4. Do most of your story ideas come from your own life, stories you read about, a flash of an idea? What?
Michael Bracken:
They come from everywhere. Lately I've been writing for a lot of anthologies so calls for submission are sparking many of my new story ideas.
P.A. I would say an overheard sentence or two. The more closely my story follows a real incident, the more trouble I have slipping into it. I try hard to find a way to make it mine when I can't pass something true up.
11 comments:
they come from everywhere, sometimes out of anger at some situation, sometimes a flash of inspiration, sometimes building off of true crimes, although almost never from my personal life (or if it is from my personal life, only superficially). And sometimes they're purely manufactured--if I need a Julius Katz plot or a story for an anthology, for example, I'll force myself to concoct one.
I often start with a snippet from the news, then end up mangling it. Otherwise my writing friends complain it's unbelievable and I've got it out of sequence, and dang it, they're right. I think they like the stories from my life best, the silly stuff.
Interesting questions, Patti.
Michel
Usually a line I've seen or a snippet from a documentary or just an observation as I wander round. I never base them on my own life or the lives of people I know. Like, Dave, if I need to concoct a prompt, I will. Once I've found a hook, it unfolds from there.
Dreams. Other expressions of the subconscious. If I force it, it feels forced, and that shows particularly in the 1.5 drafts my writing usually gets. My best biographical fiction received a minor academic award, but I've never let it be published.
Interesting it's all males who've replied so far.
I have no life, so I use the lives of others.
usually they come in a flash. Often during a conversation with Lana, but quite often too when I first wake up from sleep.
Todd,
I protest! I'm lots of things: left-handed, cranky, old enough to have have seen Herman's Hermits in concert but one thing I'm not is a male.
Michel
Sorry, Michel...took that to be a John Jean rather than a Jeannie Jean, if you get my drift...
I love it! The "writer's well."
Patti, I've had two novels spring from song lyrics. In fact, they originated in 1/2 a verse of two different songs. I described one of the books, THE TAKE, in your "How I came to write this novel" column a few months back. It was inspired by 1/2 a verse of the Marty Robbins song EL PASO.
The other novel came from 1/2 a verse of the Eagles' DESPERADO.
Thanks for the great comments!
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