No, no. I'm not about to expound on the curious, although cuddly trend of the Hollywood mommy-folk these days. Ya' know, where they all seem to be spitting out twins like pairs of designer shoes. I'm talking about the incubation period of a novel, to which I've likened to that of being with-child.
So here I am, growing a book in my belly when it dawns on me that we are not alone. Inspiration is odd that way, arriving in unexpected doses, tag-teaming, piggy-backing and riding on the coattails of another idea when you're already busy trying to finish fleshing out the first one.
I take it the Concept Fairy regards this as a rather charitable act. And perhaps it is. Believe me, I've been on both sides of this creative coin. It's far worse to be barren, sitting with a blank page and very little in the way of fresh words springing forth. It isn't pretty gang. Searching for something new to say or a unique slant on an already covered topic is hard enough without benefit of that elusive artistic nudge.
So what if that nudge comes when you are already nudged-up, right?
I'm guessing that's what notebooks are for.
The trick now is to turn these thoughts, characters, scenes and dialog into something that resembles a best-seller. Easy enough, you say? Not so fast..I figure if I have a couple of ideas brewing so do about a million other writers out there.
That Concept Fairy gets around.
So here I am, growing a book in my belly when it dawns on me that we are not alone. Inspiration is odd that way, arriving in unexpected doses, tag-teaming, piggy-backing and riding on the coattails of another idea when you're already busy trying to finish fleshing out the first one.
I take it the Concept Fairy regards this as a rather charitable act. And perhaps it is. Believe me, I've been on both sides of this creative coin. It's far worse to be barren, sitting with a blank page and very little in the way of fresh words springing forth. It isn't pretty gang. Searching for something new to say or a unique slant on an already covered topic is hard enough without benefit of that elusive artistic nudge.
So what if that nudge comes when you are already nudged-up, right?
I'm guessing that's what notebooks are for.
The trick now is to turn these thoughts, characters, scenes and dialog into something that resembles a best-seller. Easy enough, you say? Not so fast..I figure if I have a couple of ideas brewing so do about a million other writers out there.
That Concept Fairy gets around.
I have many little notebooks that follow me around everywhere I go full of story ideas. If I lost one, I'd be devastated.
ReplyDeleteI always worry my unique ideas are unique with another and they will get their book out before mine, making me a copy cat or my story unsellable. But if I dwell on this for too long I'll go insane. So, I keep at it and type away always hoping for the best.
Like any good reporter, I always have a reporter's notebook in my purse. I couldn't survive without it. In church today, while I was waiting for Communion, an idea occurred to me and I just had to pull out my notebook and write it down. I've been known to write all over church bulletins, too. Have a super week!
ReplyDeleteI've got napkins and pieces of paper all over the place filled with thoughts, Phrases that I think need to be remembered, etc.. My wife teases me about the stacks of miscellaneous papers she finds around the house and in the car.
ReplyDeleteWish you all the best.
Emily Dickinson wrote in that way--kept putting poems on old envelopes. Her editor had a devil of a time transcribing after her death. I do write in my mind first, then handwrite in a notebook, and finally computerize if I think the ideas are still worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline Seewald
STACY'S SONG L&L Dreamspell
I suppose I'm with Dr. John and Emily D., my idea notes are on envelopes and other scraps of paper, sometimes used, sometimes lost (frustrating at the time, though the good ones will tend to come back in possibly altered form). Poems go to the computer as soon as is convenient, going through a rewrite in the process. But also remember it isn't that the idea necessarily has to be unique, but rather the way the idea is expressed in the form of a story/poem (I write *lots* of vampire poetry--I even have a book VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE) coming out from Sam's Dot Publishing--which doesn't seen unique as a concept; the individual poems, however, are another matter...).
ReplyDeleteThanks so much to all who dropped by to lend support to the cause! May we each turn our little notes, envelopes and drafts into the stuff of a writer's wildest dreams.
ReplyDelete