The Mysterious Getting of Ideas

One of the most common questions writers get is about their ideas: where they get them, what they are doing when they get them, and why they get them.

As far as I can tell, the getting of ideas is a very mysterious process. Everyone wants to know about it. Well, my friends, I'm here to give you some answers. I've asked the question so you don't have to.

Where do the Pub Crawl girls get their ideas?

Savannah

I stare at this until I get an idea. Or else writers have a special, secret telepathic connection to the invisible Room of Ideas where ideas are just floating around, and eventually one snags on your thoughts and presto! Fully formed plot you just have to write down.

Erin

I gave myself a Time-Turner. Future Me peeks at my finished books and sends ideas back to by owl. It's rather efficient.

Marie

I like to get new ideas by looking at the burn patterns on my toast. The last piece of toast I toasted looked like either a dolphin, or a pith helmet. Dolphins with pith helmets. Win!

Susan

My dogs are actually the creative forces behind my novels. They dictate the books to me, and all I do is type it. Then, of course, I have to translate it from Canine, but that's a pretty mindless process if you're fluent (although, lemme tell you: present perfect continuous verbs do get a bit tricky).

Leigh

I beat my ideas out of orphans.

Amie

As for my ideas, no orphans here! I'm no good at making gruel, and those crazy kids always want more. I go in for tea leaves most days, and if I've got something that requires extra inspiration, like a trilogy, then there's this whole process involving a staircase, a chalk circle, a chewy caramel and gazelle, but I have a patent pending on that so I can't disclose all the details. Suffice to say you REALLY want to get it right, or you end up scraping caramel off your gazelle for days.

Kat

Every time I need new story ideas, I sing and the little woodland critters bring them to me.

Jodi

My best ideas all came from the legions of stuffed animals I kept on my bed as a kid. The stuffies would crowd around my head at night and whisper stories.

There you have it! The mysterious process of getting ideas? UNVEILED.

Now you tell us: Where do you get ideas?