If you’re a writer, I’d bet a bazillion dollars (okay, maybe just a bazillion good thoughts) that you’ve been asked, “Where do you get your ideas?”
And since in the last three days, I’ve had a couple of ideas pop out from no where, I thought it would be a great topic for today. Just this weekend, in talking to my brothers about our family tree, an idea popped into my head to build a fictional story around a woman who may…or may not be…an ancestor in our family. This woman has a pretty unique perspective on the world and was part of one rather life-altering moment for the history of the United States. And if she is a member of our family, yay! That’s an added incentive to write a story around her story. (If she isn’t, she still owns a front seat to our nation’s history … I just can’t claim any connection. LOL)
But that’s where one of my ideas came from this weekend. And that’s usually how they roll… downhill, uphill, side ways, tossed at my face. Sometimes, dropped in my lap. On occasion, it’s just a character who would be interesting. As I watched one of my new favorite shows, Blue Bloods (hellooooooo Tom Selleck), I thought of a character on the show whose job would make for a fascinating heroine in a suspense book. (And no, not a cop. LOL) No story whatsoever, but the character map is already on its way to building itself in my head.
And a few weeks, another thought turned into story potential. I don’t even remember where that idea came from, just that it happened while I was in the grocery store. (How’s that for vague?)
Once in a while, they come from conversations. Reading something else. Watching people. Or just staring into space, daydreaming. But no matter how they come, it’s almost always my favorite part of the day. I love new ideas, new characters growing, building the story, weaving things… that’s such a fun part of writing for me.
So now the tables are turned… where do YOU get your ideas?
And as a quick shout out, I want to thank my fellow blog mates for being so amazing. I’ve seriously slacked in the writing of posts in recent weeks, and if not for them, there’d be nothing but crickets on this dashboard. So my heartfelt thank you to the amazing women who make up this blog…posting, reading, commenting. You are so appreciated by me, and I hope you know it.
Hi, Jeannie! Happy Endings has been such a great blog to be part of. And I love discussions about where ideas come from. They come from anywhere…even out of thin air in a grocery store, as you attest to in this blog. Inspiration has struck me while out walking, driving, or just sitting. I can be paying bills, like last night, and have an aha! moment. Or watching some mind-numbing show on television.
I’ve had a lot of people who don’t write (or didn’t at the time) say they get all these ideas. I tell them to start writing them down. They need to be writing stories. 🙂
Jeannie–I just wrote a blog very similar to this for a guest spot. Love hearing how others get their ideas. Driving is a particularly active time for my mind, but then I have to jot things down when I get to where I’m going. Tried the voice recorder thing, but 1. didn’t like the sound of my voice on it and 2. kids discovered it and I haven’t see it in about 6 years! lol
LOL, Stacey. I use a voice recorder, but my kids are all grown and my husband has orders to destroy the tapes if something ever happens to me. 🙂
I agree that we need to have a place to write down ideas as they come to us. I do that for blog idea’s. Though right now the queue is pretty empty.
Jeannie, hope your life is getting back to a normal pace. You had quite an exciting time what with the commute and move.
Hi Jeannie! That is too cool about your possible ancestor. How fun!
My ideas come pretty much the same as yours. Flashes in my mind at the most random times…
I hope you’ve started to write again! I love your writing voice 🙂
Laurie – the mind-numbing shows I find are perfect for working out issues in my stories. LOL It’s a great way to shut the brain down long enough to let it simmer and do its work uninterrupted. I’ve had many a “a-ha!” moments watching something silly on TV. 🙂
Stacey – LOL! I thought about the voice recorder thing too, but I never seem to get around to it. I even put a recorder app on my phone for the lengthy commute I had for a while, but it never worked the way I wanted it to, and I never got around to taking the ideas and putting them to paper. Great in theory, but never worked well for me, either. And good Lord, if my son got ahold of something like that, I’d never hear the end of him. LOL
Hi Lavada — I know what you mean about the queue being empty. With so much of my life in hectic mode recently, I’ve had very little to write about writing. It’s pathetic when dust actually accumulates on the Kindle cover. *sigh* But we’re getting better… now it’s a matter of rebuilding the routine, which I’m working on.
Eliza!! I wrote about five words last night, does that count? LOL But hey, it was five more words than I’ve written in a few months, so it was a big deal just to open the WIP and read pages. I am starting to feel the withdrawal of it, which is a good sign. And I saw on your FB that you have some good news to share! Congrats, lady!