Since I launched my website and started this blog, a few people have asked me where my ideas come from (who knew anyone was actually reading?). I just hmmm and uhhh and say something along the lines of, “I get ideas everywhere.” Apparently that answer just doesn’t cut it. So, I am breaking it down by books I have posted (admittedly bare at this point-don’t worry, fleshing out the “writing” page of my site is high on my list of priorities) synopses of here on my site.
Where the ideas came from:
The Kyle Prideaux series
Kyle came to me in a dream. When I woke up, I didn’t know much about her, but I was intrigued by the dream, and by the end of the day I had the plots for three books rolling around in my head. Admittedly, the plots have evolved and metamorphosed a LOT since that first day, but the series still started with that dream.
Jack the Reaper
Jack came to me as a snarky teenage voice. I was sitting at work one day, minding my own business, and there she was, harassing me and demanding her story be told. I took a few minutes to discover what her story really is. After jotting the basics of a plot down, I returned to work. Apparently the basics were not enough for Jack (who was still unnamed at the time). I struggled to continue working on Incubus for nearly a week before her constant nagging wore me down and I put my current project away to write her story.
Darken
I was at work one day, as I often am. Our water at the office is terrible, so we use a Culligan system for drinking water. Those Culligan coolers take SO long to fill a 40 ounce bottle (especially if you are trying to drain the last little bit out of the cooler because you just don’t feel like changing the bottle). So there I was, standing at the water cooler when suddenly I had a flash: Charleston, SC…cemetary…ghost story…love story…and from there a whole plot. And then I overflowed my bottle all over the lobby floor.
As you can see, each instance was a little different. I don’t know if I have ever come across a plot or character in the same way I came across another. Once I couldn’t think of a certain word; then, when I finally did, that one word spawned an entire plot.
I have never sat down and formulated a plot. I tried that once-forcing it DOES. NOT. WORK.
With so many different plots floating around in my head (and in a notebook awaiting their turns to be written), all birthed from completely different circumstances, it is no wonder my default response is “I get ideas everywhere.”
You tell me: where do you get your plot ideas?
