Readers often ask writers where we get our ideas. I thought
I’d share something with you that might answer that question. Yesterday, Hubs
and I drove up to nearly the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula to pick up our
two grandkids from summer camp. On the way home, they regaled us with their
adventures—swimming, crafts, etc. Then they settled down and quietly read. That
got me thinking . . . Well, what else does a writer do on an eight-hour road trip?
Have I ever mentioned I love Young Adult stories? From Harry
Potter to the Hunger Games to Divergent, and I Am Four. I’m fascinated by the stories available to young
readers. (Where were those books when I was young?) A while back, I wrote a science
fiction YA story. Haven’t published it because I didn’t have anything to follow
up with. But . . . while returning from the kids’ camp, I thought about a camp
for middle-school age kids. That’s nothing new. Rick Riordan wrote the Percy
Jackson series, where the kids at Camp Half Blood (in present-day upper New
York State) learn sword play and how to use their supernatural gifts to triumph
over the “bad” gods, goddesses, the Fates, Furies, etc.
Since I enjoy writing science fiction adventure, my story
would take place on a planet in another world, one I developed for my unpubbed
YA. At my camp, the staff could be part of a faction that wants to overthrow
the current regime. Along with the usual swimming, games, crafts, they teach
the kids something insidious, something to help them with their cause.
Obviously, I’m only playing with the idea at this point.
What happens when I start to write? What will the finished product look like? Probably
little like the initial ideas. That’s the fun part of writing. Taking an idea,
developing it (and the world), then putting fingers on the keyboard and seeing
what happens next.
From picking up grandkids at summer camp to a story. That’s
how a writer gets ideas.
Apologies for missing my regular posting day on Thursday. I could blame it on chaos on the home front. My Arizona family (son, DIL, Toddler Girl, a Great Dane, and a Lab) just moved in with us until they can find a home. Yay! We’ll all be in the same town for the first time in twenty years. Or I could blame missing my date on a laptop that wouldn’t open, even after 3 trips to Best Buy’s Geek Squad. In actuality, I forgot.
I'll be back next month on my regular blogging date, the 13th. Have a great summer.
