The Eternal Question Asked of Writers - "Where Do You Get Your Ideas?"

Sooner or later, every writer gets asked this question: "Where the heck do you get your ideas?" The flip answer is, "When I find out, I'll let you know!" Of course, that's no help. So, how do we get our ideas? Naturally, that's a tough question to answer. I can only give you an answer in terms of how I work.

First, I tend to look at things in a different and unexpected way - a way that's not practical for the workaday world, but perfect for the fiction world.

Let me give one example: In the 1990s, they were in the process of tearing down the Lake Street Bridge over the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area. The bridge was nearly 100 years old and no longer safe.

One day, I stood with a bunch of onlookers, and we watched the whole deconstruction process unfold. Everyone around me was talking technicalities - how many men were needed to do the job, what safety measures were in place, how long it would take, etc.

What was I thinking? I was thinking, "I wonder where all the trolls will go now? Trolls live under bridges, so they'll have to find a new place." And that led me to write the fantasy/horror short story "Appetizers" in which the trolls find their new home...and a whole lot of new victims!

So, I'd looked at a very pedestrian process in a fantastic way. I do that quite often, especially with horror or fantasy pieces. In another story, Queen Elizabeth in the Open Bay, I had the famous queen thrust into the future...and into a service station with some very surprised auto technicians. Believe me, it's a fun way to think and write!

Second, I make connections in unexpected ways in terms of coming up with stories for books. For example, my first novel, The Relentless Pursuit of Everett Pick (now titled American Job) arose from my reading of the daily newspaper, also in the 1990s.

As incomprehensible as it seems now, during that time there was a whole series of articles and debates on how "dead white males" were to blame for all the ills in American society - racism, sexism, poverty, wars and on and on.

"Well," I thought, "white males are definitely responsible for a lot of bad things, but they're also responsible for a lot of good things as well. This has the feel of an irrational mob."

So, I wondered what would happen if a "live white male," Everett Pick, had every member of this mob chasing after him across America for imagined crimes. The result was a satirical action/adventure novel in which extremism (from all sides of the political spectrum) results in a comic tragedy.

By simply reading the paper on a daily basis and asking every writer's favorite question ("What if..."), I made a connection that led to a novel-length extrapolation of an idea.

So, if you aspire to be a writer, you can try my two techniques - view the world in a fantastic fashion and make unexpected connections. Or, you can forge your way!

Actually, coming up with ideas is easy. Forging them into fiction is the hard part. The old, but very true joke in writing is that if you want to be a writer, then sit down behind a desk and get up twenty years later."

Still want to be a writer? :)

Next time, I'll talk about...oh heck, I haven't got a clue. So, naturally, we'll talk about writer's block! In the meantime, if you want to see the creative process of fantastic thinking and connection-making in the science fiction genre, try one of my books below!

The First Misadventure of Fragger Sparks, A Ranger Finds the Way
The Second Misadventure of Fragger Sparks, A Ranger Loses His Way
The Third Misadventure of Fragger Sparks, A Ranger Paves the Way - now out in ebook and print!