Hunting Down that Idea Fairy

Where do you get your ideas? That's a question I'm often asked, especially when I talk to young people. It's a question most all writers are asked at one time or another. Here's an answer I stumbled across last week. I'm not familiar with Sarah Zette's writing, but I have to admire her sense of humor here where she's obviously answering the question about where she finds her ideas.


 My joking answer to this question is that I leave a bowl of milk out on the back porch every night for the Idea Fairy. In the morning, the milk is gone and there's a brand-new shiny idea by the bowl. ~Sarah Zette

I might have to try that bowl of milk on the back porch, but you know, I'm thinking around here, I'd just attract raccoons. Maybe a chocolate bar would work better. If I was an idea fairy, I'd fly in for the chocolate and fight off those raccoons. 

But all kidding aside, where do you get your ideas is a fair question. It's a question I sometimes ask myself when I'm starting down a new story road and looking for an idea. Where will the next idea come from? And will it be an idea that can fly? And to be totally truthful, it's a question I sometimes ask myself when I've come to the end of a story road and reread what I've written. I think where in the world did that come from? 

The imagination is an amazing thing. You mix it with all those memories and impressions that have buried themselves in your brain and out pop ideas. You might have a Eureka moment and say, "I've got it!!" 

So you have the initial idea and then you invite in characters to show up to make the idea become a story. If I can bring those characters to life in my imagination, then maybe, just maybe, they will show me what happens next when I get stuck on the story road. Because that beginning idea has to grow and expand and put out branches to bear the fruit of the story that the reader will harvest.

So the question about where do ideas come from is not an easy one to answer. Oh, I can say things like ideas come from all the things you've experienced and from all the experiences you've read in stories and newspapers. They come from things you've witnessed your friends and families experiencing. And sometimes, they come from out of the blue. You can't trace them to anything. 

Ideas can be like mosquitoes buzzing in your ears or butterflies floating by on a breeze. Sometimes they come like thunderclaps shaking your house or they might be a mere whisper in the wind. So many wonderful ways to have ideas awaken inside you. 

One of the best ways for me to feed the idea mill is by reading. That’s what I’m getting ready to do to help my new idea grow legs to be off and running. It’s while I’m researching that my ideas can deepen and grow. So I definitely can agree with the following quote. 

 A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life. ~Norman Cousins

So many of my stories owe much to the books I’ve found at libraries.

Have you ever wondered about where writers get ideas? Or if you are a writer, how would you answer that question?

A Novel Tea

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." ~Chaim Potok

 And what's more fun to talk about while you're drinking that cup of tea than books? That's what I got to do today at a "Novel Tea." I was excited when I got my first e-mail from Lisa Jones, the librarian in Grayson County, KY, saying they were planning to have a book event and it was going to be a tea and would I like to come speak. Since I'm a tea lover and a book lover, I was on board at once. Now if they'd had a dog show on the side, the day would have been perfect. Just teasing. Those dogs would have wanted all the treats. (grin)

Of course, after the lady said they were going to sell tickets, I told her I hoped the tea would be good because I couldn't imagine anybody buying a ticket to hear me talk. I don't think they did. I think they bought the tickets to enjoy the tea and scones. Aren't those teapots in the picture at the top cute? Each one had a different flavor or type tea. I went for the English breakfast tea because I like my tea strong without added flavor.

They also had wonderful desserts and the caterer was a woman after my own heart. She put the desserts at the start of the table so you picked up your plate and could load up with the sweet things before you got to the healthy relish tray and sandwiches, etc. After all, life is short and the plates were small. This way you got to allot the proper space to the best part of any tea - the sweet concoctions.

Actually, the best part for me was meeting so many new reading friends and getting to tell them about my books. After I talked about my writing life, we had time for questions. That's always my favorite part of any talk if the people aren't too shy to ask whatever they're curious about regarding writers or writing. Grade school kids do the best job asking questions. They want to know everything! Adults are sometimes slower to raise their hands. But a question I got today that I nearly always get is how long does it take me to write a book. My stock answer is about a year, but I have written books in six months and this summer I'm going to need to write a story in two months. Thank goodness it's a Christmas story that will only be about half as long as most of my stories.

