How I Write-- Ideas

This week on How I Write, the question that was posed was about ideas and how we got the inspiration to write the WIP we are currently writing. Or ideas in general.

In a past post, I mentioned that in Fatal Visions (title to change), the idea came from two Playstation games. I was hooked when I was in highschool playing Medal of Honor and Final Fantasy. I was in love with Squall so my J.C. was modeled after his looks. Medal of Honor... secret missions, war... guns... enough said.

I've always loved psychic abilities and the paranormal. I'm not quite sure when my interest in the supernatural began, but once it started, it took a firm root in my imagination. But I also come from an anthropological and science schooling. It's not enough for me to just 'assume' something paranormal. I like trying to examine the workings of it and give it a scientific explanation. So when my characters developed psychic abilities, I had to think of a scientific method to explain it. A virus that mutated the DNA? What if they are latent abilities from our previous evolutionary lines? What if early hominids communicated through telepathy? These were questions that I asked myself and helped develop the main idea around Fatal Visions.

Currently I'm in edits for (working title) Tempting the Shadows. This book is in the same world as Fatal Visions, but in the story, I asked myself, what happens when a person is a familiar to another? What does that do to their relationship?

It's amazing how songs can also influence ideas. For TS, Nickelback is particularly good. One song fits the main characters and how they feel about each other. They have always been there for each other, and will continue to. No matter what. They have gone through some rough moments, not just life threatening situations and no matter what, they stick together through it all, even when everyone is against them. While I write, I'll often listen to it on repeat.



For more stories of inspiration and what drives their ideas, visit my fellow writers and friends:

Danie Ford
Emma G. Delaney
Kimberly Farris
Kristen Koster

How I Write-- What inspires you to start/keep writing?

Books can be hard to start at times. All those blank pages can be overwhelming at times. ESPECIALLY, if you're starting with action. I don't know about you, but fighting scenes are the hardest for me to write.

So how do I get started?

I listen to music. A lot of it. I play it loud so that it blocks out the world and focus on my chars. Sometimes the first sentence will pop up, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes a line for the lyrics will snag something from my brain.

However, before this whole process starts, I usually will surf the net (a lot) or go on Pinterest and look at the images, hoping they'll spark ideas. I look for ideas of clothing, of objects the characters may have or use, of what their room may look like, etc. I pool it all together to get a better impression of the main characters and their life.

Sometimes random scenes will jump out at me. Usually these are highly charged and exciting. Scenes I can't WAIT to write. So I jot them down and usually some lines, if I remember them so that I don't forget. I'm bad, especially at night, if I get an idea, not jotting it down. I can guarantee by morning I'll forget. But during the day while the computer is open, I can easily go into the World Bible and jot those notes down. Because I write a series, I don't have tons of World Bibles. The whole world exists in one file so it's easy to find.

Getting to the end of a project is harder than starting. Yes, some ideas will flow as I write but there are times I'll get stuck. This is where I bug someone and pester them with questions or brainstorm with them. Sometimes, you just need that other person's thoughts. I'm lucky to be surrounded by a lot of great writers and friends. I'm not a first draft plotter. I'm more of a second draft plotter, so writing that first draft is a writing as I go process. However, music will always revive my inspiration.

For more on what inspires writers to get into their stories, check out these blogs:

Danie Ford
Emma G. Delaney
Kimberly Farris
Kristen Koster