Stephen Drivick's Blog - Posts Tagged "ideas"
Ideas
This is my ninth entry in the A-Z Blogging Challenge for April. Today we look at the letter I-Ideas.
Some people have asked me where I got the idea for Sometimes We Ran. The short answer is that I had it all along. :)
You've probably heard this all before, but ideas often stick in your head like a catchy song. A few years ago, an rough story about a man leaving a sheltered community to check out the world popped up in my head. He would be the survivor of a great cataclysm – a nuclear war or something devastating like that. He left the community and its safety because he was curious. He wanted to see what was going on in the destroyed United States. Of course no one really understood his quest. It was personal.
Along the way, he would fight cannibals, bandits, and other assorted end of the world bad guys. He would save families and whole communities as he traveled across the land. It would be a great adventure.
At some point in his journey, he was going to meet someone. A young girl, starving and ill-prepared for life on the road. They would strike up a friendship, and continue on the adventure together.
In my head, it sounded like a great story. The only problem was I didn't know what to do about it. Writing never occurred to me. I did scribble a few paragraphs here and there, but couldn't put anything together.
But the story stayed in my head. Nuclear war was eliminated when I read about super volcanoes and how they can cause mass extinctions. The story almost came out, but didn't quite make it to the page. I almost did a “super flu” kind of thing, but couldn't pull it off. The story went back into hibernation.
Then, during a “Walking Dead” marathon, it came to the surface. Zombies were the trick. I grabbed a sheet of paper, and scribbled a few notes. John, Claire, and the world they lived in came into focus. I started writing Sometimes We Ran that night. It was only going to be a short story, but it kept going.
So, don't let your ideas sleep. It took me a few years to get mine out of my head. I wish I had done it sooner. If you have an idea, no matter how crazy it is, write it down. Want to write about demons and vampire lawyers conducting an apocalyptic war at night? Do it.
You might get a book out of it.
Some people have asked me where I got the idea for Sometimes We Ran. The short answer is that I had it all along. :)
You've probably heard this all before, but ideas often stick in your head like a catchy song. A few years ago, an rough story about a man leaving a sheltered community to check out the world popped up in my head. He would be the survivor of a great cataclysm – a nuclear war or something devastating like that. He left the community and its safety because he was curious. He wanted to see what was going on in the destroyed United States. Of course no one really understood his quest. It was personal.
Along the way, he would fight cannibals, bandits, and other assorted end of the world bad guys. He would save families and whole communities as he traveled across the land. It would be a great adventure.
At some point in his journey, he was going to meet someone. A young girl, starving and ill-prepared for life on the road. They would strike up a friendship, and continue on the adventure together.
In my head, it sounded like a great story. The only problem was I didn't know what to do about it. Writing never occurred to me. I did scribble a few paragraphs here and there, but couldn't put anything together.
But the story stayed in my head. Nuclear war was eliminated when I read about super volcanoes and how they can cause mass extinctions. The story almost came out, but didn't quite make it to the page. I almost did a “super flu” kind of thing, but couldn't pull it off. The story went back into hibernation.
Then, during a “Walking Dead” marathon, it came to the surface. Zombies were the trick. I grabbed a sheet of paper, and scribbled a few notes. John, Claire, and the world they lived in came into focus. I started writing Sometimes We Ran that night. It was only going to be a short story, but it kept going.
So, don't let your ideas sleep. It took me a few years to get mine out of my head. I wish I had done it sooner. If you have an idea, no matter how crazy it is, write it down. Want to write about demons and vampire lawyers conducting an apocalyptic war at night? Do it.
You might get a book out of it.
Notebook
This is my fourteenth entry in the A-Z Blogging Challenge for April. Today we look at the letter N – Notebook.
Ideas and inspiration often strike at odd times, so I have taken to carrying around a small notebook to jot things down. Character names, possible plot points, and even whole ideas find their way inside. My notebook is also a good place to jot down websites and other helpful things.
My phone was used for such things. I went though about half a dozen note apps for Android before I realized I liked writing it out longhand better. My ideas or that website I needed to know often crossed my mind like a meteor – very fast, very brief, and burning out quickly in the atmosphere. By the time I got the phone out and the app open, the brilliant thing I thought of a few moments ago that would have changed my life was gone.
There are some problems though. Sometimes I write things out of context and they make no sense. For example ...what does “Mars Landing Base” mean?
Actually, “Mars Landing Base” sounds like a good idea. Don't anyone steal it!
