Do you remember the first moment you had the impulse to tell a story? The first time the muse tapped you on your shoulder and said, "Pssst, we need to talk?"
I do. For me it was on my lunch hour. I worked for a structural engineering company and had just pulled into the parking lot to go back to work. A radio broadcast interrupted with a breaking news report, which said a man had left the Santa Fe state capital building, where in broad daylight, and in front of witnesses, an assassin traveling by car zoomed past and gunned the man down on the steps.
Myriad thoughts went through my head at the time, among them the brazen act and the location itself. As someone who grew up in New Mexico, I knew politically based shootings of this kind were anomalies.
Sadly, I never found out why the man was murdered, or if his killer(s) were apprehended. But in the weeks that followed, the story wouldn't let go. I combed newspapers, searched the Internet, tuned into evening programs, but I was left with a story simply untold.
What did I do? Finished it, of course. That thirty second account depicting a tragedy sparked my fiction career. I called the book Loving Montana. I wrote it in three months. Without the benefit of critique partners, without an understanding of the market, without knowledge of GMC or POV or any initials for that matter. I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but filling that missing gap did ignite my passion, and my muse took it from there.
Which brings me to you. Where do your stories come from? Do you remember what you were doing the first moment your muse whispered, "Pssst, we need to talk?"
36 comments:
Hi Donnell,
This is a favorite question for readers as well as writers alike. I get my inspirations from the world around us and newspaper articles. If I read something that seems absurd then start to discuss it and find it far more interesting and conflict-laden than I'd thought, then that would make a great story.
For instance JUST DESTINY is about a woman who wants to have her dead husband's baby. I read abt this in CA many years ago and thought, why would his family try to stop her from conceiving his child after he's passed? It's a sweet way to memorialize a beloved husband and keep a part of him alive.
Then my lawyer sister said that, legally, it was an interesting issue and she wondered if sperm would be considered "property". WIth a little research, I found it was an interesting legal issue.
Then her husband mentioned that he wasn't sure he'd want her to have his child after he was gone. He wasn't certain he'd want his child deliberately being brought up without a father. Wasn't sure he would choose for his child to live with the possible stigma of being conceived by IVF--from a dead man, and that perhaps it wasn't in the child's best interest to be born under those circumstances.
The more I delved into the issue, the more legal and moral issues popped up making this a fascinating story to me.
So I wrote it.
They come from all different places for me. I have one idea in mind because I woke up one morning and the idea was just there. I don't know if I dreamed it or what, but the idea was there.
My current wip started because I finished a book with a plot I'd read before and thought, hm...I wonder how THEIR decision affected X person?
X person (a daughter) didn't exist in the story I'd just finished. But I couldn't quit thinking about if a daughter existed how her life was now forever changed. And I went from there.
My first writing implement was a crayon, but fast forwarding a bit, my first crime fiction novel (written longhand while in high school) was sparked by the unsolved murders of several local girls my own age. It was a scary time and by solving the crimes in my fiction, I felt empowered just a bit.
T, I love where you get your ideas. You are the inspirational bulldog of genius. An idea takes hold in that brain of yours and you chew it like a rawhide bone. Thanks for sharing your story, I'm intrigued with what's circling that brain of yours now by the way ;)
So Keri so your muse sparked a series? That is so fantastic. The one thing I haven't done yet is write a series. My books have always been standalone, although I've always fallen in love with my secondary characters. Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Donnell:
It is said that Philosophy and Science is a matter of asking the right questions. Writing may fall into this same category.
My ideas often come from asking “what if” questions.
When I was about seven I told my mother that everyone was doing something that I wanted to do but my mother would not let me do.
She said, “If everyone was jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge would you?”
I didn’t realize this was a rhetorical question so I tried to visualize why everyone would be jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. In my mind I could see a great fire on both sides of the bridge and all the people running onto the bridge to escape the fire. So many people were jamming onto the bridge that some faced being crushed to death. Rather than being crushed to death many were jumping off. In this case it made perfect sense to jump of the bridge.
In other words, if everyone else were jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, it would probably make good sense for me to jump off too. I tried to explain this to my mother but she just shook her head and said I couldn’t do it anyway.
I learned then that life was more than just winning arguments.
BTW, I love your web site.
Thanks,
Vince
Hi, Annette, yeah, I've heard that about you with the crayons ;) Seriously though, it sounds like our writing stemmed from a feeling of helplessness, from a feeling of injustice. I wanted to know what happened to the man leaving the capital steps. You wanted justice for unsolved murders. That is so sad. Do those murders remain unsolved to this day?
Donnell, I don't think I've ever written a book where I didn't have a series in mind for it. I just don't think in that mindset.
Some of my series follow the same couples, others are a community/family kind. They would stand-alone though.
Vince, thank you very much for you kind words on my web site. And kudos to your mom aka Mrs. Muse, don't you think? She may have been your spark. Very cool story. Thanks so much for sharing. Quick question before I get back to writing. Did you ever write that story, sounds like a compelling one?
