What’s the most frequently asked questions of writers by would-be writers? Ready? Here it is. Where do you get your ideas? I’ve been on a lot of writer panels at book festivals and conferences and when writers are talking craft, it’s the one that comes up again and again.
I get it. You sit down to write and nothing comes to mind and you sit and sit and stare out the window and decide the house needs to be cleaned (which can be a plus in terms of housekeeping but not helpful with writing). You can’t get started. You just don’t seem to have anything to write about. You become discouraged.
You’ll hear smart answers from writers about where they get their ideas—like “I go to the idea store” or “I’m a member of the idea of the month club and they send me an idea each month”. That kind of thing. And the reason for these ridiculous answers is, as I’ve said many times, writers have no idea where their ideas come from.
So let’s just get that out there. WE DO NOT KNOW.
So how can we help you who think you have no ideas? One way is to tell you we are all in the same scary boat. At first it might seem impossible it is going to take us anywhere at all. We are going to sink to the bottom of the sea. We are doomed.
Here is my advice. Put marks on a page. The only way to get it moving is to get it moving. Easy for you to say, you say. Right. Easy to say. Hard to do. You have to allow yourself and expect that some of what you write will be pure crap (that you will make less and less crappy as you revise until it is not crap).
I learn what I’m writing by writing. It’s the only way I know how to do it. I might begin with an idea or a character or simply a line of prose. There are many ways to begin. Just get some words on the page and then try to build on those words. Push forward. Write ten or fifteen pages. Keep writing if it seems you might have something that you can keep pushing forward. If you can’t, maybe set it aside and try writing something else. HOWEVER, be aware this is a first draft and so by nature probably, for most of us, pretty bad with a few shining moments.
If you write it, they will come. MORE WORDS and MORE WORDS… Maybe it will be a character or maybe you’ll have an interaction between characters or some cool setting detail or an interesting story idea. Something will click in those pages. Keep writing and pushing forward using whatever is clicking to keep you going.
You figure out what your story is, who your characters are, what the setting is, as you go along.
And then, when it’s time, you revise, and that’s when it all starts to come together. Most often, when would-be writers want to know about ideas, what they really mean is where does the writer get the STORY that will be told? For most writers, the story has to be built brick by brick, whether the writer does this in outline or rough draft.
The only way I know how to write my story is to write my story. Write it and more words will come.
