Where Do You Get Your Ideas? (And How to Feed the Idea Engine)

I've been doing a number of interviews lately, and one of the most common questions I get (and all writers get) is "Where do you get your ideas?"

This seems like a straightforward question that should have a straightforward answer, but it's actually a tough one for me to answer. The most succinct answer is: EVERYWHERE.

I am an observer and a learner by nature. I have wide interests and am easily fascinated by new topics. I want to know ALL THE THINGS about ALL THE THINGS. This is currently top of mind because I've turned in my book and am in brainstorming mode for book 4 and for new series ideas since book 4 will close out the latest series.

So I've learned that as a writer, when something catches my interest, to follow that itch because there may be gold in them there hills.

That's GOLD Jerry! GOLD! GIF from Seinfeld GIFs

My friends and family have learned not to be like "Whaaa??" when I tell them the latest book I'm reading or documentary I'm watching or class I'm taking on something random. (Right now I'm taking an online class about stand up comedy with ZERO plans to ever stand up in front of anyone and do comedy, lol.) If my brain goes, "Hmm, that seems interesting...", I trust it and follow the trail. Sometimes it leads to a dead end, and I just learn about something new and then move on. Other times, books come out of it.

Liv in The Ones Who Got Away was a photographer because a few years ago I took a photography class and found it interesting. Wes, the hero in the upcoming The One You Can't Forget is a chef because I'm a foodie, love to cook, and am obsessed with cookbooks and shows about food. And some things aren't purposeful research but are just life things that inspire something in a story. In book 3, which I just turned in, a setting was inspired by one of my kiddo's interests and something about the heroine was inspired by my husband's latest hobby.  

So, if you're a writer and are looking for your next great idea, here are the things I've found that help me.

 

Five Ways to Feed the Idea Engine

 

1. Make time to live your life.

This is one I have to remind myself about regularly. The temptation is to always be writing. Our brain knows the urgent words to whisper to us: When you finish one book, jump right into the next one. We need to make a living. There are deadlines. Readers (hopefully) want more right now. Go! Go! Go! BUT if all you're doing is writing all the time and you're not taking time to refresh and experience other things--go places, see people, learn about non-writing things, read for fun--then you run the risk of your inspiration well running dry or your ideas becoming stale. The well MUST be refilled. Writing a book takes all of your mental fuel. You have to replenish it. Plus, you'll inevitably get ideas while you're out, you know, being a functioning human in the world.

2. Read widely and outside of your genre and comfort zone.

I am a huge believer in this. I love romance. It is my FAVORITE. However, I know that if I only read within my own genre or subgenre, I'm going to start sounding like everyone else. My ideas are going to be copycats of what's already out there (or copies of my previous works.) You know you've seen it happen as a reader, when a favorite author's books all start sounding a little bit the same. I don't want that to happen. So I challenge myself every year to read all over the place. If you look at my Read list on Goodreads, you can see it's a big mix of all kinds of stuff. And this is my current reading goal for this year:

But I credit that wide reading for giving me ideas like--hey, what if a school shooting was the backstory in a romance series, and I could show survivors years later on their journey to healing and finding their happy endings? Believe me, almost everyone I told about this thought it could be a disastrous idea because how can you work that into a romance? But the idea and concept were powerful in my head, and I found an editor and publisher who believed in the idea as much as I did. To date, I think it's my strongest reviewed book and has gotten more media coverage than any other book I've written--because it's different and it's (unfortunately) timely, which I had no way of predicting when I was writing it in 2016. So read a lot of different genres and voices. You never know what mix of inspiration will come together for an original idea (or a new spin on an old idea.)

3. Be a constant student.

Learn about the things that interest you. As writers in this day and age, we literally have everything at our fingertips. Videos and blogs and podcasts and online classes. Not to mention, good old fashioned non-fiction books. It's all out there. Find what sparks your interest and then chase that bunny trail. Your next book idea could be buried in there. Right now in my TBR stack of non-fiction I have a chef memoir, a book about the neuroscience of violence, Bruce Springsteen's memoir, a few true crime books, a book about pig farming, and one on the history of improv. Yes, it's a weird mix, but that's what makes it so great for idea generating.

