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.

On Finding the "Keeper"

Idea hockey...do you ever play this game?

Check out that chicken scribble in your notebook listing ideas? Shoot them around for a while, but you can never seem to get them to the other end of the field not to mention the goal?

Go to square one. Start plotting again. Get stuck midfield, you're about ready to "pass" on this idea.

I am a computer software plotter. I invested in Dramatica Pro and it was invaluable in plotting as a first-time novel writer.

And this time around I used Dramatica Pro to toss around my ideas and was able to "see" as a result that one of my "great" ideas just wasn't plausible from start to finish.

Whatever method you use to plot, I recommend spending the extra time and perhaps plotting all those ideas you have floating around in there. I have one plotted novel for later, one for now, and one completely implausible story.

So what if you're stuck on the first stage?

Try B-R-A-I-N-S-T-O-R-M-I-N-G as per DiAnn Mills great guidelines. I LOVE this idea about studying the parables of Jesus. Do your stories give meaning and purpose for people's lives? Do they show them tackling a challenging situation?

Brainstorm with a friend. How credible are your ideas? An honest friend will tell you where your plot falls flat and may help you to get out of that place. Rachel Hauck has some great tips for how to get the most out of a brainstorming session.

Picture surfing. When I'm stuck it always helps me to look for the "right" photos to evoke my setting. I also love finding pictures of movie characters that "fit" my character physically (so helpful in writing those descriptions). News stories related to the period of history or topic of my story can have pictures that bring me into the atmosphere of my story.

Become a news junkie. Reading news stories and asking "what if" questions make up the majority of the ideas in my notebook.

Research, research, research. As I start researching new ideas crop up, new characters begin populating my novel, and plot points suddenly begin to converge.

How do you find your ideas? And how do you decide which ones are "keepers"?

A Writer's Greatest Tool

Writers live life with a perpetual question swirling through their minds. It is a question that draws deep from the well of creativity and reaches out to grasp the winds of inspiration. It is a question that builds the bones, and then breathes life into stories.

It is the question of "What if?".

When it is time to start a new story, brainstorm a part of the plot, or even hear a news story that plants a seed of a story in your mind, you begin to ask the question....what if?

What if...

• a young woman is held captive in a convent?
• the young woman escapes, disguised as a boy?
• the woman is beaten along the way by ruffians?
• the woman is saved by a handsome knight?
• the the handsome knight is on his way to her father's castle for a tournament?
• he takes her on as his squire (thinking she is a lad), promising to give her safe passage?
• she falls in love with the knight?
• her gender is discovered when she is injured in a fight?

These are just a few of the questions I asked while brainstorming my first story. A story starts with a germ of an idea. When you ask "what if", you can find many different directions that your story can go. When you are brainstorming a story idea, try to think of as many different ideas as you can. Having my heroine's gender discovered at the very beginning of the story would have made it an altogether different story. The tension would be stronger, but then my hero would not have been able to get to know my heroine the same way as he did while she pretended to be a boy. 

The question of "what if" is a powerful tool for the writer. Get a pen and paper out and start your list of "what ifs". You might even try a mind map, branching off in different directions...wherever your "what ifs" take you. See what you can come up with.

Better yet, let's experiment and see what we can come with. I'll start and you come up with a "what if". Let's see what kind of story we come up with through our commenters today. 

What if a woman was in an airplane, about to skydive for her 30th birthday, when she discovered that Gerard Butler (or whatever cutie-pie you would like to envision) was sitting next to her?

***What is your "what if"? Or what is your favorite writing tool for brainstorming?

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This post is brought to you by
 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is wife to "Pastor John" and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Bell's Pyramid of Plot

I've been reading Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and it is an excellent resource. Not only does he give you ways to ways to generate plot ideas. He shows you want to do with them. You've got to narrow them down and the way to do it is with the Bell Pyramid.

There are three layers to the Bell Pyramid. We'll start at the base and work to the top.

