This has to be the question that is most often asked of any author, whatever genre they write - and why wouldn't it be? I am working on my thirtieth novel and I want to ask myself this question, too! Where DO I get my ideas from?
The simple answer is that ideas are everywhere and many of my novels have begun from one of three places:
1) A film or TV show where I would have written a plot thread or character differently.
2) A place or building I have visited - usually historical!
3) A past occurence in my own life or someone else's.
But whichever of these I choose is only the starting point but, of course, that is most important otherwise you have nowhere to go! From here, I focus on my hero and heroine and have a character sketch sheet which I fill out for them and my villain (if I have one).
Here, I ask them questions about their past, childhood, adolescence, their greatest fear, their greatest dream and where they see themselves in 5 years. Questions like this are fantastic for furthering an existing idea or giving me new ones. They make me think deeper, get more and more excited about my story and revel in my characters coming to life.
Finding that initial idea is just tiny part of the process for any writer (I believe!), and it is getting to the crux of your character that makes that initial idea stretch from a paragraph to a 85-100,000 word novel! So, the next time you ask a writer, 'Where do you get your ideas from?' Be prepared for either a long-winded answer or for them looking at you wide-eyed because they have no idea how to explain exactly how their book came into being...
Happy Reading!
Rachel x
My next novel VICTORIA & VIOLET is available for preorder! Why not reserve your copy today? Releases 17th October...
BLURB & BUY LINK:
It should be a dream come true to serve the Queen of England…
When Violet Parker is told she will be
Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune. She
finally has the chance to escape her overbearing mother, a servant to the
Duchess of Kent.
Violet hopes to explore who she is and
what the world has to offer without her mother’s schemes overshadowing her
every thought and action.
Then she meets James Greene, assistant to
the queen’s chief political adviser, Lord Melbourne. From entirely different
backgrounds and social class, Violet and James should have neither need nor
desire to speak to one another, yet through their service, their paths cross
and their lives merge—as do their feelings.
Only Victoria’s court is not always the
place for romance, but rather secrets, scandals, and conspiracies…
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