What’s the Big Idea?

1 TRY “X MEETS Y”

A popular formula for enticing agents in a query, this classic equation has traditionally been used as a marketing tool after your manuscript is finished to compare your book to other titles. But when reverse-engineered, it can actually be used as a device for idea generation as well. Start by listing out some of your favorite movies, TV shows and books, then look for ones that are the least like each other. Plug them into the formula, and you’ll soon be getting odd combos like “Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Back to the Future,” “Anna Karenina meets The Hate U Give” or “Pirates of the Caribbean meets A Game of Thrones.” Some mixes may seem dissonant on the surface, but remember that genre-blending is the future—as Paul Goat Allen asserts in “Cross-Pollination” (Page 31). In fact, the more the variables contrast, the more room for a distinctly novel story idea.

—Tyler Moss, Editor-in-Chief

2 ROLL THE DICE

In an interview in the September 1997 , Diane Ackerman said, “Creativity by its nature has to do with gambling, taking chances, insinuating yourself into darker corners that haven’t been explored.” In