Passion: A novel takes a long time to write, so you must be passionate about the plot you choose to write about. Rejections abound in the publishing world and many times it is because the work presented is "cookie cutter" work. Writers will follow the crowd and write what is selling instead of writing the book in their heart. You must feel passion about your plot to sustain your writing through the lenth of time it takes to write it.

Potential: You have to consider the possible reach of your plot idea to an audience. The way to do that is to put yourself in the shoes of an invester. Would you want to invest thousands of dollars in a book about cleaning a fish? Hhhmmm. You don't need to write to the largest possible audience, but you do need to focus on a specific audience and write a passionate story to that audience. You want to write romance? What kind? Historical, suspence, contemporary, etc... It is not a rule, but a guideline as you write what you are really passionate about.

Precision: You've found what your passionate about and think the potential is there for a readership following. Now you must trim away anything that is not in line with that potential. If you are writing for suspense, don't get distracted from that focus. You don't want anything to distract from the potential.

How do you decide which idea is the one you run with?

In the Beginning - The Genesis of Story

It’s the beginning of a new year. 2011.


Wow. Can you believe it?

Welcome to The Writers Alley’s first post of 2011.

It’s the beginning of a New Year.

The start of a new page in our lives.

The first sentence (or paragraph) of a new story in the book of You (or Me).

All this ‘beginning’ thinking got be to pondering on the origin of some of our stories, sooooo

I asked a few of the Alley Cats from what inspiration did their story-ideas come?

We ALL get inspired by something, someone, somewhere, somehow – sometimes in the oddest of places, ways, or situations.

Then…

Stories start.

But how?

Personal Experiences?

Interesting novels, research, facts?

Overheard conversations?

Add to those things, the ol’ WHAT IF and BAM – you have the beginnings of a story.

Here are a few examples from our very own Alley Cats about what inspired their story ideas.

Sarah’s wip originated from personal experience, but bloomed from the ‘what if’ question. Here’s what she had to say when I asked her how her story started:

My latest wip idea started with my experiences working in a small Amish-themed diner. I thought it could make a fun setting, and the characters and plot grew from there. I was trying to develop a person who would struggle around the simplicity of the Amish and a shopaholic seemed like the antithesis of the Amish. Figured it could make for lots of good conflict. :-)

Doesn’t that sound GREAT?!? I’ve read it, people. It’s a really fun story with loads of conflict (and a super-hunky hero, btw) Did I also happen to mention that Sarah’s wip was a finalist for the Genesis. Did I? What a treat for her 2010.

Sherrinda’s historical wip started with some simple reading-gone-wild. Here’s what she has to say:

Pepper, for my first story, I remember reading about girls being sent to convents to live. Sometimes to get them off the families hands due to financial contraints, and sometimes for an education. Then I had a thought of what if...what if a girl was sent who did not want to be there and tried to escape. That snowballed into my medieval story.

Oh, btw, I’m reading this one right now and it’s a WONDERFUL story!! I love it. FILLED with conflict, adventure, and suspense…with a promise of some super-romance too. Btw, did I mention that this is the same novel that won FIRST PLACE in the Touched By Love writing contest in 2010. Her FIRST contest!!! Isn’t that awesome?!? And it all started with an idea that sparked her curiosity.

Curiosity is one of a writer’s most important commodities. Without curiosity, stories fall flat.

For Mary, her idea sparked from a challenge. A self-challenge. Check out her answer:

My inspiration came from a recent historical fiction writing contest. I took a gamble and tried to write one. I couldn't believe how easy and exciting the research, writing, and ideas became. I thought, maybe I could write a historical fiction novel. I picked a period of time I hadn't seen anything written about, incorporated successful ideas: adventure, strangers meeting, mystery, and poof, the novel was born....not finished...enjoying the growth.

Now, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading Mary’s work, but I hope to get the chance this year :-) Go, MARY!!!

