I was doing an author Q&A over Zoom with high schoolers in a creative writing club this afternoon and got asked the inevitable question: “Where do you get your ideas?” 🤔
The thing is…ideas are all around us. All you have to do is ask yourself, “What if…?”
Then let your imagination go wild.
That’s how I got the idea for The Purple Bird. I was looking at the imaginary world and characters I created when I was a little kid, and as an adult, I asked myself, “What if this purple creature named Archit wanted to become human?” 🤷🏻♂️
And what if there were an evil wizard trying to thwart him?
And what if there were human kids who teamed up with him on his journey?
And then of course, you start answering your own questions as you carry on with the story. Some ideas are going to stick in your head more easily just by the very nature of your interests. I love folklore and mythology, so I’ll often see the world through that filter. It helps to keep a notebook nearby so you can jot down concepts as they creep into your mind, then have fun toying with them and seeing what you can develop with them later on. 📝
I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Roald Dahl: “Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” 🪄🔮
How about you, fellow writers? Where do you get your ideas? 🔹Do they spring forth from your mind fully matured, like Athena from the mind of Zeus? 🔹Or do you have to piece and patch them together before they ultimately take on life of their own, like Victor Frankenstein assembling his monster?
Leave me a comment below or shoot me an email. Inquiring young minds want to know, and so do I! Plus, I plan to be discussing this more in depth in an upcoming blog post. But for right now, I just want to get the gears in my head turning.
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