Mining Ideas or, What a Great Idea - why didn't I think of that??
One of the questions I get asked a lot is where I get the ideas I write about. A better question might be, where do I NOT get ideas? They are literally all over the place, bombarding me like little meteors throughout the day. Most of them bounce off, perhaps leaving a tiny impression, but some leave craters that demand attention. If you want to write, make sure you are sensitive to those meteors and find a way to capture the idea. Most often, my problem is that the idea hits me when I can't do a darned thing about it and off it goes into space, quickly forgotten.
There are ways to capture ideas, such as a small writer's notebook or a digital voice recorder (personally, I send myself emails). If you are creative, make yourself a Hipster (I made several for my fellow writing group members - still carry mine with me everywhere). If you follow the Hipster link, you'll even find writing-specific pages to personalize your Hipster.
OK, so now you have some ideas for how to capture ideas, but where the heck do they come from? The idea for Denim & Diamonds came to me while I was at work one day, drafting a trust for a woman who wanted to make sure her horses were taken care of. She didn't want to just give the inheritance to the kids - she wanted to make sure they appreciated what they got and, more importantly, that they felt a connection to her (which apparently wasn't the case during life, so she wanted to try it in death). As I typed the details of her estate plan, an idea began to form about a father who was estranged from his daughter and his desire to mold her life. Years later, I sat down and wrote the story.
Control from the grave is a recurring theme in my writing. The novel I'm currently shopping around was inspired by a brief conversation with a motel clerk in Salida, Colorado. My family was vacationing in the Rockies and I mentioned the dangerous mountain roads. The clerk shared with me the story of a woman who had fallen over the guardrail on Highway 50 up near Monarch Pass. When I asked about the difficulties of getting the body out, the clerk shrugged and told me they left the bodies that went over - too dangerous to retrieve them. And the wheels in my brain started turning.
I'm sure you have things happen to you all the time, too. Tell me about some of the meteors that have struck you - and how you capture them.
Elle
There are ways to capture ideas, such as a small writer's notebook or a digital voice recorder (personally, I send myself emails). If you are creative, make yourself a Hipster (I made several for my fellow writing group members - still carry mine with me everywhere). If you follow the Hipster link, you'll even find writing-specific pages to personalize your Hipster.
OK, so now you have some ideas for how to capture ideas, but where the heck do they come from? The idea for Denim & Diamonds came to me while I was at work one day, drafting a trust for a woman who wanted to make sure her horses were taken care of. She didn't want to just give the inheritance to the kids - she wanted to make sure they appreciated what they got and, more importantly, that they felt a connection to her (which apparently wasn't the case during life, so she wanted to try it in death). As I typed the details of her estate plan, an idea began to form about a father who was estranged from his daughter and his desire to mold her life. Years later, I sat down and wrote the story.
Control from the grave is a recurring theme in my writing. The novel I'm currently shopping around was inspired by a brief conversation with a motel clerk in Salida, Colorado. My family was vacationing in the Rockies and I mentioned the dangerous mountain roads. The clerk shared with me the story of a woman who had fallen over the guardrail on Highway 50 up near Monarch Pass. When I asked about the difficulties of getting the body out, the clerk shrugged and told me they left the bodies that went over - too dangerous to retrieve them. And the wheels in my brain started turning.
I'm sure you have things happen to you all the time, too. Tell me about some of the meteors that have struck you - and how you capture them.
Elle
Posted by Elle Robb at 8/25/2009 4:54 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: writers inspiration writers block writing
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: writers inspiration writers block writing
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