with your friends, or gossiping, do not be afraid to make a note at the time in your writer’s notebook. By allowing the other person to be complicit in the writing idea, worthwhile writing idea extensions can also then be generated.
Good luck with your ideas for writing – and enjoy your gossiping 
Bye for now
Rob