Welcome! I’m turning my blog over to C. S. Boyack, who is touring with his new speculative fiction/horror novel, THE PLAYGROUND, which releases today. Craig put together a great post about novel inspiration and ideas, which already had me dreaming up storylines as I read through it. Some of the feeds Craig talks about below, he shares on his blog Entertaining Stories in the form of “idea mill” posts. If you’re not currently following Craig’s blog, it’s a fun place to hang out and ruminate on a writer’s life.
Take it away, Craig…
~ooOOoo~
Writers are often asked where they get their ideas from. I think it’s different for every author, but in my case it could be literally anywhere.
I had an old family story that I’d forgotten about years ago. When I heard a creepy song on Pandora, the old story came back to me and I morphed it into a short story that I’m pretty happy with. I may wind up publishing it in a book of short stories one day.
Sometimes it’s a line from a book, or a visual from a film of some kind. A casual reference overheard at a restaurant might be the key to a character that works in my story.
I’ve been watching television and gotten angry because something doesn’t work the way it’s portrayed. “It actually works this way,” has led to scenes that wind up in my stories. Think about the double barreled shotgun that breaks in the middle, the television insists upon making the wracking sound of a pump action shotgun even though it doesn’t work that way.
I wrote one of my novels because I watched a movie with my grandkids. The Disney film Brave has a will o’ the wisp in it. My imagination was sparked, and I wrote Will O’ the Wisp because of an afternoon with the grandkids.
One thing a speculative author should always keep in mind is the question, “What if?” I don’t always have a soapbox hidden inside my stories, but on occasion it happens. This usually involves looking at a situation that exists today and pushing it to a prediction of some kind.
This one is fun to experiment with, ask yourself, “What if…”:
- The human population exceeds the ability of the Earth to grow enough food.
- Those refugees aren’t the problem, but a virus one of them carries is.
- Global warming thaws something evil from the ice pack.
- A piece of yeast or a bacteria was on the Mars rover.
I’m sure you can come up with your own, but it’s a fun game to play.
I have great faith in my Muse, Lorelei. I also believe in treating her right. I do this by subscribing to various push feeds online. I get news about topics of interest pushed to me without hours of endless searching. When one of them has merit, I make a note in one of my living documents. Some of those ideas led to stories, or even elements that enhanced a story.
Sometimes it’s a conglomeration of all of this. Maybe I get an archeological post about discovery of European graves where a stake was pounded through the skeleton. I play a little “what if” about pulling the stake out. Maybe I add a setting I was impressed with from a movie. Maybe a conversation, or song lyric, inspires a character that would be perfect for this story. A story is born.
I don’t believe in waiting around for inspiration. My push feeds send me data that might work in a story. My living documents serve as reminders, and I keep them up to date.
What works for you? Where do you find inspiration?
BLURB
The hottest toys of the Christmas Season are the Playground Network dolls. They contain a worldwide social network for children. Except, the network is controlled by a ruthless businessman with dreams of power.
To reach his goals he turns to the occult. Will our children make up his personal army? Could we have an enemy soldier in every home?
Gina Greybill is a cancer survivor who stumbles into her own brush with the paranormal. She wants nothing to do with it, but may be the only one who can bring down the Playground Network. To do it she’ll have to embrace her new situation, and recover the next generation of Playground software.
There is competition for the software in the form of a brutal thug named Clovis. He’s bigger, more ruthless, and more experienced. To top it all off, he has a head start.
The Playground is suitable for more mature readers, due to violence and mature themes.
Meet the man who dreamed up the story:
AUTHOR BIO
I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.
I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.
I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.
~ Craig ~
Connect with Craig at the following haunts:
Blog
Twitter @Virgilante
Facebook
Goodreads
Find all of Craig’s novels on his Amazon Author Page
Purchase your copy of THE PLAYGROUND from Amazon
Thanks for hosting this today. I’m always willing to return the favor. As a reminder to your readers, the pre-sale period ended, and the book is available for purchase today.
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Very cool that this is release day. Hope you’re having a great one!
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Thanks, it’s kind of exciting.
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Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
I’m at Mae Clair’s place today discussing where I find inspiration and how I keep it coming. The Playground pre-sale is over and the book is available right now.
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Fantastic! 🙂
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The What if?question is important for all writers, don’t you think? I loved reading the story behind Will O’ the Wisp.
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Ideas come when my mind is open to them. I think it must be a practiced skill, because it’s easier today than it was years ago.
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Me too. I think it’s so interesting to see where authors get their ideas for stories, especially when I’ve read the book. It’s kind of like an “ah-ha” moment! 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Little Blue Balloon.
