Summer Reprise Series #1: Where do you get your ideas?

For the next ten weeks, July 5 --> September 6, I’ll be following the lead of television networks. That’s right, it’s time for summer re-runs. Each of these posts will be posted on a Tuesday. Unlike my now normal posting pattern of one writing blog every other week, this series runs ten consecutive weeks.

I’ll be going back through the archives and pulling up posts that I’ve used in the past two and one-half years of A Day in the Life of a Science Fiction Writer.

I provide the actual date of original posting. All of these reprise posts have been edited/amended and updated with thoughts and reality checks I’ve experienced since they were first posted.

If you’re a new reader of my blog, I hope these reprise-versions inspire you to peruse the archives themselves. If you’re a veteran reader, I hope these help reinforce what you remember.

Summer Reprise Series #1: Where do you get your ideas?

First published July 8, 2014

Most people in the world are content to hear stories. They like to listen or read and be drawn into a different time, place, or dimension. Once inside the world you, as a writer, create, the reader follows the paths you establish. They might think they know what’s going to happen and be surprised when it doesn’t. They might even talk or write to you after reading your story wanting more information on some point they consider underdeveloped. But, they were in YOUR world for a time.

The "meat" of this post is based on two important foundational premises.

• First, it’s your story—you control the characters, the action, and the setting. While you will learn valuable lessons about what people want from listening to this type of “feedback,” don’t assume you need to change your story to fit every comment. Try that, and you’ll never write a second, or next, book.
• Second, you probably left certain details out of your book on purpose. Whether for length, continuity, or personal preference, your story is how you wanted it when you had it published. If that’s not the case every time after the first book, which, in fairness might not have been the perfect novel, why wasn’t it what you wanted to publish?

I must now apologize. I’ve just finished my 43rd year in public and privite education. The preceding paragraphs are what are know in that realm as “bird walking”—straying from the topic at hand and meandering down a path. That path might lead somewhere, but it isn’t where you were supposed to be going.

Now back to the purpose of this blog post.

If you have a book that’s been published, or if all you’ve done is mention that you’re writing a book, it’s very likely that you’ve been asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?"

You can/should get ideas from at least four sources.

1. Family. My favorite example of this is when my oldest son, now in his late 30’s, was about ten years old. We had one of the first video games. It was a big plastic box. Aliens came in waves shooting at your laser cannon. Steve used to literally flop back and forth on the floor, dodging the imaginary enemy fire. That became the basis for a short story that is the 8^th story in Traveler’s HOT L.
2. Stuff you see/read. Television. Newspapers. Internet sources. Books. You can’t copyright an idea, but, be very careful not to plagiarize another’s work. For example, discussing DNA manipulation is fine, but stealing the methods used by Michael Crichton Jurassic Park is illegal.
3. Life. I just had laparoscopic robotic hernia surgery. I guarantee some AI robot or android will go rouge and end up using surgery in an unapproved way in a future story.
4. Weird brain connections. If you’ve never woken up in the middle of the night with an idea for a story or a plot twist, you probably haven’t been writing long. One day, in a meeting, the topic was reflective thinking by teachers. Somehow, during sleep, that morphed into a new dimension where everything is reversed—reflection.

Here’s another source for story ideas. http://www.thewritingreader.com/blog/

EVERY DAY, Liz, the site owner and facilitator, posts a different story prompt. Many include a photograph or piece of art to help inspire thinking. This is quoted from the site’s homepage.

• I believe that the most important thing about writing is to HAVE FUN! You can worry about things like commas, point of view, tenses, etc., later. Right now, just start writing!
• If you respond to one of the prompts on your blog, be sure to come back here and put the link in the comment section for that prompt. Share your brilliance!

Each week she compiles a Carnival of Creativity with links to posts by submitters.

I have written to four of her prompts so far and been featured in the Carnival each time--see above. Here’s the link to one of my responses. It will become part of a longer science fiction story at some point. 

You probably have stories of where you got/get your stories, too. Feel free to pass on your best ideas.

Next week: Ideas for Preview Language to use when describing your book to others.

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