One day, a few years ago, I was sitting in my bed, unable to sleep. I had tried everything I could think of and nothing worked to lull me off to dreamland. I must have been pretty restless because my hubby asked what was wrong. His advice to help me fall asleep: tell yourself a story.
At that point in time, my kids were on a Lilo and Stitch kick. In my head, I kept seeing the part of the movie where Stitch is reading the story of the Ugly Duckling. Later, Stitch gets lost and the Ugly Duckling is what he relates to. While I sat there, sleepless in my bed, I started to ask myself questions about the story. And suddenly, an idea was born. What would happen if you turned Cinderella into the Ugly Duckling? Over the next half hour or so until I fell asleep, I explored that idea. The next day, it was still hanging around. I told my hubby about it and he said, "Maybe you should write it down."
Over the next several weeks, I wrote in the evenings. It took about a month and a half to finish my very first "first draft." That was the start of something amazing and the ideas have just kept coming since then. The smallest things can become a new idea.
Over the next several blogposts, I want to explore where ideas for different things like setting and character come from. I hope you'll join me.
How about you, friends? Where do your initial story ideas come from?
2 comments:
I hope to read your novel someday!
I love to talk to either my husband or my co-author friend about various topics, and sometimes an idea pops into my head and turns into a character.
You know, I think most of my ideas are born either in the car or the shower, during those few precious alone minutes I have during the day, when my mind is allowed to wander. ;)
Some of them come and go, but the obsinate ones, the ones that stick around, those are the ones I decide to write about. Really, I have no choice...they refuse to leave me alone!
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