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Thank you, Georgina.
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Welcome 🙂
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I love the way your mind thinks and what if is a great starting point. You are right, my mind took off, filled with thoughts…..
sherry @ fundinmental
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That makes me happy. When other folks get the imagination rush it’s awesome. Thanks for saying so.
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Isn’t that cool? All it takes is a few words to send a writer or reader’s mind spinning into overtime, and Craig had some great ones!
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Great faith in his muse… I think there might even be a story in that. Great post.
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I blog about my Muse on occasion. I’ve never tried to write a full story with her.
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I love Craig’s collection of characters, especially Doubt the Raven, and Lisa Burton, the spokesmodel for his blog. Lorelei is another who drops in to pay him visits at Entertaining Stories every so often.
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I also place great faith in my muse. One thing I’ve learned is to let her work and trust that she’ll bring me the next big idea when it’s ready.
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Hi, James. Thanks so much for dropping by my blog and checking out Craig’s post. Muses are great, aren’t they? Mine has been working OT the last week and even today as I finish one project and move onto the next. Thanks for sharing!
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That happens to me all the time. I’m not finished with A when all the characters from B fill up the lobby. Short stories have helped to a degree.
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I think so much of it comes from having an open mind. That’s usually when it hits me.
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Yes. I am at my worst as a writer when I’m trying to stick to some original plan. It’s much better to keep an open mind when new ideas start seeping into a story.
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That’s one of my favorite parts of the process. I have an outline, and the characters want to do something off kilter.
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Great post Craig! That, “What if?” question is one that all creatives must depend on. In addition to helping launch an idea, it’s particularly important in growing organic humor.
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That’s true too. A fair sense of humor is an asset in my opinion.
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Inspiration can come at the oddest moments, but I agree, you can’t wait for it, you’ve got to work at it, every day.
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That always works best for me. It’s easier than leaving stuff to random chance.
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I so much enjoyed this post. Thank you, Craig and Mae!
I, like you, find inspiration in all kind of things- a line in a song, a statement heard in a conversation, a newspaper article and life in general. I liked the “what if” challenges you presented in the post. The problem is that most of the answers will come as grim stories. I think the exceeding number of inhabitants on Earth is being taken care of by all kind of calamities, natural and man made. Living in Europe, I can tell you that the second one is a troubling issue around here.
In fact they all are no longer a sci-fi topic but an existential one for humanity. That’s how I see it, anyway.
Wishing you all the best with the release, and if ever in need of a new place to promo, I can always help.
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Very generous of you, thanks. I try to find something stressful to write about, because all stories need stakes. It doesn’t mean I don’t have human, or even funny, moments within that story. It am always looking for a big picture idea to write around.
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Hi, Carmen. I’m delighted you enjoyed the post. And it’s so generous of you to offer your blog to Craig for promo. It is scary how certain things we once only thought of as sci-fi and/or possibilities are now reality or becoming close to it. A highly changing world we’re living in!
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Craig, I always admire your posts, and especially this one on inspiration and the push posts. Great idea. My son sends me ancient cultures posts when he works late at night, and I am always inspired by them but hadn’t thought of jotting the idea in One Note or a notebook. Congratulations on your book release. Thanks for the post, Mae!
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So glad you enjoyed Craig’s post, Flossie. I think I’m going to start his habit of saving ideas as I happen upon bits of informative that strike a chord with me. Who knows what might become of them one day~
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I can’t speak for anyone else, but it works well for me.
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The push feeds work so well. I’m not inspired by all of them, but a couple every month speak to me. Ancient cultures are a favorite of mine too. I add a few lines in a living document as a reminder. On rare occasions I’ll add the link to a folder for future reference. Thanks for the well wishes with the book.
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Interesting idea sources Craig. Thank you for hosting Mae Clair
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Glad you popped by to say hello, John. I thought Craig had an excellent topic for his post today 🙂
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He always has excellent topics. Amazing person.
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Jeez, you’re going to make me blush. I think you made every stop. You must be tired of hearing about my book by now. This one was the last stop. I probably won’t tour it around for another month or two.
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I need to jump on a review.
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Much appreciated. Not required, of course, but very appreciated.
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people have to know.
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A very interesting piece. I love to discover how other authors are inspired. Good luck with the new book I think the story looks fabulous.
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Thank you Daisy. Luck is pretty important with new books, and I’ll take all I can get.
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Thanks for visiting, Daisy. I’m with you on everything!
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Reblogged this on firefly465.
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