Where Did That Idea Come From? by Diane Bator

 

I've been doing a lot of promotional things for The Conned Lady which came out in March and was asked the same question a few times. "Where did the idea come from for your book?"

To be honest, I'd never really thought about it. The human mind works in mysterious ways and ideas just seem to pop in from nowhere. We could talk about synapses firing which conncect thoughts and images, or how we're influenced by outside sources. I prefer to think of creative ideas as a blend of the two.

In the case of my Wild Blue Mystery series, the entire series began when I moved to a new town in Ontario across the country from where I grew up in Alberta. The entire series was formed from daily walks around town where I imagined scenes in local coffee shops, the indie bookstore, and a yard I walked past all the time. It started with the thought, "What if I was on the run and hiding from someone?"

It was a great way to learn more about the town I'd moved to as well as to keep my mind busy and meet other people. Once I joined a local writing group, I learned to write from prompts and added bits and pieces to my work in progress. They would inspire new scenes or even complete scenes I was working on. 

Writing prompts are great ways to coax ideas onto paper or computer. Here are a few samples of ones we used:

• This time her boss had gone too far.
• Red eyes.
• Stars blazed in the night sky.
• He woke to birdsong.
• ‘Shh! Hear that?’ ‘I didn’t hear anything.’
• He’d always hated speaking in public.
• She woke, shivering, in the dark of the night.
• The garden was overgrown now.
• He’d never noticed a door there before.

Great ideas and inspiration can also be nudged by lines in movies or television shows, overheard conversations, indidents in real life, sights while on a walk, the mundane routine of daily life, photographs, family videos, and so on.

In short, inspiration can come from anywhere. As a writer, you just need to be open to the possibilities!

Diane Bator

http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

https://dianebator.ca/