Ideas and where I get 'em

[erastes]

I complained yesterday that no-one had asked me this, and you lot came up trumps and several people asked me the question, so yay, I feel like a proper writer now. (Where can I get one?)

The answer is pretty simple, I suppose, they just attack me out of the blue. Mostly they come to me when I'm in the car and I'll be listening to the radio and someone will say something that sparks me off. Sometimes the best ideas (or they seem so at the time) come in the middle of the night, and I ALWAYS think I'm going to remember them, but sadly I never do. I understand that driving and that in-between sleep phase is similar in the brain and that the creative mind gets to play while the motor skills go into automatic.

Muffled Drum came from some radio person just mentioning La Dame Aux Camelias and I had to stop the car as an entire plot landed in my head and I had to write it down. The original plot included the abandoned hero having to go off to be a prostitute but I erased that line of thought pretty quickly. Standish (as most of you probably know) came from me looking through a 1966 Oxford Concise Dictionary and finding all these lovely words I didn't know and I came across the word standish which meant ink and pen holder. Transgressions was mother's idea—she thought the whole "lovers on opposite sides" would be interesting. I heard the words "Heston Services" recently on the radio (an infamous truckstop/cafe on one of the motorways in Britain, God knows where, oop north probably) and have an idea for a 17th century romp.

But I'm also inspired by things I see as well as things I hear—there's a lovely lighthouse in Happisburgh (pronounced Haysborough) in Norfolk and I have a lighthouse story started because of that, although it's an offshore lighthouse in my story, rather than a coastal one. I heard a name today (of a Trollope book) and that got me thinking if I called a book a certain thing, (not the name of the Trollope book, but simply the name of the character) what it would be about… But as I said yesterday, I have more ideas and plots than I'll ever get written. I am so jealous of writers who can do six projects at once, or who are writing one book a month. It's taken me a long time to realise that I'm never going to be able to "keep up with the Joneses."  At this moment in time, I'm thinking I'll writing one novel a year for submission to a specific publisher—so it will comply with genre guidlelines, and one novel "for me." which means I'll take a risk selling it.

Plotwise, I'm a mess, and "pantzer" is a massive understatement. I'd be happy to be a  pantzer. There should be another word. An accretor, or something. Generally, I get the name of the book first, then I just start writing and see what happens. Or I'll have a character, and I'll start writing about him and see where we go. I Knew Him was a bit different, I knew I wanted to explore the Hamlet theme, but not rewrite Hamlet, so a lot of the ideas fell into place because of that. (could also explain why I'm having trouble moving along with it)

This progression rather than plotting probably explains the reoccurring (which I've only just realised) cinematic panning scene in a lot of my books: Standish, we zoom in on Ambrose writing in his study; Transgressions, we pan across a riverbank to see David lying naked in the grass; Tributary, there's nothing more than a little grey car driving up a steep Italian landscape and so on. Junction X, we pan up a suburban street commenting on how normal everything looks on this side of the lace curtains.

On that related subject of BEGINNINGS - I know these beginnings aren't necessarily what editors/publishers want. They want immediate action, but as a reader I don't, and I hate doing it as a writer. You don't start a film with a hugely violent action scene, because you'd be running to keep up, your brain couldn't cope with it.  If it's necessary to start a story with action, I'll probably do so, but so far I haven't felt the need. Possibly because I don't write books that have action in? I don't know.  I'm sure that if I were ever to write Age of Sail (never going to happen, because OMG far too much to get wrong) I'd start a book in the middle of a sea battle because that would grip the reader better than a fancy filmic pan over the sea and eventually landing on a tousle haired lieutenant.  Muffled Drum begins with more action than some of the others, that is to say you are flung into a conversation without any description as to where you are and who we are looking at—I could have started the story in the battle itself, but if I'd done that I'd have had to have had some backstory, and backstory in the midst of battle? Not a good idea. I just like filmic beginnings, I cannot help it.

Comments

[clarelondon.livejournal.com]

One day I'm going to get into trouble, trying to scribble a single sudden-inspiration word on my hand in the middle of driving through the Wandsworth one-way system, but you're right, that's when the ideas hit.

And no, I must put you straight - Heston Services is near me, on the M4 near(ish) Heathrow. But yes, it IS infamous. We used to go there when the pub closed to drink coffee and generally arse around. My mis-spent and rather less inspiring youth :):).

