Ideas: The Joy of Writing
Not in the mood to cook on the Fourth of July, I ventured forth yesterday in search of fried chicken. Not exactly an epic quest – in the Bay Area you don’t have to drive far to find much of anything. I think my total drive, round-trip, took around four minutes.
In that brief window, I discovered a new story, probably a novel.
I hadn’t been looking for one. I had been thinking about the Giants loss and what movie I might watch while calming the cats during the various upcoming fireworks displays. I live close to several shows, and the cats would hear the booming explosions coming from several directions.
Suddenly, everything else fell away and my entire focus honed in on the NPR report playing in the background. It was just another news report, a feature of some sort I think, of the type they do a hundred times each day. But I fixated on one aspect of it – not the subject of the report, nor the people in the report, but one detail about it.
In my head I saw a scene, complete with setting, characters and context. I saw tension and story. I knew what had led to that point, and I had a sense, though not a complete understanding, of where it was going. I even noticed at least one plot twist.
I didn’t have any paper with me (I was driving my wife’s truck). I didn’t even have my phone, which I use as an impromptu tape recorder at such times. I couldn’t risk losing the idea though, so I played with it, asking questions about it, considering what it meant, who those characters were, where the location might be, anything I could think of to hold onto that image until I got home, where I madly scribbled down all the details I had.
I can’t stop and write this story right now. I suspect it’s a novel, and I’m already in the middle of my thesis. The last thing I need is to sidetrack myself and give up my momentum. But I may well know what my next novel will be.
One of the most common questions writers are asked is, “where do you get your ideas?” Ideas are everywhere, all around us all the time. You just have to notice them, and I can tell you that the feeling I get when I spot one is fantastic.
Oh, and if you were worried about them, the cats were fine.
Submissions Update: Since I last posted I have submitted to Electric Spec and Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion.
