Where Ideas Come From

So by golly, I’ve written a novel. I’ve talked a bit about it in previous blogs. A common question I get is from folks who want to know where the idea for it came from, and more generally, where writers writ large get their ideas. As if there’s a central depository where ideas are stored, and selecting one is simply a matter of withdrawing an idea you like, as you might withdraw money from a savings account at a bank. 

Not exactly how it works.

Not for me, anyway. Hell, maybe there is an idea depository someplace. I wouldn’t mind having access to it. The long and the short of it is that I don’t know where my ideas come from, and they usually take a long time to flesh out. But I have a theory: ideas are floating around in the sky like flocks of lazily circling pigeons. When I’m receptive to them, a few decide to fly within reach, and if I’m quick about it, I can grab one. 

Before I wrote Leaves On Frozen Ground, I wanted to set a book around Lake Superior, where I spend a couple weeks every October. One day – I don’t remember where I was – a pigeon flew by and I nabbed the little sucker. That gave me an idea for a semi-feral boy and his two dogs, who finds solace in the woods while his parent’s marriage slowly disintegrates. 

And that was about all I had when I began writing. I had a few pages of notes I’d scribbled on a yellow legal pad; the story took form as I wrote it. 

The wonderful thing about writing fiction is that the process of writing invariably generates more ideas. And sure enough, about halfway through Leaves I hit on another idea, which became a book I completed a year ago. That one I’ll be shopping to publishers soon. 

For me, there are no tricks, no secret formula that gains access to the kingdom. Ideas are out there for anybody who wants them. It’s all about letting it happen.