[erastes.livejournal.com]

i find myself repeating the idea over and over until I can get a chance to stop. I've even been known to ring myself. How sad...

Ooo - thanks, I knew it was somewhere, just wasn't sure where! Everything's north to me, being a sarf essex gal.

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

I'm always annoyed by the "You have to have a knockout first line/first page/first chapter" mentality. You do, but as far as I can tell that's because you have to have that to get an editor/publisher/agent to look at it, because they start by only want to see the first couple of chapters.

Personally when I'm buying a book, I go by the blurb. (Which is another peeve - blurbs which tell you how many reviewers thought it was wonderful, but *nothing* about what the story is about). If that grabs me, then if it's on-line I'll look at the excerpt to see how the writing is. If it's in a bookstore, I'll flip it open somewhere in the middle and see if it seems interesting. I rarely look at the first few pages until I've decided to buy the book.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, and it's a worrying tradition, because not every book can have a VERY EXCITING first chapter, how boring would that be?

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Doing the monthly accounts at the museum is where I get my best ideas, although the Today programme first thing is another fruitful source. And, yeah, I'll not live long enough to write them. Luckily they get weeded out when I see that other people are doing something similar better.

I like your beginnings and agree that the 'begin with a bang' advice one sees in all the 'how to impress a agent/publisher's slush pile operative/editor' books must mean we lose the opportunity to see some truly wonderful stories. Thank God for the internet and epublishers and even, in some cases, self publishing.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Today is a great source ! LOL!

[beckyblack]

I get them from all over. Some just pop into my brain, some come from news stories, or just from passing remarks I hear people make. I once heard two boys on the Metro talking about the station we were standing at, saying that he'd once been in the area and tried to find this station and couldn't. Like it existed only on the line, but not in the outside world. I totally swiped that to use in one of my NaNo novels.

I'm good at extraploting stuff from little snippets. I think through all the implications of it and figure out what it could lead to. What wedge is it the thin end of?

And the best time and place for thinking ideas through - while doing the dishes, or maybe in the bath. There's something about water. Those bubbled must have ideas in them.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I often wish I was like Hemingway and Maugham and could travel round the world and people watch, but you are right, just a random snippet of conversation can be just as good.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Over at Edittorrent there was a discussion on instant immersion in the setting, rather than instant action (I think there's quite a difference). So grabbing the reader with setting seems to be as effective a way as opening with some big dramatic scene.

I like having some sort of plot outline, mainly because I usually have a beginning and an end and need to figure out the best way from one to the other. Not to say I don't end up going off at tangents from it as I write, of course.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think it was Edittorrent's post that made me think about this - and Carina's post on the matter too.

I usually have an ending, which helps me to get from a - b , and i do have in this novel's case, so i don't understand why i'm so blooming stuck.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Which was the Carina post? I think your openings give us a great idea of where/when we are and what the characters are doing there without giving too much away all at once.

When I was planning things out, I had my doubts about the middle part, because I needed Edward around enough to drop hints about what had happened, but also to disappear back to London at regular and inconvenient intervals. That led to the whole estate management subplot: Edward has to spend more time at the estate because of unexpected issues with how it's being run, but can't just abandon all his machinations in London. It seems to be working so far!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

http://carinapress.com/blog/2011/01/tired-openings/

I'm looking forward to reading yours!

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

And gosh, you are? I'll be panicking about the 'in the public gardens at dusk' scene all the time I'm writing it now.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

hee hee :D

[ejab62.livejournal.com]

My ideas always seem to come while doing the dishes and singing along with the music between 6.30 and 8.00 in the evening. Always. Funny how that works...

Books. Eh, I must confess to start with the first page. If that one doesn't grab me one way or another, I may try page 2 and 3 and then a page somewhere in the middle but to be honest... yes, the first couple of pages often decide wether I'd read a book or not.

[tiggothy.livejournal.com]

As a reader, I love 'filmic' beginnings. As a writer, I developed a habit rather early (around the age of 9 or 10) of starting with dialogue. Fortunately, I don't start everything that way these days, but I (think I) always have character-focused beginnings. Given most of my projects are a little stalled at the moment, maybe focusing more on the setting would get me back into the characters' world(s)?

Thanks for the inspiration!