Many people as writers, “Where do you get your story ideas?”
But some days I’m like, “How do you not have ideas?” 🙂
If I had time to write all my ideas I think I could fill an entire library!
Most of my ideas are inspired from something else.
Other stories work as a type of spring board for my ideas. I’ll watch a show or read a book and a little piece of a character or storyline will jump out at me, and I’ll follow it down a little bunny trail. Or I’ll see a news article, and the same thing happens. Sometimes the idea comes out of seemingly nowhere. Sometimes the story idea will even come out of a dream I have. I’ll play the scene or character out in my head and see where it takes me. If I find something worth pursuing, I’ll write the idea down. I use Evernote a lot for this since I can just turn on my phone and type up a new note. I also have a binder that holds all my ideas and notes until they can take on a life of their own, but I’m using Evernote more and more since it syncs with my computer, and I can just copy and paste into my writing program.
Songs get me a lot too. More often than not I’ll listen to a song and a piece of a character’s story will hit me. This most profoundly happened for me with my second book in The Detectives of Hazel Hill series. I had been struggling to figure out the lead guy’s backstory. He just seemed too perfect. Was there anything wrong with this guy? I want my characters to be real, and every real person has hurts and struggles. So what was this guy’s? I was driving to one of my daughter’s doctors appointments and had K-Love playing. The song Need You Now by Plumb came on the radio. The first line of the song is “Everybody’s got a story to tell, and everybody’s got a wound to be healed…” Then the idea of his backstory came rushing into my mind. I knew what it was; I knew exactly why he was where he was in his life (sorry, not telling you here – it’s a big reveal in the book).
Another point of inspiration comes for me in the form of Sunday morning sermons. I can’t tell you how my times I’m sitting in church and get a little nugget for one of my characters. I’ve even thought to myself, “Such-n-such a character needs to hear this sermon.” Ha! That one always makes me laugh because my next thought is, “Well, I guess she just did!”
Occasionally (okay, probably more often than I even realize) my own life will influence my stories. Little pieces of me are scattered in my stories.
I can’t help but think in stories. It’s just who I am. I almost always have a scene playing out in my head or a character revealing their darkest secrets.
If only I had time to write out all of my story ideas… One day, right!?