As a journalist, the most common question I receive is about the source of my story ideas. Sometimes, newspapers assign me work which saves me the brainpower of having to come up with ideas. In the unfortunate case that I must come up with my own stories (most of the time), there’s a few tricks like crowdsourcing in various corners of the internet, getting yourself on media lists, and going back to previous sources.

However, the best advice I can offer, cliched as it is, is to keep your ears open. We take for granted that interesting things happen in our vicinity throughout our daily lives. In my case, a light bulb goes on in my head at those moments. It’s an instinct I’ve honed over time. Call it a spidey sense of sorts.

Four Tips on Honing This Skill:

Notice the interesting things going on around you.

I was driving down a highway and noticed a motel totally out of character with its neighboring properties on Arlington’s hotel row. Several months later I thought about that hotel when I needed a local article.

In another example, I visited a synagogue in Richmond and saw pictures of two congregants in Boy Scout uniforms. I inquired further and found out that there was a troop within the Richmond Orthodox Jewish community that catered specifically to the customs and dietary habits of observant Jews (resulting article).

Approach people that have interesting wardrobes or live in interesting-looking houses.

I once did an Uber share with a young lady wearing a sash, and she mentioned she was returning from an event in her role as Miss Arlington (resulting article).

Another story involved a man I saw on the Washington D.C. metro on a weeknight. I asked him why he wore a tuxedo. “Well, have I got a story for you,” he said, and things went from there.

Similarly, I’ve had story ideas from houses with interesting decorations (particularly around Halloween time). There’s one pair of good Samaritans well-known in South Arlington for having a private food bank and do various social experiments form their front door. I once inquired further and found that the resident self-identifies as a kindness activist.

Be more inquisitive than the average person.

If I find myself in a conversation and I hear something interesting, I dig deeper. Again, this is a natural tendency I’ve heightened.

Sometimes, this has happened via carpooling. One man gave me a ride home who was also picking up an adopted refugee. This was at the height of the exodus of interpreters from Afghanistan. I instantly thought “wow, I gotta hear more!”, and it became one of my biggest successes.

Another woman I carpooled with was a guidance counselor for aspiring professional artists and athletes. I knew that her story was ideal for a couple markets: Family magazines and Jewish community magazines. The resulting article got me entry to both markets.

Pay attention to where someone lives when absorbing entertainment news.

I have lived in Central and Northern Virginia as well as Savannah, Georgia, so I track those media markets.

Game and reality TV show participants usually have their hometown publicized on the screen. This resulted in my connecting to a storyteller from True Story with Ed and Randall. Through him and many others (like TV show creator Greg Garcia or YouTube star Elaine Carroll, I highlighted our common geography in my contact with their management to land interviews.

Conclusion

I’m not suggesting that newsworthy ideas automatically happen. That’s why it’s best to have ideas banked up. It’s not like better instincts will lead to a meteorite landing in front of your doorstep tomorrow morning. However, IF a meteorite lands in front of my doorstep, the first thought that would go through my head would be “How do I publish this?”

BIO – Orrin Konheim is a freelance researcher and journalist of 15 years with professional bylines in over 40 publications. He can be found at http://www.patreon.com/okjournalist and his professional samples can be found at http://www.muckrack.com/orrin-konheim. He also teaches an online seminar on how to get published.