How does your favorite author come up with ideas? I talked two days ago about how they train themselves to look for ideas.
Then yesterday I explained the process.
But where do the ideas come from?
An idea you love.
A place you think is amazing.
A place like a mountain. It’s cool mountain.
Why is it cool?
Because…. um… there’s a guy on it. And he’s… going to throw off everyone who climbs it?
No… um…
Because someones trying to kill him. The key is, he doesn’t know who it is. So he gets into a mountain climbing party with all of the suspects.
And the killer is going to kill them all one at a time, until they find out who it is.
All you need is something that sticks in your head. A boat. A house. A man with a knife.
sometimes its a situation, like the germ of an idea I have for a novel. “a Waffen SS officer who is Hitler Youth is subverted at the end of World War II into Odessa, and then into the shadow government as an assassin.”
That’s really not enough. But it’s enough to get it stuck in your head.
What if that job is very competitive/ Then I have to make it so that there’s several rivals for the job. And only one is getting it.
Or what if he’s assigned the job of killing a political figure? How do I get you to root for him?
Or do I want you to? What if I want you to fear him, and fear instead for the safety of the political leader?
What if the shadow government wanted Hitler to succeed, so they’re going to use this Hitler youth man to punish Winston Churchill? Or what if he goes after Charles DeGaulle?
What if it’s President Eisenhower? Dwight D? See, I can turn that idea a hundred ways! I just have to find the one I like! And if I decide I want it to be a series, then I can make it so I’ve got three or four of these kinds of things. That way, I don’t have to decide… I can just do them all!
I can tell you, i’m not interested in writing a book that makes you root for the villain.
Okay, now, what if I combine both ideas at once? There’s several hit men, all going after President Eisenhower, or Winston Churchill, or any other British Prime Minister, like Margaret Thatcher? And the cold as ice former Hitler Youth man has to keep himself alive, eliminate the competition, and try to kill the Prime Minister all at the same time? That’s getting chilling, because the Prime Minister is doomed, unless someone – a protagonist – actually is there to stop it!
Okay, now you have a novel.
THAT’s how your favorite author gets ideas.
