An Idea

You know, I was trying to think back to when I started this story about Alex and Mark. I keep wracking my brains, trying to figure out why they stood out as being worthy of a story. I can remember how, I can remember what inspired, but I can't seem to remember why. I'm not sure why it's important to remember right now either though.

Maybe it will come to me later, I'm not sure or perhaps it's not as important as I think it may be.

I want to talk about the idea though. It's where it all starts for just about anything, from writing to politics all the way to the way a city is laid out. Someone had an idea, then spent time and energy to help it grow. Much like what we do with children and gardens. It takes effort. Yet, it seems to me that the only profession that gets asked the most about their ideas are those in the various writing fields that are available, especially fiction writers. I don't hear about how people ask an architect or a Doctor where they get their ideas. Sure, they ask about their inspiration, but that's a different kettle of fish.

Perhaps artists get the question to, I'm not sure yet. I've only started as an artist so I haven't been asked that yet. I have been asked as a writer though. The question is simple: where do you get a story idea?

The answer that almost every writer gives in some form or another is 'I don't know. It just pops into my head and then I explore it.' It's a frustrating answer, even to us writers I think simply because we want to know too. Sure, we can point at things in our lives that may inspire a good idea. Books, movies, conversations, dreams, name the activity and I promise someone can be inspired by it. But to take that idea and turn it into a possible story, well that's a different ball of wax (yes, I know I'm using a lot of metaphors, forgive me for it).

For right now though I'll try to express my process of how something that inspires moves into a story idea. I'll use one that will probably never be published. Why? Because unless I get really gutsy and confident enough, which I doubt, I might be willing to show it to a publisher or editor. Then, and only then, it will only be published if the individual in question also decides to be gutsy and take a risk.

Anyway, when I was in High School I had gone over to my boyfriends house to pick him up for school. His mother and I got along really well even though her son and I didn't always (we only dated about two days btw). One day, as a joke, when she answered I put my hands together as if I was saying a prayer, bowed then said, "I am Siam and I am here to sell you something." She got a good laugh out of it, I laughed then went about my day.

Three days later that phrase came back to me and just kept repeating itself over and over until I asked myself a few questions. What kind of person is Siam? What would she be selling? And that's how it starts for me. For just about every story that I've written it all started with a question or a series of questions. Even for all the stuff that I role play, it begins with a question. What would happen if.....? How would so-n-so deal with this?

I have notes upon notes of questions like these somewhere in my house...we just moved so I have to find them again...and for the stories that actually go somewhere I go back to it, look it over and sometimes I even answer the questions a bit more completely.

What does Siam sell? Everything, something or nothing at all. Ah, but what does that mean? It means that she can grant your wishes, make your nightmares come true or just walk away. Who would buy stuff from her? Who wouldn't?......

I think everyone brainstorms in their own way. Some use the bubble format...which I love except I always run out of paper. Some use the outline. The possibilities are endless as point of fact.

Another method I use is to go from the angle of a character. A book I read about writing was talking about going somewhere, sit with your notebook and just describe the people around you to help come up with ideas for characters. There is this nifty outline that you can fill in, both with what you see with your physical eyes and your creative eyes. I tried that...frankly it didn't work for me. I do know people that it works for like a charm. What works for me though is to find a name. I wrote an article for RPing once that talked about the symptoms of Multiple Player Disorder. One symptom was "An insatiable urge to make up names."

That, folks, is my biggest symptom. I love names, I can try to make up names all day and be happy....okay, maybe not all day, but I'm sure you get my point. Anyway, that is often how I build my characters. I figure out their name then I build their personality.

I have a character, her name is Nyx. Yes, you're reading that right. Nyx means two things. 1. Nothing and 2. Night. I picked the name because of both meanings. The psychology of it is a totally different story that would take all night to do it.....sorry, really couldn't resist.

Anyway, once I had her name it was easy to go from there. What does Nyx look like? Well, she's tall, about six foot. She has dark black hair, not the dark brown that looks black in a certain light, but black. Midnight black to fit her name after all. And her skin, well, it's white, alabaster white. Then her eyes, ooh, let's make the gray as stone. Now....why is she like that? She's an outdoors kind of person so logically she should be able to get a tan, but she can't....why???? Ah, I know, perfect, when she was a child somehow most of the pigment in her skin was leeched out.....but how and is that possible? Oh, an easy answer - it's fantasy so anything can happen....

See, there you go, an example of a character building moment from Jess McClary. Cool huh? Now there's a whole lot more involved in the creation of Nyx and to tell that would require a life history that frankly, I'm not interested in giving.

I could go on and on about this, showing examples galore, but let's not waist time. My point is this, the answer that writers give when asked about where they get their story ideas is valid and in fact, the only one that can be given. We can say what may have inspired us, we can tell you how it all began, but where it comes from? No one really knows and personally I think it should stay that way.

Now, if you wish to be a writer, but fear that you don't have that magic sensing rod for potential story ideas, don't. I have a strong belief that anyone and everyone can stumble on a story idea. I can't promise that they will be a good story idea, but I can promise that you can and will get one when you least expect it. The trick to being a writer though isn't about getting ideas, it's about crafting those ideas from being something small and occasional to being something fantastic that makes people want to read it. Think of every idea that you've ever gotten, about anything, like being a child. With some encouragement, time, effort and good compliments along with some discipline, it can grow up to being a fully functioning construct where the wonders of the world can sit and sparkle.