Anneli
asked
Rachel Caine:
Hi! A few years ago i found the morganville vampires series, i fell in love with it, and it made me want to read more books. (Thanks <3) I've started writing stories myself, and im really wondering: Where does the ideas come from? Inspirations or influences? Thanks for an amazing series. Hugs from Norway!
Rachel Caine
Hi, Anneli, thank you! I'm so thrilled the books inspired you to your own writing!
Ideas, in my experience, come from observation and staying open to information around you. You walk past amazing ideas every day, but it takes training and curiosity to spot them. Try this: when something catches your attention, try to work out why. Then start asking yourself, "what if ..." -- for instance, and I always thought this was a fun one: you're driving a car. You see one of those ever-present bits of thrown-off tire on the side of the road, probably from a big truck. Nothing really exceptional about that, right?
But what if it wasn't a tire fragment? What if it was a living thing that lurks on the side of the road?
What if the road eats people, and that's all that's left of the last car that passed?
You can make a story out of anything, is my point. The history of your teacup, or a pair of shoes. A person you spot at the store. Stories are absolutely everywhere, you just have to decide what interests YOU.
Hugs back from the U.S.!
Ideas, in my experience, come from observation and staying open to information around you. You walk past amazing ideas every day, but it takes training and curiosity to spot them. Try this: when something catches your attention, try to work out why. Then start asking yourself, "what if ..." -- for instance, and I always thought this was a fun one: you're driving a car. You see one of those ever-present bits of thrown-off tire on the side of the road, probably from a big truck. Nothing really exceptional about that, right?
But what if it wasn't a tire fragment? What if it was a living thing that lurks on the side of the road?
What if the road eats people, and that's all that's left of the last car that passed?
You can make a story out of anything, is my point. The history of your teacup, or a pair of shoes. A person you spot at the store. Stories are absolutely everywhere, you just have to decide what interests YOU.
Hugs back from the U.S.!
More Answered Questions
Cintia
asked
Rachel Caine:
I'm an aspiring writer, but I'm dealing with two things: I get discouraged every single day because 96% of manuscripts are rejected, and I haven't had an idea for years, literally. There's too many people wanting to be writers, and knowing there's so much competition just kills me a little every day. When I get motivated, immediatly something appears about the industry that kills it. Any tips on how to deal with this?
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