I get several different kinds of ideas. The ones I think are the best at the time are the ones that have my heart pumping at night before sleep, so I have to get up and write a few words to prompt my mind in the morning as to what I was thinking. The only problem is when I read what I have written the next day, it's something like, 'the protaganist has to take the people down'. What people, why they need to be taken down and who the protaganist is has fled back to the ether, probably on its way to some other less excitable writer. And then there are the ideas that won't leave me alone until I have a plodded my way through a first draft. Ideas where the story slowly unfolds but I'm never really sure how it's going to turn out; these usually turn out to be my best ideas.
Ideas can spring from gossip, personal stories, lived or heard experiences, eavesdropping on conversations from neighbours and eating places (e.g. cafes, bistros, street stalls, tea houses, restaurants, food courts, hawker centres), overhearing chitchats at wet markets, on buses & subways, and in supermarkets, medical clinics & public bathrooms, talking with taxi drivers or private hires, reading complaint letters, listening to songs, finding interesting items from bins like discarded notebook, patch-up diaries, receipts, or broken toys, via observations of individuals' behaviours, line-dancing with the seniors, and the list goes on.
Real Life, (4sure)... i.e. pictures, snap shots & short videos in what I call brain waves.. And then I try and write about. Try is the key word here.... All of it is getting better, more tuned writing wise... Its a really great question Cornerstones Team... I'll be back, ready to rock with a complete pack (M/S) Thx Cornerstones, learning allot here....
This is an interesting question because I never think about ideas for novels unless I’m reading, watching a movie or in most instances, writing.
I could be immersed in a biography, history or fantasy novel, and suddenly stop and think, now how would this turn out if this happened? Scribble that down.
This is the same for film. I will suddenly reach for the pause button, and twist whatever scene I’ve just watched to bring up an alternative ending. Scribble that down.
Most of my reading and viewing are linked to the genre of novels I enjoy writing so the idea floats around in my head, looking for a place to land in my novel, if there’s no place, it gets scribbled down in my notebook for future reference.
Somehow, these scenes find their way into one of my novels which shows how haphazard my style of writing is!
Ideas? Never stop. A constant stream. Then the question: Does this idea have legs? Probably... Then the second question: Do i have the work ethic to see it through to conclusion. Probably not. And so I end up with the two or three gems that I will bleed for. Thewriting begins. I search for ideas within the grand idea0 They come every morning at 05:30-ish. I have to will myself to jot down notes (for the day'writing), for if I nod off, they disappear like smoke up a chimney.
I often see a single scene in my mind, usually an interaction between a couple of my characters. I write that down on a sheet of A3 and using a mind map see if it takes me anywhere. Often it stops there, but sometimes it soars. Always write it down though, that action seems to couple me to the idea, otherwise it is lost.
There I am in the shower, the water touches my body and ideas come pouring either from the folktales I had heard while growing up or from the day-to-day conversations around one - the chat shows on radio, the public parliament which is people talking randomly at the newspapers' kiosks. I also find inspiration in the play on words. I'm Yoruba and some Yoruba words have different meaning depending on the pronunciation. I play the words around and against each other. Lines of words begin and I end up with a poem.
Friends have laughed at me when I talk about the shower incident. I'm not bothered. That's my connection to water, one of the elements of nature.
I get several different kinds of ideas. The ones I think are the best at the time are the ones that have my heart pumping at night before sleep, so I have to get up and write a few words to prompt my mind in the morning as to what I was thinking. The only problem is when I read what I have written the next day, it's something like, 'the protaganist has to take the people down'. What people, why they need to be taken down and who the protaganist is has fled back to the ether, probably on its way to some other less excitable writer. And then there are the ideas that won't leave me alone until I have a plodded my way through a first draft. Ideas where the story slowly unfolds but I'm never really sure how it's going to turn out; these usually turn out to be my best ideas.
Ideas can spring from gossip, personal stories, lived or heard experiences, eavesdropping on conversations from neighbours and eating places (e.g. cafes, bistros, street stalls, tea houses, restaurants, food courts, hawker centres), overhearing chitchats at wet markets, on buses & subways, and in supermarkets, medical clinics & public bathrooms, talking with taxi drivers or private hires, reading complaint letters, listening to songs, finding interesting items from bins like discarded notebook, patch-up diaries, receipts, or broken toys, via observations of individuals' behaviours, line-dancing with the seniors, and the list goes on.
I steal them, of course
Brutally honest & very cool... Cheers*
Real Life, (4sure)... i.e. pictures, snap shots & short videos in what I call brain waves.. And then I try and write about. Try is the key word here.... All of it is getting better, more tuned writing wise... Its a really great question Cornerstones Team... I'll be back, ready to rock with a complete pack (M/S) Thx Cornerstones, learning allot here....
I get my ideas through the happenstance of my life. Sometimes I experience silly things like the following: https://www.facebook.com/100003800619926/posts/1720707344732603/?extid=ZAGs59xSjGAwMf3P&d=t
This is an interesting question because I never think about ideas for novels unless I’m reading, watching a movie or in most instances, writing.
I could be immersed in a biography, history or fantasy novel, and suddenly stop and think, now how would this turn out if this happened? Scribble that down.
This is the same for film. I will suddenly reach for the pause button, and twist whatever scene I’ve just watched to bring up an alternative ending. Scribble that down.
Most of my reading and viewing are linked to the genre of novels I enjoy writing so the idea floats around in my head, looking for a place to land in my novel, if there’s no place, it gets scribbled down in my notebook for future reference.
Somehow, these scenes find their way into one of my novels which shows how haphazard my style of writing is!
Ideas? Never stop. A constant stream. Then the question: Does this idea have legs? Probably... Then the second question: Do i have the work ethic to see it through to conclusion. Probably not. And so I end up with the two or three gems that I will bleed for. Thewriting begins. I search for ideas within the grand idea0 They come every morning at 05:30-ish. I have to will myself to jot down notes (for the day'writing), for if I nod off, they disappear like smoke up a chimney.
Wanting to make a difference to the world and with added inspiration from my grandchildren.
From mad conversations, be they my own or the people that pass on the street.
Bit of both
Usually my ideas come from overheard snippets of conversations, my and other peoples' daft ideas, headlines and when I can't sleep I can always think.
I often see a single scene in my mind, usually an interaction between a couple of my characters. I write that down on a sheet of A3 and using a mind map see if it takes me anywhere. Often it stops there, but sometimes it soars. Always write it down though, that action seems to couple me to the idea, otherwise it is lost.
There I am in the shower, the water touches my body and ideas come pouring either from the folktales I had heard while growing up or from the day-to-day conversations around one - the chat shows on radio, the public parliament which is people talking randomly at the newspapers' kiosks. I also find inspiration in the play on words. I'm Yoruba and some Yoruba words have different meaning depending on the pronunciation. I play the words around and against each other. Lines of words begin and I end up with a poem.
Friends have laughed at me when I talk about the shower incident. I'm not bothered. That's my connection to water, one of the elements of nature.