Where DO You Get Your Ideas?

This is probably the most frequently asked question when someone finds out you're a writer. 

My answer to that?  "Everywhere".

Seriously.

It's like I'm swimming in idea-infested waters.  They constantly bump into me, nudge me, try to get my attention in all kinds of devious ways.  There's something about mundane tasks, like driving, or taking a shower, that revs up the idea generators.  (Okay, I confess.  Sometimes when I'm stuck on a scene, I'll take a shower or a leisurely drive, just to wake up the brain cells.)

I used to worry about losing a great idea, which is why I have millions of scraps of paper and Post-it Notes (most of which I can't even find anymore) with obscure scribblings on them, which of course means more ideas bubble to the surface as I'm trying to decipher what the hell I wrote.

My brain is always latching onto information, like a packrat that can find a use for every oddity it encounters.  It never fails to amaze me how much writing occurs just from seeing people go about their daily business, or reading something completely unrelated to what I'm writing, or overhearing bits of conversation.

For example, one time while I was in the Sea-Tac airport, I walked past a bank of pay telephones (yeah, that tells you just how long ago it was), and I overheard a woman's disdainful voice enunciating to a clueless person on the other end of the line, "My husband's body is not at the airport".

Wow.  All kinds of possibilities there, which of course I've written down until I can get to it.  (If I can remember which notebook I used.)

Another story idea came from something I misread.  What I thought I saw on a book cover was, "from one of the most rejected writers in the business".  You have to admit there are so many more interesting possibilities than if I hadn't mentally substituted "respected" for "rejected".

My romantic comedy, Shoot Me If I Do, which is currently on submission to editors, starts with gunfire at a wedding.  I truly can't remember where that idea originated.  When I attended a conference a couple years ago, and Lisa Scottoline mentioned a family member being ostracized for bringing a gun to a wedding -- well, it made me feel like I was on the right track!  It would be nice to say her story inspired me, but since I'd started the manuscript a while before that, I'll have to keep digging through the memory banks to see how I came up with that idea.

The idea for another book on submission, Lord Midnight, came about from a newspaper article I read on how the U.S. Vice President's political fortunes pretty much hinge on something happening to the President.  It made me think of English aristocrats and their line of succession, and how it's a similar situation.  Mmmm.  What if someone tried to kill the heir, to make himself next in line?

The hard part isn't coming up with AN idea.  There's so many to choose from, and they can generate a rush of excitement that makes you sit down and start drafting a scene, or a chapter.

The tricky part is when the initial idea does its job, and then YOU have to decide what's next in line.  That's when you go back to the idea cauldron, give it a stir, and see which bits collide and then bubble to the surface.

And if that doesn't give instant results, then it's time for a shower.  Or maybe a drive.

What stimulates your ideas?  Where have your best ideas come from?  How do you keep track of all of them?

Note: This post was initially published last November, although I could not resist the temptation to tweak a few words here and there.

Comments

[Maureen]

A lot of my ideas come from dreams and daydreams. The old "what would I do if..." scenarios come to mind. I'm a real what if type of writer and the more bizarre and more strange the spark is, the more I want to fan it into a real bonfire.

Not all ideas grow up to be full grown books, but I find I often slip bits and pieces of these tidbits into bigger ones and I can build a lot of interesting things out of them!

[Melissa]

It's hard for me to identify when or where ideas came to me that I've actually decided to pursue as a full fledged project. It was so long ago...oh! I wrote a fantasy short story (incomplete) that started me thinking about a whole "world." I've had at least three stories jump off from a scene in that story. But where that original short story came from I have no idea. Oh! I think I was reading some of my husband's (former husband) Dungeons and Dragons books when I'd run out of romances. LOL You've taken me down memory lane tracking down that origin! New ideas now usually come from writing prompts I think. I feel like have quite a backlist of ideas so I hardly dare explore new ones!

[Terri Osburn]

I get my ideas as I'm attempting fall asleep. Though, I'm not sure I get ideas as much as characters. The characters show up, introduce themselves, and then start to feed me the story premise. Like Melissa, I have long list of ideas waiting to be explored and written, so I think I've shut down my brain to submissions for a while. :)

I did, however, get a new story idea a few months ago from reading a news article online. I won't say what it was (as I don't want anyone to steal my idea! lol) but it would require a great deal of research and description, my two weakest areas. I'm still in love with the idea, so I'm determined to get it on the page one of these days.

[Donna Cummings]

Maureen, I agree that not all the ideas can be used where you first thought you could. I think that's why I like to write them down, and hang on to them in my brain. They can bump into each other and create an even BETTER idea that way!

I'm definitely a fan of the "What If". :)

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, I'm glad I jumpstarted your trip down memory lane! I like how you got so many ideas just from one scene.

Sometimes it IS hard to remember exactly how an idea popped into my head. It feels more like it SNEAKED in there. LOL The ones I mentioned above are actually the ones I can recall, but there are plenty that just kinda appeared one day. It feels like magic, doesn't it?

[Donna Cummings]

Terri, I think I'm glad I don't get as many ideas when I'm falling asleep, because I'd be too lazy to get up to write them down. LOL Sometimes I try to think about my story as I'm drifting off in the hopes my brain will work on it as I'm sleeping. :)

I definitely know what you mean about not wanting to share ideas so they can stay YOUR ideas. :) It took me a while to tell anything about my stories, for that very reason. LOL