When people find out you're a writer, one of the first things they ask is, "Where do you get your ideas?"
My answer? "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 the 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, 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 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.
Note: My days off have changed recently, and my poor rattled brain did not realize yesterday that a blog post was due today. I hope you enjoy this previously published one while I work on an idea this post stirred in my mind.
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