One of the most common questions readers ask writers is where do we get our ideas. Neil Gaiman used to tell people that he gets them from a little idea shop in Bognor Regis. Now he just tells them that he “makes them up. Out of his head.” (Check out his terrific essay on this subject). Stephen King says asking the key question “What if?” leads to his story concepts. He generously gives more insights into what influences his scary imagination in his collection of short stories, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. The stories are prefaced with an explanation about their origins. Fascinating.
Each spring at the UW Writers’ Institute , writers share their ideas with me when I help them practice their pitches to literary agents. During the agent pitches, writers have only eight minutes to sell an agent on their book. Practicing with me beforehand helps them hone in on the key points of their story and eases the nerves. Every year I’m amazed by their ideas. Some writers are inspired by family stories while others make up families or entire worlds based upon an idea that simply popped into their heads.
Ideas often pop into my head, too. For instance, last night I was on the phone with my good friend, Novelist and Blogger Shannon Anderson, and she mentioned that while she was working on a writing prompt, a character named Jenny kept insisting Shannon write her story. Shannon doesn’t know any Jennys. But I knew exactly what Shannon meant. I was all set to work on book three in the Leo Townsend series, but this character, Paul, made me write his story first (the first book in The Devil Particle Trilogy). Yet what Shannon had said triggered a new idea. What if there are beings, ghosts perhaps, who have stories that have never been told. They inhabit writers who then feel compelled, like Shannon and me, to tell their stories. Voila — I have another idea for a book!
As you can see, most of my ideas I make up, just like Mr. Gaiman. For instance, when thinking about the duality of good and evil, I wondered what it would be like if evil was a known quantity that can be extracted and contained. This idea became the basis of Paul’s story in The Devil Particle. But, like Stephen King, I’m also influenced by other writers. Once, after I’d just binge-read several of King’s books, I was grocery shopping at Woodman’s in Rockford. I pictured a woman, grocery shopping in Woodman’s in Rockford, pulling a can of creamed corn off a shelf and revealing a severed head. Creeped me out. Never shopped so quickly in my life.
While the severed-head-in-the-canned-goods-aisle idea might never make it into one of my books, the idea of an unschooling town did because of Ray Bradbury. I’d listened to an audio version of Fahrenheit 451 and wondered why many novels, like Bradbury’s, depicted futuristic worlds as evil. Of course, Bradbury was making a point about our own society, but I thought why not create a world that was an improvement over ours. And that’s how the little town of Carpe Diem, Illinois came to be. I thanked Mr. Bradbury for his inspiration by naming the Carpe Diem bed and breakfast “The Bradbury Inn”.
Most, if not all, writers will tell you that getting an idea is the easy part — crafting it into a compelling novel is much more difficult. Novelists might be a unique species of human beings (mutants?) that see stories in just about everything. But then maybe you too have an idea for a book. If so, please share!
And please be careful in the canned goods aisle!
Look what I got!
The very talented artist, Heather Keyser, created this original drawing of me sending my newsletters out into the world. Thank you, Heather — I love it! Be sure to check out more of Heather’s beautifully whimsical artwork on Etsy.
Where you can find me:
Books & Beer, Columbus, WI, January 25, 2018, 7 p.m. I’m looking forward to another lively discussion of Carpe Diem, Illinois. This book club is open to the public — join us! If you would like me to talk to your book club, simply contact me.
UW-Madison Writers’ Institute Pathway to Publication, April 12-15, 2018. I’ll be busy helping writers practice their pitches to agents, presenting how-to write information, and more. Writers — registration for this premier writing conference is now open!
