Although Barks gathered ideas for his stories from a variety of sources, such as friends and family, myths and tales, his publisher and the news, the stories are still mainly his own creations. As soon as a plot was decided upon, the hard work began. When Barks wrote a story he became a veritable fountain of ideas. He always dreamed up more gags than could be crammed into the story. He seldom had to find more things for the ducks to do.
Once the idea stage was finished and the ducks' adventure was to take place abroad, Barks would usually consult his large collection of magazines from the National Geographic and the Encyclopedia Britannica. However if the ducks were to stay in the vicinity of Duckburg he had no need for any research since he himself lived in the very surroundings where his stories were take place.

NB.: Titles shown in parentheses were not given by Barks - they have been added in order to make it easier to identify the stories.