Keri, thanks for answering my question! And obviously your ideas are fantastic from the awards you're winning. You must have a great muse:)
Donnell, it turned out NOT to be a serial killer...at least according to reports. I believe a couple of the murders were solved, but there is some question in my mind about them still...
Hmmm, Annette, you know what I'm thinking don't you? I may get to read a very interesting mystery in the future. Might even make a great short story... hint hint....
I dunno, Donnell. I already wrote that book. My mom may still have it, along with several other early "novels" which she is holding hostage as a way to blackmail me into submission.
In other words, they suck swamp water. ;-)
Hi D! Great question for today and I love reading everyone's answers. Great ideas and stories.
I've been writing stories since fourth grade, but serious fiction writing as an adult came after 9/11. Without warning, the world seemed a lot scarier, and I became a CNN junkie (which only fed my fears and the feeling that I couldn't protect my kids). Like Annette mentioned in her response, creating a fictional world where I could control the characters made me feel empowered again. The bad guys got caught, justice was served, characters figured out who they really were behind their careers and underneath their outward appearances.
Ah, Misty, with each post brings up another great blog topic. I'm seeing a pattern in a lot of these stories. An event usually triggers these events. As someone who's read your works, I'm so glad the muse whispered to you. I know she's still whispering, and I suspect she keeps you awake at night. Thanks for sharing your story! Look forward to your blog on Samhellion??? tomorrow, right?
Hi. I think I started because I love stories. My mother had a great memory and was always speaking the first chapters and pages of famous novels. Especially Ivanhoe and A tale of two cities. So I loved stories. And I loved adapting. I'd watch a movie and suddenly think, "That would be good but...the writers should've done this."
The first time I wrote I was in junior high school and I wrote a poem -- now long lost. My friend picked it up and read it and liked it. She said to the teacher, "Carole's written a poem." The teacher called me up and made me read it. I was amazed.
-Carole
Ah, Carole, thanks for posting, and Carole has an amazing imagination, gang! The stories she tells. So Carole, are you a closet screenwriter? Finishing stories? When you watch a film, do you wish they would have finished it differently? You use the word adapt, a screenwriter's tool. My blog partner LA uses these big words in front of me and I'm always impressed :) Thanks for sharing your story!
Donnell, great question. When I first got my urge to write, I was reading romances and just picked a hero and heroine who fought a lot. lol
One of my favorite book ideas came because I loved my dog so much. The male dog in my book was changed to a man. Not a were-dog, but a permanent change. After that I wrote a book about a cat who changed into a woman.
Edie, who said dogs weren't a woman's best friend and I bet that hero was loyal :) Thanks for sharing. How long ago was that book, you've come a long way, baby. When is the next voting for the American Title Competition?
LOVE the post, Donnell!
According to my mom, I've been writing since I was 3. I remember asking her to write what I wanted, but have no idea what I was writing. She didn't keep any of those stories, and the world is probably a better place for it. :)
The early efforts I do remember featured TV-type heros saving damsels, and damsels saving the world. Now though, I tend to see a TV story or a print article, or overhear a conversation and be struck by the humor of it. Humor launches my muse.
And, yes, it is entirely true that LA VIDA VAMPIRE (and the entire series) was inspired by a peanut butter commercial. Another series I'm working on was inspired by a cool house and the gorgeous grounds around it. Yet another story was inspired by revisiting Oceanside, CA. (The place where I first fell in love. :))
The responses you're getting are fun and inspiring in themselves, too!
Light,
Nancy
Nancy, really? Peanut butter inspired a Vampire Series series. I'd love it if you would expand. Sounds to me like you had a kick butt heroine for a muse way back when. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, I love to hear where stories come from. I also get a lot of inspiration from songs. I read in Sandra Brown's Hello Darkness that she got the idea from Simon and Garfunkel song, and of course my novel, Walk Away Joe came from, you guessed it,Tricia Yearwood's and Don Henley's duet and my ridealong with a deputy. I asked him what would happen to a girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when her boyfriend held up a convenience store, he said she'd be an accomplice. Muses are amazing things. And much appreciated! Thanks for stopping by! :)
Hi Donnell.
The idea for my first story, when I got back into fiction writing came from the internet. Was looking up the lyrics to a Harry Chapin song and followeed a google link. The next thing I knew, my anti-virus program kicked off as I was attack by hundreds of viruses.
Luckily they were all stopped, but I had the idea, what if comuter viruses could attack people too...
Fantastic, Jack! Sorry about your computer. Wow, if that would have happened to me I would have been sobbing on the floor; what did you do? kicked around your thought process with your muse... Well done. And then you became a dad who tells fantastic parenting stories. So do you have one or two muses ;) Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
Donnell,
GREAT topic. Sorry it took me so long to come over here and add my thoughts. You know, I can't watch a single movie or read a single book without thinking, "Oh, what if it had happened this way...or that way...or what if..."
I also do this when I'm researching a historical time period. I come across some odd fact and think, "What a great idea for a book."
