I can use this! – that spark of excitement you get when you connect a new idea to one or more of the story subplots you’ve been mulling over. Everywhere we look there is inspiration of one sort or another. Sometimes it’s so much that we actively have to tell our minds to hold off on generating new ideas until we’ve had a chance to complete the dozens already waiting in line.  Today’s episode dives into some of our discussion over the years at the Blood-Red Pencil about ideas and inspiration. Links mentioned in this episode: Ideas for Writing   Shonell Bacon shares a list of inspiration sources for when you need to generate a new idea or two. Where Do You Get Ideas?   Terry Odell says that sometimes the ideas for books come when you’re looking for something else. Where Story Ideas Come From   Pat Stoltey says one of the questions most frequently asked of writers is: “Where do you get your ideas?” It’s not a popular question among published authors. Maybe th...

There are plenty of writers out there in the wilderness, many of them beginners, who will wail, “What do you mean too many ideas? I can even nail down one!” pexels.com  Others will know exactly what I mean. All the while one author is working on a novel, ideas for a sequel are percolating in the back of her mind. Thoughts pop up just before she goes to sleep, then are forgotten by morning. She’s writing contemporary crime fiction, but a historical novel picks at her brain, set in the state where she grew up and full of fictional content against events that really happened and people who really lived during the times. On the other hand, there’s that nagging feeling she’d really like to try writing romance. William Kent Krueger, author of the Cork O’Connor mystery series, tells of that story he’d wanted to write for a long time but didn’t get a lot of encouragement from his agent or publisher. The idea wouldn’t go away, and Krueger finally wrote it as a standalone. That nove...

This post was first published on October 13, 2010. One of the questions most frequently asked of writers is: “Where do you get your ideas?” It’s not a popular question among published authors. Maybe they consider the question too silly to answer, or maybe they don’t want to share. I don’t think the question is silly, but I can’t always explain where my inspiration originated. It's amazing how new ideas weasel their way into my conscious mind. The process works in many different ways. Here’s one example. I belong to a local face-to-face critique group that meets every other week. One of the things we do is exchange thoughts on writing in general. Last week our conversation went like this (with lots of paraphrasing): M: Did you know Willa Cather is going to be here? I thought she was dead. Me: Blank look. M: My Antonia is one of my favorite novels. B: Willa Cather? She’s dead. Everyone laughs. Me: I’ll bet it’s one of the historical presentations where someone acts...

Writers Anonymous : There are not enough cemeteries to hold all the dead characters I left behind by not finishing stories. "Old Graveyard" by Evgeni Dinev from FreeDigitalPhotos.net Every writer I know has a folder. What's IN this folder? Every note, every picture, every first line, every character sketch, every idea for a story you've ever had. I have one. It's quite large. It's called WRITING. Inside the folder, you will find other folders that represent various "states" of projects. I have a NOVELS folder that contains novels that are completed, novels with outlines, novels with ideas. I have a SHORT STORIES folder that contains the same elements as my NOVELS folder. I have a STORY IDEAS folder that is full to the brim of ideas. I even have a NEW STORY IDEAS folder because of course those ideas are different from the those in the STORY IDEAS folder. I have a SNIPPETS folder that contains hundreds of notes, each note has a line that I h...

At the start of every new year, most of us make resolutions. For us writers, we think about what projects we want to complete, want to submit to agents/editors, want to self-publish, and the list goes on and on. For 2014, I decided to do one thing that would be playful and might actually create some great stories: start an Idea Jar. On January 1, I started a Joy Jar. I keep a small pack of sticky notes with me throughout the day, and when anything arises that makes me smile or makes me happy (you know, those moments we typically experience at  the moment, but then promptly discard), I write that moment onto a sticky note and place the note in the jar. When I have a rainy "mind" day, I can dip into the jar and remember happy moments I've experienced thus far. Doing so may hopefully put me in a better frame of mind. My Joy Jar I received these years ago, and now have a perfect use for them! The Idea Jar works pretty much the same way. All throughout...

Some writers get their story ideas from reading newspaper items or hearing things on the news, especially us we mystery writers. Others get theirs from dreams. One of my writer friends dreams an entire story every night then gets up and writes it. I hate her. I really do. Okay, maybe I don't hate her, but I really, really am jealous. My dreams are so fragmented, I could never pull a story together. Not to mention the fact that it would entail remembering the dream. Kudos to those who can, but not this lady. Anyway, my friend, and frequent guest here, Slim Randles, shared a most unique way to get a story idea. When Jim Kennedy uses his big backhoe, a crowd usually gathers. He's an artist, you see. He runs his massive-toothed monster gouging holes in the backyards of his neighbors, putting in their pipes and even the occasional swimming pool, and does it with the grace of a surgeon.  At Bud McFarland's place the other day, he was there to install Bud's new ...

“Where do you get your ideas?” All writers recognize that question. I always want to answer, “At the Idea Store.” This sounds snarky, but there actually is such a thing. It’s called Conversation. It’s dangerous to talk to a writer. All my friends and family now know this. You never can tell when something you say off-the-cuff, some insignificant little remark, might set off a creative spark in the writer’s mind, and woof! Off they go into Creator-Land, and you’ll find your throwaway sentence suddenly transformed into something wild and wooly and utterly different than you intended. Writers must be on guard for those glittery images that zip past you and run off down the road, never to return, if you’re not listening. Some of your best writing topics might be lurking in the meandering blabber of your neighbor, your Aunt Matilda, or the snarky office gossip-monger. My favorite example of this phenomenon is a short story I wrote over 20 years ago. It’s called "Miss Maud and the Thr...