Something Brilliant This Way Comes...Er, Maybe: The Pursuit of New Ideas

So how do you find your ideas? Or should I ask how do they find you?

There's something strange and unexpected about the discovery of a new idea.

My theory, based on my "vast" experience after completing one whole novel (haha) is that there are two types of idea people: character idea people and plot idea people.

Jeff Gerke details the two types of writers in his book Plot Versus Character. I haven't read this one, but I've heard a few of Jeff's talks on the subject and I think it is well-worth listening to one (or reading this book) if you get the opportunity.

Likewise, I believe that this goes for ideas as well. The type of idea we latch onto and the way we find our ideas says a lot about our personality.

For instance, there is no doubt in my mind that I am a character-driven writer. My characters are stronger than my plots and I know it. And I LOVE exploring a new character. Its like a flashback to my childhood. By the time I finish a novel, the character has become a friend in some strange way.

Most of my ideas start with real people. Either someone I meet, a conversation I have or perhaps someone I've heard on a radio program.

I know some ponder world events. They read newspapers. I have done this but I don't seem to feel the sense of connection for the people I read about, so it rarely leads to story ideas.

My husband writes fantasy and his ideas come straight from his imagination. I'm a bit in awe. My ideas have always been triggered by some outside source.

Women's fiction is a genre that "feels" comfortable to me. It fits the way I put the world together.

Many of my stories start with the emotional jouney: What would it be like to be _______ and go through ____________? How would it affect their relationship with God? Would it cause them to seek Him closer or pull away? How will it affect their relationships with others (spouse, children, parents, friends)?

Oftentimes there is an inciting incident but often I don't realize the direction the story will take until I get to know my character. My Book Therapy workbooks have been great in discovering more about my main character.

My first story sprang from reading a book about a former cult member who left her cult and became a Christian. I wondered what that journey would look like. What would she struggle with in her new life of faith? What would it look like to embrace grace after years of legalism?

My second and third novel ideas (now keep in mind I'm still fleshing these out) came through a door-to-door visitor and through watching a TV show.


What about you? Where do your ideas come from? Does the plot or the main character come first for you? 





 Julia enjoys writing women's fiction whenever she can find a chair free of smushed peanut butter sandwiches and lego blocks. She is a wife and homeschooling mama of two littles. She also currently reviews for The Title Trakk and Christian Library Journal.

Special Guest - Jeff Gerke

It is my pleasure to welcome author and editor, Jeff Gerke, to The Writers Alley today!

For the past two years at ACFW I've made it a point to sit in on Jeff's teaching- and let me just tell you, I've not been disappointed. This year I had the added bonus of having fellow AlleyCats Mary Vee and Angie Dicken to sit with me - AND THEN I had the wonderful opportunity to have an appointment with Jeff.

Great guy! Very encouraging - AND a fabulous teacher.

Where the Map Ends, features some great resources for developing your craft straight from Jeff's ACFW presentations. Character Creation for the Plot-First Novelist and How to Find Your Story are two of them.

His newest release, The First 50 Pages: Engage Agents, Editors, and Readers, and Set Your Novel Up for Success came out at the end of November. You can learn more about it here.

Known for publishing books that step on the fringes of reality through Marcher Lord Press, Jeff's guidance is for both the "expected" writers and those who think out-of-the-box :-)

He's also a fellow Mt. Dew drinker...just sayin' :-)

Without further ado - heeerrrrreeeee's Jeff:
1. Could you tell us a little about your new book The First 50 Pages and how you expect it to help aspiring authors?


I’m very excited about this book. I think it has the potential to help any novelist begin his or her book with excellence. I repeatedly found it odd that I could write a 200-plus-page book on 50 pages of a novel, but that’s what happened. Those first 50 pages are doing so much and bearing so much weight. They play an inordinately important role in whether or not any novel is going to be a success.

I was very pleased with how well Writers Digest promoted the launch of the book. I’m hoping it can help a lot of people better do what it is they’re wanting to do with their fiction.

2. Marcher Lord Press publishes books that are ‘outside the box’ types of books. What do you think some of the challenges are for authors who write in genres that the Christian market is just becoming open to? What are the benefits?

There have always been Christians who would read great Christian SF and fantasy (and other weird genres) if the books were there and if the readers knew about them. The problem had been that the books hadn’t been there. The problem now is that many Christians don’t know that such an animal exists.

So long as the traditional Christian book publishing industry serves the core Christian fiction demographic—white, Evangelical moms and grandmoms—they will continue to do best with books that appeal to that demographic as a group. Mainly bonnet and buggy books, but also the occasional female-oriented mystery, chick-lit, or contemporary women’s novel.


The corollary of this is that books that don’t appeal to that demographic will continue to be spurned by traditional Christian publishers. And so it should be: You don’t stay in business if you keep offering something your market says it doesn’t want.


Before this publishing revolution we’re now in, the biggest challenges for speculative authors and writers of other “unusual” genres was to get published at all. Now, with the old model sinking and the advent of all the indie presses (like Marcher Lord Press), suddenly the previously marginalized novelist is now in demand. The model is new, the money is lower (at first), and the sales numbers are lower (at first). But what they’ve always wanted—access to readers who desire exactly what they write—is now being handed to them.


And without a traditional house taking a 90% cut of the profits, the writer stands to really win. It’s a good day to be a novelist.


3. What top three tips would you give to aspiring authors who are beyond the ‘beginning’ phase?


1) Challenge yourself. You probably sense the areas where you are weak, and you probably shy away from story ideas that would reveal that weakness. Instead, create a challenge project for yourself that will make you master that area or the whole thing will fail. For me, at least, that’s the only way I get better at anything.


2) Keep learning. If you’re someone who can learn from books, then I have three fiction craft books that will help you [shameless plug!]. If you learn better from listening to someone teach, attend the larger writers conferences. ACFW is the best for Christian novelists. Also, I’m soon to launch www.FictionAcademy.com, which will be like getting a complete Jeff seminar online.


3) To your perseverance and craftsmanship, add prayer. Yes, you should work very, very hard to improve your craft. But at the end of the day, you must lay your writing career at the feet of Jesus. Work hard to grab it by the tail. Pray hard to let Him do with it what He wants.

 4. In your class at ACFW you mentioned thinking of unique ideas for stories. With that in mind, what advice would you give to someone who has a unique story premise…but is told they’re a little too unique? Any marketing writing advice?

Yes: Stick to your instincts. Write the book that ought to be out there but that no one else is writing. Then go to the micro-presses—or even self-publish—to find ways to connect that book with the group of readers who will love it.


Those old voices that have kept the “odd” novelist marginalized for so long are now going away, and the world is better for it, imo.


Earlier this year I still heard traditional publishers looking down on small presses and self-publishers. Then at a writers conference last month I heard someone from one of those traditional houses say, “Contrary to popular belief, traditional Christian publishing is not dead.” I was secretly delighted, because it represented an acknowledgement that the old power bloc had lost control. Now the cat’s way out of the bag, and it’s not going back in.

Fun question and right up your sci-fi alley ;-) “If you were a bionic toad that needed to find a radioactive mushroom in order to turn into a giant half-unicorn, half-man warrior to save the world of Ganderthol… how would you go about locating the mushroom?”


I would already know where all the mushrooms were, because I’m a bionic toad with a penchant for organizing and cataloguing. So I’d go right to the correct mushroom. Besides, I’m toad-ally awesome.


[ahem]


Thanks, Pepper!


Jeff

Thanks so much for stopping by the Alley, Jeff. May you have a Toad-ally awesome Christmas