“Where do you get your ideas?”
This question was reportedly posed to Stephen King at a writers conference in New England.
His answer may seem harsh, but it’s illuminating: “If you have to ask, don’t become a writer.”
Most working writers have little trouble coming up with ideas. In fact, most have more ideas for writing projects than they could possibly complete in a lifetime.
Ideas can come from anywhere: from lessons you have learned, from difficulties you have overcome; from hobbies or memories; from something you’ve read or someplace you’ve visited; from a distinctive accent or anecdote you overhear on the bus or in the grocery store; from asking “what if?” or “why not?” as well as many, many more places.
The first book I ever completed, a teen novel titled They Call Me AWOL, was based on my own experiences as a high-school truant who skipped his first two-and-a-half years of high school but who, when his girlfriend from church found out, had to squeeze four years’ worth of classes into the next two-and-a-half (the girlfriend is now my wife of forty-two years).
Long ago, because I’m a Shakespeare nut, I created my own daily flip calendar that paired a short quote from Shakespeare’s works with a corresponding or contrasting verse from the King James Version of the Bible (which was produced in the same era, country, and city by men who knew each other). One morning as I flipped to a new page, I thought, Why haven’t I pitched this as a one-year devotional? The Bard and the Bible: A Shakespeare Devotional was the result.
The idea for my novel The Bone Box came from a news article about an archaeological discovery. My historical novels Northkill and The Return are based on events in my family’s history. My nonfiction books Life Stinks…And Then You Die and How to Survive the End of the World arose out of my reading and study in the Bible books of Ecclesiastes and Revelation, respectively.
Ideas are all around you, if you just pay attention. Where have you found your best ideas?
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Taking a road trip with my dear husband is the best way for me to generate writing ideas. Seeing a broken-down house from a century (or so) ago, I’ll say something like, “Just think of how proud the guy was when he built that house. And look at it now.” For me, it’s all about wondering what kind life happened there. My husband listens–and even gives input along the way. Whenever we embark on a trip by car, I bring along a notebook . . . but earlier this summer I brought a voice recorder instead. On the 10-hour trip, I came up with the nugget of a story. On the way home, I spent several hours telling the story with the recorder running. When I got home, I created an outline . . . and the manuscript is growing!
Bob, I get my best ideas from life….then I just ask myself, “What happens next?” I take the smallest observation and expand it into a story. I think my stories ring true, since they are based on truth.
I once belonged to a book club. You know the kind – if you don’t respond quickly enough you end up receiving their own pick of the month and either accept it or send it back. One month I received “The Paston Letters”, correspondence between 15th century family members. I enjoyed it so much that I began searching for other books focused on the medieval period. After reading several concerning the black plague, the idea arose for my novel, “The First Vial”.
My current WIP centers around the last months of the Jewish captivity in ancient Babylon. The idea for this novel was born in the aftermath of the war in Iraq when I read about the damage to Babylon’s archaeological site. It stuck with me and years later I began “House of the Embalmer”, a novel I hope to finish next year.
Bob —
Just started reading The Bone Box — I love Biblical archeology and of course, the skeptic and the romantic aspects.
Ideas? Come from: words, phrases, what if, friends/acquaintances and passersby going through a wring (or look like they are), my Grammar Nazi who wants to write a book with me (yeeks! but it is a funny cozy mystery), true crime (can’t resist it), forensic files… always to get a twist on it. And the middle of the night when I can’t sleep, scribbling it down (in the morning it sometimes looks like Greek or the worst ever idea).
I have bones/skeletons and titles for many a book. Around 15.
Prayers for you today, Andrew.
Thank you so much, Roberta. Today’s a bad one. Can’t swallow or breathe without conscious effort, and even I know that ain’t how it’s supposed to be.
My best ideas come from my personal life experiences. That is why our family motto is “It’s Always A Story With The Henderson’s”. 🙂
I draw ideas from my own life experiences. The two books that I’m batting around for later are a late 60’s coming of age story (based on my own childhood), and a children’s book (inspired by my two sons, now grown). But, my mission is my current book project, which is the true story of my experience as a Christian healthcare whistleblower. I’m alive to tell the story because of God’s presence and provision in the midst of a 3-year-long ordeal that I could not have survived without Him. He wrote an amazing story–I just hope I can do it justice.
I’m enjoying this blog. Thank you.
I feel like the ideas I have are drying up. I’m getting tired of navel-gazing, looking at my past for inspiration. I think I ought to start living more to get the life experience to write more. Reading other books can stir inspiration, but to get outside my head and have something worth writing about, I’m afraid I’m going to have to learn from living. “In order to write about life first you must live it.” – Ernest Hemingway
Katie —
let’s meet for coffee and people watch!
I don’t get out enough, either. Grocery stores don’t count much unless someone slams into you, grabs your purse, swears at the food or counter, or a conversation between mom and kid turns weird.
I wonder why I don’t pay more attention…?