Another question was about whether I work regular hours or wait until I feel a creative burst coming on. Some people may be able to wait for their muse to show up, but most of those muses are onery creatures who dillydally and don't come knocking on your door that often. You have to go out and grab that rascal and wrestle him into your office or workplace. How I do that is by spending a lot of hours with my fingers on the keyboard. That way your muse will realize you're serious about this writing stuff and reluctantly begin showing up more often. 

What question do you wish you could ask a writer? My answer and other writers' answers might be very different since writing is such an individual pursuit with many ways to write a story. But it's still fun to ask questions and I enjoy answering them too.

Thanks for reading. Maybe we can all have tea together someday and talk about books!

Messy Desks, Deadlines, and Writing Classes

~~~Here's my granddaughter ready to take over her grandma's place as writer for the day. She's a super fast typist, but it's a little hard to read all those words she types without concern over proper placement of letters. Free flowing thoughts - er fingers. Perhaps good for the creative energy.

~~~I'd like to blame the messy desk in the background on her, but I have to admit the mess is all mine. I like a neat desk, but I think papers reproduce overnight and spread like creeping kudzu. Scattered about in no particular order I have bank statements, calendar books, church bulletins, books of inspirational sayings, and info on my computer that's still not working properly and all my troubleshooting isn't fixing.

~~~Everybody groans when I say the word "Vista." I hear all of you out there groaning now. I don't really care what operating system I have as long as it operates. I've always been that way about cars too. As long as the motor turns over and starts purring when I turn the key, I'm happy. Of course I like one that's small enough to parallel park with ease which means my husband considers it a toy car. So we usually ride together in his van.

~~~But one reason my desk is so messy is that I'm having to push toward a deadline and do some promo things for The Seeker that's making an appearance at the same time as the deadline. It's good to have something to blame your mess on. Everything that comes up I say I'll do that in July the same as I did last year. I didn't get everything done in July last year. Some of those "to do" things are still on my list. My list is turning yellow with age.

~~~But before July, I'm going to be leading a couple of classes at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown the middle of June. I hope - really hope - to have my book finished before then. The two classes I'm leading are about developing characters and revising. The revising one sounds so dull that nobody will probably come to that one, but making your writing better by careful editing and revision is definitely worth the time and effort.

