Where do you get your ideas?
The title of this post is a question I get frequently. I suspect that the same is true for all of the writers on Inspired by Life … and Fiction.
My answer? Ideas are a dime a dozen. They are easy to come by. They are everywhere. The trick is to find the right idea that I can turn into a story that works. Or one I want to spend months writing.
For many of my 98 books, I could not tell you where the idea came from. One moment I didn’t know what to write and the next moment I did. I firmly believe that a great deal of writing happens in the subconscious. My brain is always working, even when I’m clueless. My job is to pay attention so that I’m ready when the story bubbles to the surface.
However, there are some novels where I can tell you exactly how/when the idea came.
For my work in progress (I have a title but am not sharing yet), the inspiration came from a sermon preached by my church’s youth pastor. As I was taking notes (yes, I am a note-taker on Sunday mornings), I felt a little thrill in my spirit. I knew there was a nugget of a story hidden in the words I heard, one that I really wanted to tell.
The Shepherd’s Voice sprang from a couple of lines that popped into my head as I was driving north on Cole Road one morning in 1999 (yes, I can remember exactly where the car was at the time). The words I heard were: He felt the backside of his navel rubbing against his spine. An interesting sensation. That became the opening words of The Shepherd’s Voice.
Who I Am with You was born as I was studying my Bible, the one I’ve used since the late 1990s. The margins are filled with notes and dates, the passages highlighted and underlined. And suddenly I wondered, What might this Bible mean to my daughters or grandchildren or great-grandchildren after I’m gone? What might they think when they read my notes in the margins? And from there the three dual-time novels in the Legacy of Faith series were born.
Then there is my novella, Bible and a .44, which had its own unique genesis. I wanted to write a novella set in Kings Meadow (the location of five previous books). I knew I wanted it to be about the ancestor(s) of Skye Foster from I Hope You Dance. Calculating back, I decided the time frame should be during the Great Depression (1932, to be exact). So far, so good. But after that? I wasn’t sure. My brain seemed to have gone blank. Anything I came up with was easily discarded.
Not long after, I had an appointment with my hair stylist. I ended up telling her about my search for what to write and included the information that four of the five books set in Kings Meadow had titles used on country songs. But I didn’t have a clue what title I wanted to use this time. She asked, “Have you heard Ashley McByde’s Bible and a .44?” No, as a matter of fact, I hadn’t.
So I went home and listened to it. And as soon as I heard the lyrics below, the ideas began to pour into my head.
He’d see through a lie like an old screen door
He taught me how to hunt and how to love the Lord
He carried a Bible and a .44
And they just don’t make ’em like that no more
From there was born the story of Jesse Graham, the bad boy of Kings Meadow, who was run out of town years before by Kinsey Foster, the preacher who carried a Bible and a .44. Now Jesse is back, his heart changed by Jesus, to make amends to those he harmed, including the preacher’s granddaughter, Willow Foster.
I have to admit, I have great affection for this story and I love the song that inspired it. Which made it especially sweet when Bible and a .44 recently won the Faith Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award in the novella category.
You just never know where the ideas will come from. Maybe all that’s needed is a trip to the hair stylist.
So tell me, where do you get your ideas?
~robin
PS Here’s the song if you haven’t heard it:
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Thank you for this very informative and enjoyable post. I LOVE to read, but I am not a writer and never could be. Odd thing is I taught writing as a 5th grade teacher for 23 years. I began by teaching all six subjects, but quickly became only a Language Arts teacher as principals and objectives changed in my school district. Throughout my career I was sent to learn various techniques for teaching writing. When my state adopted Standards of Learning (SOLS) for state testing, workshops became more intense, especially in Writing because 5th grade was the first time all Virginia Beach students would take a Writing test. Others followed in grades eight and eleven. The school I taught at was a Title I school, designated so mostly by income. Our students lacked a lot of early background and preparation for school, which we had to fill in. Over three years into the testing program, along with two colleagues my 5th grade writing team developed a writing format that worked for our students, and we finally passed the Writing test. After I retired, I used this format to help my granddaughter with writing when she was in third grade. She just successfully completed her first year of college.
Congratulations on 98 books! I love The British Are Coming series and will have to check out the books mentioned here.
Thanks for sharing about your teaching of writing. God bless you for your work with your students.
That’s so true about where the ideas come from, Robin. Songs, nature, people watching! Everywhere. Congrats on the awards on A Bible and a .44. Well done! ; )
thanks, Tamera.