4. Make time for movies and television.

Don't believe what they say. It's not bad for our brains. ;) I have to remind myself to actually do this because it can feel like--well, there's probably something more productive I could be doing. But there is something different about watching stories unfold on the screen. It's easier to see the beats and the way the writer structured the story. Watching TV and movies can be great inspiration (with the bonus of giving you some downtime!) It doesn't have to be all fictional shows. Documentaries are great, too. It also doesn't all have to be "high-brow." Ideas come from everywhere. Watch the things that catch your interest.

Interesting GIF from Popcorn GIFs

5. Write your ideas down, even the barest hint of them, when they come to you.

This one probably seems obvious but how many times have you gotten an idea, convinced yourself you'll remember it later, and then boom, it's gone? Ideas whisper first sometimes. Don't let them get away. So come up with your method of grabbing them. Even though I'm a lover of all things paper, I use the most convenient method for idea capturing. I email myself using the Pensieve app (which is the best thing ever because you don't have to type in email addresses and go through all the steps. You simply type your idea in the box that pops up and it automatically emails it to your account, making your note the subject line.) I highly recommend it. 

So those are my top tips and the advice I'm taking myself right now because it's brainstorming time. I love this part of the process. This is the fun part, y'all. Go find that inspiration!

A Writing Book Worth Adding To Your Library

So it's no secret that I'm kind of a glutton for writing tips, techniques, and insight. It's one of the reasons I maintained a blog for writers for over two years and still have the occasional post on writing here. There's always more to discover. I can never learn enough about this thing that I do for a living. (And maybe secretly I'm hoping to run across that tip that makes this whole crazy writing process easier. Ha! See, I'm delusional as well.) 

So even though I have a shelf full of books on craft already, I do occasionally let myself wander to the writing section at the local Barnes and Noble. This usually results in hours sitting on the floor in front of that section, skimming the books until I find the ones that I can't put down. This past weekend, I had a little time and went on a bit of a shopping spree, buying three new writing books. (I was supposed to be shopping for clothes. That didn't go so well.)

I've only made it through one of the three pictured above so far, but I wanted to share that one with you.

The Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises

Blurb:

Successfully starting and finishing a publishable novel is often like fighting a series of battles. You not only have to work hard to shape memorable characters, develop gripping plots, and craft dazzling dialogue, but you also have to fight against self-doubts and fears. And then there's the challenge of learning to navigate the ever-changing publishing industry.

That's why best-selling novelist James Scott Bell, author of the Write Great Fiction staples Plot & Structure and Revision & Self-Editing, came up with the ultimate novel-writing battle plan: The Art of War for Writers.

You'll find tactics and strategies for idea generation and development, character building, plotting, drafting, querying and submitting, dealing with rejection, coping with unrealistic expectations, and much more.

With timeless, innovative, and concise writing reflections and techniques, The Art of War for Writers is your roadmap to victory.

This was a quick read but it was full of wisdom for both new and experienced writers. Like I said in my review below, I pretty much love everything James Scott Bell has to say. If you're not following him on The Kill Zone, fix that now. : )

Here's my Goodreads review...

The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm discovering that I just kind of love everything James Scott Bell has to say about writing. His advice is always to the point and eminently practical, and he gives great examples to boot. This is an easy, fast read but it's filled with great nuggets of wisdom. The last section is more focused on writers who are still aspiring to publication. But I found the first two parts, especially the section focused on craft to be chock full of tips I wanted to write on index cards and pin up around my office. A great addition to any writer's craft library.

View all my reviews

For other suggestions on some of my favorite craft books, check out this post:  Twelve Writer Woes and the Books to Cure Them 

What's your favorite book on writing? Or which craft book have you gotten invaluable information from?

The (Not So) Dreaded Synopsis

We've all heard the term the "dreaded synopsis", right? Yes, that horrible beast of thing you have to write summarizing a whole 100k book into just a few scant pages. It's like a dark cloud hanging over you. I know I'm not the only one who queried the agents who didn't require a synopsis first just so I could avoid writing  the damn thing. (Tell me I'm not the only one who did that.)

I mean, what's to like about the thing? You have to cut out parts you want to put in, your voice can get drained because you have so little room to work with, you don't have space to talk about that kickass secondary character you worked in. God, why do agents/editors put us through this form of torture? *insert melodramatic music here*

Okay, so I thought all those things. Every time I had to write a synopsis for a completed book I wanted to bang my head with a blunt object. It was painful. The writing, not the banging, I didn't actually do the blunt object thing. 