Nowhere in all the writer books or blogs I’ve read does it say an accomplice cannot help inspire a story idea- and that’s exactly what happened with Krista’s Sandwich book. Let me just say, this story starts off with a BANG (and some laughter). Here’s what Krista had to say:

My sandwich book came from the fact that I was born in Sandwich IL and well… it just has a cool name. My daughter and I were in the car one day and for fun I told her we should brainstorm up a book. So we talked about our heroine.. named her… Karalynn decided she was a hair stylist. Then we thought it would be a fun way to start a book by her cutting a guy’s hair and doing a really bad job… thus creating conflict… and the rest is history :-)

Creative helps comes in all shapes and sizes, doesn’t it, Krista?!? As a matter of fact, I got a great idea from my 11 year old yesterday. I’ll totally steal any creativity my kids want to share with me.

Julia’s response is fascinating. The way she became inspired isn’t all that different than many folks – reading something that sparks the curiosity- but the story idea it started (the ‘what ifs that followed) are amazing.

Check this out:

My book came out of reading a bio of someone who was in a polygamous cult and watching a TV show interview with her. After finding out she became a born-again Christian I found myself thinking: What struggles would a former cult member have after becoming a Christian? How would they transition to the outside world? What would be their greatest fears? What would it be like understanding God's love after coming out of a background where God is seen as only wrathful?

Whew, Julia, I can’t wait to get a little peek at this story. What an idea!

Casey’s story ideas come from observation coupled with the ‘what if’ question. Transporting real situations or real people into a fictional realm where you, the author, mold a story.

Inspiration may come from various different sources, but the commonality among them all?

What if?

Samuel Johnson said, “Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.”

When said that curiosity ‘killed the cat’, Arnold Edinborough replied – “But the cat died nobly.”

So – what has your curiosity gotten you into? What is the inspiration behind your wip? Care to share?

Walt Disney – “When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.”

The Quixotic Pull of Your Future Novel

Ever hit about 35K on a WIP and get smacked over the head, lovesick for a new idea—a new novel? This has happened to me almost every single time I reach the midway point.
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Finally I decided to discuss this quixotic pull with a fellow author. It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try to unearth the reasoning behind why I’m so easily seduced by a fresh set of characters and a compelling plot as soon as I hit halfway.
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Together my friend and I settled on a few reasons why this might be happening:

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A Pleasant Distraction at the Perfect TimeA novel gets a lot trickier to stick with once you’ve passed 30K. Conflict needs tightening. Characters need motivation. The plot must move fluidly. The prospect of being introduced to potential characters that have nothing to do with a dragging plot pace is extremely tempting. I find I must be wary of usurping ideas that come on too strong. They might simply exist so I’ll deviate from my WIP.
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Think a stellar daydream during third period calculus. It’s worth it to plug through the problems.
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Stalling PointI’ve actually stopped writing two novels because I ran smack dab into the vacuum. You know the vacuum where you run out of creativity for a novel. Ideas had been sucked from my brain. How did I remedy that problem? I invented a cast of characters that knew how to stay around for the duration. Rarely would I advise someone to bail out on a WIP, but if you’ve reached an irreversible stalling point, then take on the enticing project with gusto.

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Losing that Lovin’ FeelingRemember how you felt when you fell in love for the first time? I swear that’s how writing a rough draft feels for me sometimes. The woozy lightheaded zone. Craving to learn every single thing about my characters. Forgiving their flaws only to write them all down and save them for later use. Smitten until page 109. Then the butterflies flutter away from my stomach and the gloves come out. At some point I find myself fighting through, working hard to make it to the end. When the romantic notion of my story arc flees, much like what happens at varying stages of all relationships; I must learn to stay the course.

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Characters Can’t Be ControlledLet’s face it characters have an uncanny bent toward rudeness. They barge. They storm. They interrupt dinner and bedtime. They’re desperate to have their stories told. And their timing by no means lines up with our timing. They visit when they visit, suitcases clutched in both hands. I’ve found the best thing to do when I’m flooded with descriptions of Bob and Betty is to take notes. I’ll spend months taking notes on characters. Dozens of characters that have made a sudden appearance in my brain have been duly noted, but not all of them have made it to the page. At least not yet.

