Where do you get your story ideas? I’m not sure where mine flow from. Sometimes they come to me like magic. Sometimes it’s a powerhouse but then it falls like a boulder from the sky crashing into a million pieces and all of the effort put in is a large waste of time. Though even the stories that die on me have ideas that I can use elsewhere. So maybe not a total waste of time.
What I’ve noticed most about story ideas is that the best ones come small. When I try to over do an idea, oversell it, let the grandiose get away from me, I kill it. It’s like the idea is too much for any words to live up to. Small is better. Taking the mundane or inane and running with that can take you in spectacular directions if you let your imagination go. So much more than an overblown idea.
Being Southern and Spanish, extra is part of my DNA. It’s hard to pull back from the spectacular idea and narrow it down to one avenue of that idea. But it’s always better when I do. So I spend my days working, reading, watching. I note ideas all the time because even the weirdest idea can carry an entire story.
So how do you come up with ideas?
Some authors start with a grand scheme and storyboard; others begin with a scene or character, spinning their tale like a spider web. I write nonfiction and my first book was about a long-distance backpacking trip. I began with a stack of blank 3-by-5 cards, filling them with anecdotes, characters, scenes, writing reminders, and so on. I used party tak to post the cards on the wall in front of my desk under categories.
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That’s a great way to pull together information. I’ve heard of thriller/suspense writers using a similar method to keep their timeline organized. Where did you backpack through?
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Thanks. My first book is an adventure memoir about the Camino de Santiago (Camino Sunrise) in Spain, my first distance trek. The book I am writing is about my other four treks: Scotland’s West Highland Way, the Alps’ Tour du Mont Blanc, Italy’s Way of St. Francis, and England’s South West Coast Path. Are you a backpacker?
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Wow super cool. No I don’t backpack, not like that. Long hikes at most. But my kids are saying they want to do one of the trails at least up into NY. I may find myself reading one of your books sooner rather than later…
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Maybe your kids will get you hooked on distance trekking! Hope you like my book!
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Yes, maybe! I’ll check it out. And if you’re ever in the mood for a romance read lol…I hear miasotowrites.com has some.
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