People often ask – how did the book come about. How did you outline. How did you blank.
Here’s the start of Ancient Scars I believe. I mean it in both ways. The literal beginning was the first line. But this is where the story came from. One day I thought of the line, heard her voice in my head. From there, I asked questions. From there, I jotted down notes. Scene potentials (mine aren’t fleshed out – usually just a few sentences bullet point style). Since this was already in a world, I had all that to work with too. But this? This is where a story began. One post-it with a few penciled in lines the moment they hit me.
It was her inner thought – everything is dead or dying. Day in, day out. Everywhere I look.
Then I knew her husband would interrupt with wondering what she was up to, but there was way more. As in, husband is concerned about her for her “being suspicious” potentially. And his lack of understanding of her. Which meant neither were “just human” though they looked it. As in, there was this separation between them as if there was way more there. Not just a typical relationship.
Since I already had this in a world I was working on, as I mentioned above, it means that a lot of what I needed was in mind already. But it also meant that I had some rules to abide while I came up with ideas. Now, depending on the moment and the story, one could feel constrained by that, but also having all the rules one must abide by already there, gives you parameters to work with. You don’t have to figure everything out, just what works within the parameters. If that makes sense.
So when asked often, where do you come up with ideas, that can be hard to answer because technically the answer is – everywhere, anywhere. A multitude of ways.
Had another one last night in fact.
Last night I heard someone mention the CERN machine being turned on. So because I’ve already had a lot of science fiction and fantasy thoughts in mind, hearing that just made me think of dimensions and such merging. Also helps that I was reading a story part in this world where Haley gets swept up in what appears to be a tornado, but it’s effectively like a door being opened. I never really detailed it out. Allows the reader to speculate and insert their own ideas. I give enough details to form a picture, then allow you to do the rest.
So having read that, and then hearing about the CERN machine, I’m all ding ding ding. Brain turned on and suddenly I was thinking of what may come if worlds merged into one another in and out. I believe (don’t quote me) I read a sentence about particles colliding and such, so that just furthers that idea. Like what if our timeline/dimension/realm weaved in and out of another?
What if?
That is the number one question that usually helps with ideas. WHAT. IF.
You see it in the sentence above too. That’s enough for my brain to go down that road. I keep asking – what if?
That’s the biggest thing with story ideas. They’re everywhere. They will hit at any time. From nearly any source. Often why when someone is all, “you can have this idea,” authors are all . . . I’m good. lol
More soon
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Kimberly Sue Iverson - Author 