Where Do Ideas & Eye-Dears Come From?

I have always been a person who pays attention to details. Wondering who, what, why, where and when, without even knowing it. What is this, how does it work, why do I need one, where would I use it and who are you to tell me I need it in the first place?

Or I have a problem and I'll think about it until I come up with a solution. "Necessity is the mother of invention," for writers must be creative in their plots, places and character personalities in order to avoid getting stale and boring.

Writers are usually naturally curious. We see all the little parts and pieces of the world around us and try to make sense out of it all. We like sharing our little discoveries and might tend to embellish them as we go.

Everything you experience in life can be a story, and everyone you know can be a character for your next book, if mixed with a little imagination. You see a breathtakingly beautiful sunset, or walk under the milky moonlight and imagine sharing it with your special someone. You hear an achingly sweet love song, see an eye-popping billboard or go to the heart rending funeral of a child, and the old brain just starts ticking.

And sometimes they sound a little like this:

I know someone who is a Wichita lineman. So I got to thinking, what would it be like to live with someone who is often gone for days, weeks or months at a time? What would it be like to work in freezing temperatures for 12-14 hours a day so that someone else could be warm? Or climbing up on wet power poles with the wind still whipping from a recent storm? What about having to leave your warm home, go cross country, and sleep in a pickup truck during a snow storm because there are no hotels with power yet? What would it be like to miss your family, to not be there when your child begins to walk, or says Da Da for the first time? What if your spouse got tired of being a single parent and left you while you were gone helping other families? How would you respond? What would you be thinking? Would you chuck the job and try to put your family back together? And if so, what kind of job would you look for now? Or would you put others before yourself and continue to help those in need while your world falls apart?

Make him look like your heroic macho dream and you now have an idea, conflict, black moment, life changing decisions and a story is born. All you need to finish it is the happily ever after and a little work. (Ok, a lot of work!)

Every writer is different and every writer sees the world through their own rose colored glasses. So put on those specs and pay attention, you've got an idea for your next story. But don't let me read my idea in your new book!