Imagination, not invention

Today’s guest is John Lindermuth, a retired newspaper editor, and the author of 14 novels, including six in his Sticks Hetrick crime series. He currently serves as librarian of his county historical society, where he assists patrons with genealogy and research.

So he comes in contact with the public a lot and here is what they say. Take it away, John.

How did you come up with the idea for that story?

This is a question writers hear all the time. It surprises some people when we tell them the problem isn’t getting ideas, but finding opportunity to use them all.

Most people are constantly bombarded with creative seed-germs. Writers utilize their imagination to transform them into something to suit their purpose while others take them for granted and allow them to disappear into the ether.

There’s nothing magic about the process. Ideas, and their source material are all around us. A snatch of overheard conversation. The appearance or behavior of a particular person. An article in a newspaper or magazine. Any of these may spark an idea. Transformation begins when we ask, “what if…”

In my other life as a genealogist, I scour a lot of old newspapers and they have become a major source of ideas for me.

Our personal experience—the jobs we’ve had, the places we’ve visited, the people we’ve met over the years. All of these may inspire a springboard to a story idea.

As Joseph Conrad so aptly put it, “Only in men’s imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life.”

JIM:  I just finished one of John’s books, Sooner than Gold.  Excellent.  And I will certainly get a copy of his latest and read it also.  Here’s how you could go about it also.

His latest novel, The Tithing Herd, a classic Western, was released on May 25 by The Western Online Press. It is now available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XQK881Y

And both John and I would love to read your comment.  Thanks.