The problem is that it depends ENTIRELY on the story.
My Heart for Yours:
THE IDEA CAME FROM ONE LINE (and no, it wasn't mine)
When Steph and I chatted about My Heart for Yours (then titled - Tobin b/c it was the only name we had) she'd written a few lines down in a notebook that she wanted to turn into a story.
The whole book (if I remember right, lol) started with this line. Or, at least it did for me because it conveyed the feel, mood, tone, and circumstances of the book.
"When she left, it was
like someone had ripped my heart out, crumbled it up like a flimsy piece of
loose leaf paper and crammed it back into my chest. It somehow managed to work,
but it would never feel the same."
And then we wrote the book...
And Steph's new book just came out - Beautiful Things Never Last - seriously. Ben and Quinn are one of my FAV book couples ever.
And Steph's new book just came out - Beautiful Things Never Last - seriously. Ben and Quinn are one of my FAV book couples ever.
The idea came from two real life experiences of mine.
ONE: In the middle of the worst between Shawn and Ronnie, and she's at his house in the middle of the night, and he's drinking warm beer from next to his bed, and she knows the situation is awkward and her heart is pounding and she's afraid, but she feels stupid for being afraid because this guy is her boyfriend, but she's still scared, but she stays. She stays because she's known him for so long. Because she's in love when she shouldn't be. And then when he starts kissing her, it's not how she wants it, but she isn't sure how to push him away because he's her boyfriend and then... (and if you wanna read this scene, read the book, lol. I won't give you the spoiler). This totally happened to me. We broke up after this. But sadly (because I was a seventeen year old idiot) not right after.
TWO: Two friends who realize they're more than just friends when they play opposite each other in the play - to the point that they're suddenly not sure how to be around that other person because they know each other so well but they really like one another. This also happened to me. I married him ;-)
Tell me where one of your story ideas came from...? Please? Or if you're a reader, do you know where or how a story idea started of a book that you love?
And we'll definitely be doing this again...
- Jolene
15 comments:
I'm waiting for Steph to jump in and be like - that wasn't the line, Jolene, but nice try, lol.
This is how I remember it...
I hate that that scene in Knee Deep was a real experience for you - but it certainly explains why I felt the emotions so strongly.
Most of my books start with a person. Often someone I've seen while out shopping or something. I create a world around them and I have a story!
Except for If I Let You Go. That came about after a dream. :)
My ideas come from all over. The last book I wrote came from something someone said in a doco I saw. The new one I'm working on came from meeting an amazing sex worker who advocates for the disabled.
My ideas come from everywhere as well, but usually from personal experiences. Tight Knit was inspired by my grandmother who had severe anxiety (which I also have but not as bad).
I usually take something that happened to me and ask "what if {this} happened instead..." the rest falls into place. Breathe for Me is proving to be a very soul destroying book for me because of where the idea came from. It's based on the most toxic, yet most necessary relationship I've ever been in. It was an all consuming, destructive and desperate need for each other that happened in the aftermath of an unnamable tragedy in my life and the suicide of his best friend. I can't say more because you might guess where it goes... lol
It was the most intense moments of my life and I def had to write a book based on it, but I didn't realize just how tough that would be!
I love that I can take the best and worst moments of my life and rework them, to learn new things from them or change the outcome completely.
My ideas also come from all over. My first novel came to me because I wanted to WRITE a novel (it was a fantasy novel/fairy tale retelling) and prove to myself I could write a novel. So I did. :-P The R&R I just handed in (Violent Delights) came from joking with a friend how much I loved the movie Heathers and why couldn't there be a book like it.....so I wrote it. ;-)
BTW i loooove that cover and that quote from Tobin!!
OOh, I love the name Tobin. There was a boy named Tobin who I had a crush on in middle school. He was Hawaiin or Philipino-ish, or maybe Indian...he had this delicious dark skin and long black hair cut in the Wedge. Remember the Wedge hair cut? I think he was cool enough to have invented that. Just yum. TMI!
Like you my idea sometimes comes from one line, but usually it's a character that starts hanging around and doesn't leave until he tells me his story. Sometimes it's an image, picture in my head that I have to write out and then figure out how they got there.
That WAS how it happened! I still have the email, lol :)
I love Knee Deep, and it's because of those emotions you showed so well. Think I cry every time I read it.
Um... my ideas do not come from an inspirational place I guess. Or at least these deep awe inspiring things. One came from flapping my underarm fat. Another came from playing Harry Potter Scene It by myself for four hours. Another when i fell asleep in the shower and I was friggin' freezing my butt off when I woke up. One when I farted in the swimming pool...
So, yeah. Doesn't exactly make you want to go... awww! LOL. But hey! I get books out of my head and onto the page that way :)
Congrats on marrying that guy Jolene. Ideas can come from all over. I had a novel idea come from a Snapple fact once. Fact: Bullfrogs don't sleep. Yes I created a story idea from that. Have a great weekend.
Most of my stories haven't come from real-life experiences, but sometimes they've come from my reactions to real-life experiences. Or I've seen someone else give an opinion, and my own reactionary opinion has prompted a story.
I agree it depends entirely on the particular story though!
I've gotten several story ideas from songs. From a TV show. From a cartoon.
One came from a cold day, thinking about playing in the snow as a kid. It started as a middle grade boy trying to escape his home, but morphed into a teenage foster girl.
Not so much from my own life experiences. (Thank goodness cause my stories usually involve tough situations.
The WIP I was currently querying. Don't remember cause I'd written some narrative/dialogue/basic premise down about 8 months before. Wasn't well thought out. But then I saw a blog posting on 'what teenagers want to read' and one of them was more LGBT characters. Then my previously-heterosexual girl made a switch and the story went on from there.
And I started it on Superbowl night year ago. Couldn't ignore the thoughts anymore. So I will probably always remember that.
Hey Jolene! So interesting, I learn so much from your blog. I have an award for you over at my blog. Not sure how you feel about blogging awards, but it's there anyways. :)
Hmmm, my ideas come from everywhere. I did figure out that I am usually a 'what if' person when it comes to coming up with ideas. But then the one being published actually came from a character so... haha
Umm, yeah. What Kyra said. :P
Having read BOTH of these books, my favorite "where the idea came from" is the one w/your hubs... AWW!!!
Shew, my ideas come from the oddest places. TTAF? My neck injury caused by a car rear-ending me. :D I was vacuuming and my neck hurt SO BAD, and I was like, Hmm... (LOL! I know! But that was the spark.) <3
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