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A Great IdeaAnd then there are moments when I truly stumble across a solid idea with flourishing characters. An unforgettable plot. Is it wrong to tackle two novels at the same time? No. Separate notes have helped me keep my facts straight and my timelines from looking more crooked than Nanny McPhee’s nose.

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Has this ever happened to you? What explanation do you have for the quixotic pull of a future novel while you’re hard at work on your WIP?

*photos from flickr

The Inner Sanctum

"A soul can create only when alone"

Abraham Joshua Herchel

What feeling does that quote evoke in you? Peace?
Excitement? Fear? When I read it a sense of desire welled up in me. The urge to get away from life, sit in solitude and create was overwhelming. At the same time, a fog of despair rolled over me knowing that my life prohibits that kind of creative heaven.

There's no hard and fast rule that you must be completely alone to write your stories. There wouldn't be many published books if that were the case. But what kind of atmosphere is most conducive to your imagination taking flight? What is your inner sanctum?

A dictionary gave a couple of definitions for sanctum: 1.a sacred or holy place 2. an inviolably private place or retreat.

What writing rituals do you hold sacred? What private place or retreat do you run to when you dream up your novels? Do you wait for the family to go to bed, light candles and turn on soft music? Do you go to the farthest corner in the library? How about under the trees in your backyard? Or do you prefer to sit in the hubbub of your family, relishing the noise of life and vitality?

When I first started writing, I needed complete quiet. No music, no loud kids in the background, nothing. Over the last few years I've learned to tolerate more noise. I still cannot listen to music with lyrics, but a soft easy listening or classical song is now acceptable. I've learned I can sit on the couch while my husband watches football and work on my character sketches. I still need the quiet to develop the story, whether it is in the wee morning hours or the quiet of the car on the way to work.

I've heard numerous writing styles of various writers and I've learned that there is no right or wrong in any area of the writer's life. You do what works for you.

So what is your inner sanctum?

A Grand Idea!

Recently a few writers talked about taking a break from their work.  They went on fabulous vacations to cleanse their writing palettes, free up their minds, refresh their spirits.  My undiagnosed ADD can't seem to figure out how to do that.

Well, obviously I want to and do go on vacations--I just can't leave the writing at home.

Not too long ago my husband and I went on a vacation to celebrate one of those special numbered anniversaries.  Our flight to Phoenix left before any sane creature woke.  That morning, I stuffed last minute essentials in my carry-on bag and stumbled to the car.   About the time we hit security, I realized my laptop had been a stow-a-way.

We drove in a rental car from the airport to the Grand Canyon and arrived a few hours later.  Long day?  Sure!  Find our hotel and catch a few zzzzzs before checking out the scoop? Not a chance. Who could wait for a good night sleep to explore God's awesome creation?  A gorgeous sunset had been painted by the hand of the Creator.  No way would I miss that.

The first view from the South Rim took my breath away.  I couldn't speak.  The second, third, and fourth views produced the same result.  Good grief! I'm a writer.  What could I do?

My heart pulsed--I wrung my hands--there must be words.  Words!! Woords!  Must have wooords!  Majestic, vast, beautiful, breathtaking popped into my head.  No--not clear enough.  Were there words for the Grand Canyon?  That's when a grand idea came to me.  If I could figure out a way to describe the Grand Canyon, even in the smallest measure, my laptop and I would be happy.

Words provide meaning to things around us.  How could I capture the Grand Canyon to--say--a blind person who had the ability to see at some time in his or her life?

Now that you're hooked...I won't share my answer until it's time to comment.  Rather, take this challenge:  How would you describe one of these photos to someone who can't see them?

View 1

View 2

View 3

Sooooooooo what would you say?