Where do you to find ideas/themes that hold you in their grip?
Thanks to Jeannie Lin for tonight’s blogging question. I’m researching for agents and future plots and not finding either. The agent is something I’ll have to workout for myself, but where do you go to find the notion that will not let you go?
The heroism and sacrifice of Romance of the Three Kingdoms cried out for a fantasy treatment. I couldn’t (still can’t) stop until it’s seen publication. But even though I’ve found several areas of Chinese history that I find intriguing, no other subplots, acts of love, heroism, etc have jumped out at me and shouted, “You must let me tell my story!” I will continue to look, but I’m interested in what other folks do at times like this.
I try not to stress about it. I've found that if I'm worried about finding an idea, they tend to hide from me. Of course, it's hard to stop searching when you really want to find that next compelling idea.
I've found mine tend to come when I'm not actively thinking about it. For my current one, I was just casually reading up on Japanese mythology when I found the snow woman myth. I don't know why my brain latched onto it, but the ideas just kept coming.
For my last WiP, I believe it started out in a similar way. (It's been so long I can't remember exactly…). I think it came to me when I was watching an anime (ha, I know, I'm a big anime geek) that was set during the Meiji era. I got curious and started wondering what the country would've been like during a time of transition to all these different ideals from around the world after 200 years of isolation. Then I got to wondering what it would be like for a young woman who happened to be mixed from these two different cultures–Japanese and Western. And it just spiraled from there. Of course that story is currently "in hibernation" but I worked on it for three years.
Anyway, sorry for the babble 😛 I got a little carried away! I guess my point is that ideas tend to come when you least expect it–at least for me!
Yeah. I think I'm just in panic mode. I need to go practice my Qi Gong. For several months. LOL
I guess this is where the magic happens. If you're a storyteller, hopefully something will come along to keep you interested, right? Of course, there's no method to this that I know of.
Maybe that's why so many people write sequels and series. 🙂
I don't wonder that your adoption experience hasn't cried out to you in some shape or form . . .
. . . so I guess that means for me, those ideas come from my life and interests. 🙂
Yeah, if you think about Aiyu's experience, he's incorporated a lot of what I've learned about orphaned children into his behavior. Or he will have done by the time the book gets to publication. LOL!