So when I got my *cue angels singing* book deal, I thought--yay, down with the queries and synopses for-evah!

WRONG.

Queries and synopses NEVER go away, dude. They just get called different things. The synopsis becomes a proposal and then the query becomes writing your back cover copy. (Yes, you will end up writing a lot of your back cover copy because the marketing department hasn't read your book so probably aren't going to get the blurb just right.)

And guess what, with proposals, now you have to write your synopsis BEFORE YOU WRITE THE BOOK. *plugs ears to block out the collective screams of pantsers everywhere* 

As a pantser, I can tell you I was absolutely terrified of doing this. I don't plot ahead. I don't know what the story is going to look like until I write it. I actually was trying to figure out how I could write the book really fast just so I didn't have to write up a proposal. But alas, I'm not that fast of a writer. And yes, it'd actually be kind of nice to get a book deal and confirmation that said book will be published one day before I write the actual book.

So after going to a few workshops on writing synopses, off I went to draft synopses for books 3 and 4 with deep fear in my heart.

And guess what I discovered?

Writing them before you've written the book is SO MUCH EASIER. Like wow. Like I finished one synopsis each day. For reals. And Sara, my lovely agent, liked them!

And I realized all this time why writing them after is so hard. After you've finished the book, you know every little detail and nuance of your story. You have a buttload of information you're trying cut down to the bones. But all that content can overwhelm you. You can lose perspective on what is most important to get across.

However, when you try to draft it before you've written the story, all you can do is write it in broad strokes. You don't know the details yet, so you only focus on the big turning points. And bam--there's your synopsis. 

I'd heard of people writing queries before writing their books and thought that was nuts, but now I get it. You're not locking yourself into some strict guideline like an outline would. You're just giving yourself a general map. You put yourself on the right highway even though you may take unexpected side streets along the way. It's really been a revelation to me.

So here are my...

Five Quick and Dirty Tips For Writing a Synopsis:

1. Try writing it before you write your story--even if you're a pantser. (Haven't you been listening to my testimonial? "This is life-changing, man"--she says in her Cheech & Chong voice)

2. Set aside a paragraph each for your two (or three) main characters at the beginning and fill in their backstory.

This was something I learned in the workshops I went to. We often get bogged down in the synopsis because we're in present tense and trying to work in the characters' backstories at the same time, which makes things feel disjointed. So just pull the backstory out as a separate thing. You can structure the synopsis with headings like this:

• Hero--His backstory and the important little tidbits about him (one paragraph)
• Heroine--Her backstory and a few things about her. (one paragraph)
• Antagonist/Villain/Etc--one paragraph
• Summary: "As the story opens..."<--This is where the summary starts. Your opening. You can focus on the action now that the backstory is already fleshed out.

3. Don't worry about subplots and all your secondary characters. 

Stay focused on the main plot thread, goal, motivation, conflict, and characters.

4. Don't lose your voice.

I went to one workshop where the presenter said you pretty much have to lose your voice in a synopsis. I totally disagree. I have read and written some very voice-heavy synopsis and think they're more compelling that way. (Note: This is not writing the summary in the voice of your character, but in your author voice and style. If your story is dark and  ominous, your synopsis should read that way as well.)

5. Get in and get out.

Yes, you'll read on some websites that a synopsis can be one page for every 20 pages of prose. Well, really, who wants to write and/or read that long a synopsis? If I wrote one that long, I'd no longer want to write the story because I would've already told it (the pantser brain.) You can summarize a full-length novel in 1-5 single-spaced pages in my opinion. My synopsis for book 3, including the character paragraphs, was 2.5 pages. The one for book four was 3.5. If you're venturing into 8-10 page land, you haven't cut it down to the most important parts yet.

So there, try those things and I bet you'll be able to scratch out that "dreaded" that always precedes the word "synopsis". You may even find it *gasp* fun like I did.

So how do you feel about the synopsis? Have you ever tried writing one before you write the story? If so, are you a plotter or pantser? What tips do you have that help you write a synopsis?

*This is a repost from Fiction Groupie last year. I'll be back from RT Con tomorrow and will return to my normal blog schedule. :)