People often ask where I get my ideas. Some ask with interest; a few ask with a sense of alarm, as if they can't get over the idea of a church-going choir director dreaming up headless corpses and subtle poisons.
Most writers I know could answer with a question of their own: How do I get them to stop? Every day at least one idea floats through my head that might make a decent book. The problem is choosing one that I like well enough to flesh out the details and finish. In other words, the idea is the easy part.
An idea for an Arthur-and-Guinevere sleuthing team struck my fancy a while back, but I couldn't get interested enough to actually write it. I have several other started mysteries that got shoved onto the back burner. An abandoned idea might be due to other demands on my time (like edits), a plot knot that won't dissolve, or simple boredom: I don't like the story enough to finish it. I call these files "somedays", as in some day I might go back to them. (James Michener didn't write IBERIA for years after he took all the notes and outlined it. I'm no Michener, but still.)
If you are a storyteller, stories grow in your head of their own volition. The work part is writing a story down, toiling over it until it is no longer just a good idea, but a story that others can understand and enjoy.
So my answer to "Where do your ideas come from?" is that my brain is like a tree full of story blossoms. I have to pick the ones that seem promising and then work on them until they become fruit.
4 comments:
Enjoyed the post. Had to laugh when you mentioned people sometimes look at you in alarm because of your fascination with killing. I think sometimes people don't realize that is part of our creative side and not the real us. LOL
I have a sweatshirt that says
Be careful or you will end up in one of my novels.
I have an addendum to that.
Don't piss me off or you will die a horrible death in one of my novels.
cmr
I'm with you, Peg, I have too many ideas.
And Chris, people I know frequently end up in my books, they just don't recognize themselves, which is a good thing.
Marilyn
Marilyn, I think people with million ideas floating around have a much better chance of coming up with something successful than people with one great Idea they are obsessed with and can't let go until it's opportunity comes. Look at Leonardo Da Vinci! That guy had a million ideas and many of thems are still being analyzed and coming to fruition.
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