~~~I'm beginning to worry I may have gotten in over my head with these classes. I taught a community ed writing class for several years and enjoy teaching, but the people coming to this conference will probaby know more about writing than I do. I go on instinct a lot. You can't teach instinct. But maybe I can share some of the things I've discovered in my many years of writing. That's one thing I'll probably have on most of the attendees, the number of years I've been at it.

~~~But if you were coming to my class, what would you like to know? What questions would you ask? What tips would you share about character development or revising? If you've got an extra minute, let me know.

What Questions Would You Ask?

~~I enjoyed a night with the Southeast Christian Book Club in Louisville on Monday. Here I am with a few of the ladies who got together with me for some extra book talk and fun before the meeting. I was so busy talking during the meeting that I didn't get any other pictures, but we're a happy looking bunch, aren't we? Talking about books makes me smile for sure. Especially when so many people are saying so many nice things about my book.

~~I told the book club members I was excited because I had fresh ears. I could tell all my old stories about how I got started as a writer and they'd all be new to them. It was fun giving them a glimpse of one writer's journey toward publication and beyond. And then it was even more fun when we got to the question and answer time. That's always my favorite part of any talk because I don't have to prepare for that. There's no way to prepare for that, and that's why it's fun. You never know what people might ask and you have to be ready with an answer. I usually have some kind of answer, but of course, I don't mind saying "I don't know." That's always an answer that will work.

~~A popular question is how do you work. Every day or just when you're feeling inspired? Half my books, maybe all of them would have never gotten written if I had to wait for my Muse to kick in. He's an onery sucker who most of the time refuses to show up until I make myself go on and start hitting computer keys even when I don't know what I want to write. But I have to write something. Anything. And then I hope part of it will be my story talking or happening might be a better word.

~~Somebody usually asks if I know what's going to happen in the story before I start. Some writers do, I think, but not me. I might have an idea of where my characters are going to go, by I often don't know how they're going to get there. It happens as I write. Then Monday night someone wanted to know how I knew when it was the end. A good question. And I didn't have a very good answer for her. Usually I just know. Once all the major problems are resolved, the loose ends tied up then - as I read once - it's time to get out of Dodge. When the story's over, ride off into the sunset. Don't linger describing the beautiful hues. Readers have imaginations and they enjoy using them. I want to let them.

~~At book clubs, there are usually more questions about what happens to the characters in the years ahead. Those are good questions to hear because it means my characters came to life for the readers. They want them to live on past the story. So it's sort of fun to speculate on what happens after that final page in the book.

~~That's some of the questions from the other night. What question would you like to ask your favorite author? I might think up a few dozen for a few dozen favorite writers. But first I need to ask that stubborn Muse a few questions about this story I'm writing. That's who needs to be giving me answers. So guess I'd better put my fingers on the keyboard and start working on Lacey's story. Thanks for reading.

And the Question Is...

"Any man who knows all the answers most likely misunderstood the questions."

That's a quote that has a lot of truth. Nobody has all the answers, but writers can get asked some interesting stuff. I promised I'd report on the questions the students at Western Hills High asked me last Friday. I spoke to three different classes - a couple of advanced placement classes and one Senior/Junior English class. The first class had maybe eight kids. They didn't have many questions. I think I probably should have been asking them questions.

The second class was the one the teacher had warned me would be "energetic." And then the teacher was absent with a substitute. Talk about nervous. Me, not the kids. But the kids were great. Energetic for sure, but I was in there for their block period which was an hour and a half almost and between me and the kids we managed to fill up the time. I did my "yeah, I'm a writer and this is how that came about" speech. And then I read some out of my writing journal to show how long it takes from initial idea to published book. Not sure how that went over, but they listened. Then we did my "create a character" exercise. Groups always have fun with that, but this bunch got a little noisy. Thank goodness we were way down the hall from the principal's office. They all had their own ideas of who the character should be and they tried to shout down the other ideas. It was fun.

The third class was a bigger advanced placement class and we were back to the quieter environment and polite listeners. Of course their regular teacher was there listening too and the class time was shorter so we had to rush up the writing exercise of creating a character.

But I promised I would let you know about their questions. Nobody asked a real stumper. Thank goodness. So I knew most of the answers - or maybe I just misunderstood the questions, you think? So here we go with a few of their questions.

"Do you get to pick your covers?" Everybody is always interested in how the covers are designed. That's one of those misunderstood questions if I have the answer. I told them the publishers usually come up with the covers and sometimes ask the writer's input. Even when they don't expect you to give any input. My favorite cover? Definitely The Outsider because the model for Gabrielle is the perfect Gabrielle. Then I liked my young adult novel, For Sheila, from several years ago because of the big old dog.

"Do you know any really famous writers?" I'm always a disappointment on this one. They want me to have chatted with J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. I haven't. I know some writers, but none whose names I could drop to get the kids excited.

"What is your favorite book that you've written?" A hard question to answer. Like saying which is your favorite child when you have a dozen or maybe nineteen kids. They're all my favorites. The Scent of Lilacs because it got me back into the published ranks after several years out. Discovery at Coyote Point because the setting is based on one of my favorite places on the farm. The Gifting because writing it got me through a hard time while my dad was in the last stages of cancer. The one I'm working on because it's new. I can think of reasons to decide each book might be a favorite.

"Which book that you've written made you the proudest?" I didn't have an answer for that one. Maybe I should have told the kids I'm proud every time I finish a book. But then pride goeth before a fall, so maybe I'll just say I'm excited every time I finish a book.

"Can you make a living writing?" Another impossible question to give a general answer. Some writers make a great living writing. Most writers shouldn't give up their day jobs. I've had years I did okay and other years I worked for peanuts. More peanut years than making a living years, but there was never any question of not writing. I am compelled to write.

So no real zany questions. I expected a few zingers, but the kids were kind. How about you? What questions would you have asked if you'd been there? Or if you were listening to any writer talk about writing?