Of course, the end result never really looks like I'd envisioned, but that's for another blog!
~Renee~
Oh my stars, Donnell! I've had voices talking to me my entire life : ) You mean, it's okay that I talked back to them?
Ha, I've been a writer forever. I find fodder for stories wherever I eavesdrop : )
Thanks for stroll down memory lane. And, thanks for telling me I would have wasted all the money had I gone into therapy, LOL!
Hi, Renee, you're on! I love it when you guest blog with us! Thanks for stopping by.
Audra, no way would therapy help a writer. Waste of money indeed. I suspect after hearing your hilarious antics and what you endured on your property in Montana that you have a billion stories to tell. Can't wait to read them all!!!
Hi Donnell
No, I have never tried to publish that story but I have told it for many years in the various classes I teach. I always used it in my Communications class. I never thought to look for a market for the story. Do you think there is one? I’d be glad to write it up.
Thanks, this is a great post to start the year.
Vince
As always, I'm late to comment. LOL. Great topic, Donnell!
My first big writing episode came in high school. I wrote an historical short story for English class and my teacher loved it. Got an A+ for that one. She KNEW I'd be a writer some day. Fat chance, I replied.
I think what I hated most in school (including college) was required reading and writing. One day on vacation, I finished the last of many books and said, "I can write this stuff." And I did. I still have the printout of my very first ms. One day...
--
delta
Vince, congratulations on teaching. Excellent. About the market for your bridge story, how about if I'm vague and say it depends. I think there are several short story markets, an inspirational market etc. that would love to hear about a little boy listening to his mother say... you wouldn't jump off a bridge would you??? This is where voice, and how you tell a story. You could use humor... you could develop it into sci fi, or even an inspirational piece about why I tell stories. So without being too vague, I think the best thing to do is sit down and write it. You never know where an idea can take you.
You're all so amazing. Thank you. I love blogs like these where we share.
Delta, I suspect your teacher planted that seed. An A+ Why am I not surprised. As one who has seen so much of what you've written I've never scored you below a B (and those are your drafts) :) You are an amazing author. And you're not late at all!
Hi D,
Inspiration? Newspaper article about a find of jade in Guatemala uncovered by a hurricane--Stone of Heaven. Suicide of Tech junkies---Love's A Game.
BTW, My Jr. High English teacher in a parent-teacher conference told my folks that I would never become a writer, b/c I only wanted to tell the story, not learn the grammer...Hmmmm.
Mom told me I stopped writing that day. I got back to it MUCH later and when I called my mother and told her I could writer better than the author whose book I'd just slammed against the wall, Mom told me the story of my Jr. HS teacher, then said. "I'd always hoped you say that, now go write."
~LA
LA, thanks for sharing. Isn't it amazing we see the power a teacher has. They can encourage or discourage. The good news is you were too strong to let he/she influence you! Well done, and I love your inspirational tale ;)
My first fiction venture in this stage of my life was in a team setting, so the idea wasn't mine. But the reason I got to the team in the first place was a desire to write a non-fiction how-to book on thinking and problem solving called Thinking It Through. It was to be a translation of my professional systems analysis activity into concepts that a lay person could use. This idea came in 2003 when I was lying in bed wondering what to do with my life. I was wanting a class in 'how to publish' that ended up being a standard writer's workshop because they couldn't find a teacher who knew about 'how to get published'. I almost walked out and demanded my money back. Instead, I stuck it out. Five years later, that 'how to' book is yet to be written, but in the mean time I've written three novels, and am nearly finished with a fourth.
At an earlier stage, as in 20+ years ago, I started co-writing a novel with another friend [whose retirement announcement I was emailed just today!], but because of a death in her family [her husband] and a stolen computer where the draft of the first chapter resided, that one went by the wayside.
Muse also visited in the form of a poem once when I was riding a train from Melbourne to Adelaide. I woke up at daybreak, raised the window shade on my cabin, and there was the most beautiful countryside. So I wrote Dawn Spirits, about the bushmen of the outback. It was recorded by the ABC not long after. That was about 12 years ago. Long time between drinks, as we say.
Jan, your muse is a novel in itself. What a fascinating, heartbreaker... A writer's greatest fear is someone absconding with his novel. Seriously, I think your story would make fascinating reading. And I even have the title... how about Between Drinks.
Thanks for Sharing,
Donnell, I wrote the dog story many years ago. I had better luck with the cat turned to woman heroine book. I got an agent out of that, though she didn't last in the business. Oh well.
The next ATV round starts on the 21st.
Hi Donnell~
Great post! I've been writing since I was 4 or 5 and usually an idea just pops into my head. I really have no idea where it came from.
I do remember when I got the inspiration for Romeo, Romeo. I was making a huge pot of spaghetti sauce. I was taking an on line writing class and had an assignment to write a scene in first person.
I dumped my meatballs in and in the ten minutes before I could give my sauce a stir, I went into my office and wrote a dinner scene with a very Italian family. The scene ended up being cut from the book, but I loved the characters and ran with it.
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