Welcome to this week’s Open Book Blog Hop. Today the topic is:
‘Do you get story ideas that you know you’ll never write?’
I don’t often get inspiration, but when I do it’s rather annoying as the story goes around and around in my head and I have to write the thing down. The story I’m writing now demanded to be written, but when I’m done that’ll be it for a few months and I’ll take the summer off to enjoy my caravan (as long as Boris lets me).
I’ve had ideas for stories but because they would take a lot of research it kind of puts me off. I prefer to write ‘off the top of my head’ so to speak, and do only the minimal amount of research so that it’s my words on the page and not information I’ve gleaned from the internet. Yes I’ve done a little bit of research for my WIP, but hopefully the line between myself and Lord Google is seamless…
I did get a story idea for a futuristic world once, but even after a couple of chapters the result was crap. Sci-fi just isn’t me, and I’ve never gone back there. I often get a notion to write one of those 500 page family generational sagas, and maybe one day I will when I’ve got the time and I don’t need to go out to work anymore. However, I fear I might lose interest around page 200 and run out of things for the family to argue about!
It seems the favourite theme everywhere at the moment is ‘strong women’. Do I want to write a book about a strong woman? I did write one back in 2014 and it gained much attention. I think women are mentally stronger than men, but men have the upper hand when it comes to physical strength. I know I need to write another story about a woman who is mentally strong, but by the time I’ve written it readers might prefer something different. There was a glut of vampire novels a few years ago, and now we’ve moved on again and it’s strong women. Next year… who knows?
What do other blog-hoppers think? Click on the blue button below to find out:
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Stevie Turner 
I love research. It’s always fun to work it into things, even tiny details that only matter to me.
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Pingback: Stories I’ll Never Write #Open Book Blog Hop #Wednesday Words – My Corner
Thanks for the link.
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Reblogged this on aurorawatcherak.
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Thanks for the re-blog, Lela.
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I am a discovery writer, which means everything starts off-the-cuff, but then I don’t like to write misinformation, so I do research as I go along. I usually leave myself a note in the manuscript (investigate this). and move on with the story unless it’s super important to the plot. Because Transformation Project takes place in Kansas farm country, I know way more about corn than any sane person (other than a corn farmer) needs to know.
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Yes, I tend to write in the same way and do a little research as I go along.
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I just had another thought. As a writer, all my ideas have a chance at becoming a story. It’s just that some have a better chance than others. Want to bet on the longshot?
“Three life-long friends discover that they are identical twins during their annual road trip to the Twine and Jute collectors convention in Wichita.”
Sounds like a best seller to me.
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Three? Shouldn’t it be triplets, lol? Anyway, somebody else has probably already written it…
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My bad. Or was it just another layer of a terrible idea for a story? (Yeah. It was a mistake…)
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Lol!
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Once again, I’m on your train. And yes I do believe ‘the woman’ is the ‘it’ moment too. 🙂 x
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For a while anyway. x
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I find myself stopping in the middle of writing to do quick research. What brand of gun would an ATF agent carry? Or how far is it from Pittsburgh to Orlando?
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Yes, I do that too, rather than spend hours on research.
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Your thoughts around research and writing were interesting to me, Stevie, who enjoys writing historical novels that require a lot of research. I also find it easier and quicker to write stories that don’t have historical elements as I don’t have to do the research but these ones don’t interest me nearly as much.
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I’d rather write about what I know, although I did do some research for my short story, Lily.
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I had a whole series of novels roughed out about a girl who wanted to be a “feminist” set in the late 70s, and then “Me too” hit and I thought, well, fuck that. And if I ever did publish it I’d better have a female nom de plume. Like George Eliot in reverse.
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You could be Phillipa Hustle…
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There’s a thought…but with a name like that I could write the memoirs of a lady of the evening.
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Lol. I’m sure you would be able to write a most interesting memoir!
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Yup, i get it through dreams or music. it will readdle in my head but i get too many and sometimes i will have to abandon them as they dont fit into the large multiverse I created for my novels and i dont have the time for them. hang in there!
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I have to wrack my brain for new ideas. They don’t come easy.
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My problem is the characters from the books I’ve already written. One gang keep waking me up in the middle of the night demanding a sequel. The female characters are the most pushy. Not so much ‘strong women’ just strong personalities.
I’ve promised them a novella to keep them quiet 😉
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Lol. Yes, some women can be rather pushy!
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Pingback: On Writing: The Junk Drawer of Ideas – Lines by Leon
Thanks Leon.
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When I get an idea for a story, I’ll write it down in a notebook. It could be a title, and opening line, or an elevator pitch. Then I’ll take some of those and begin to write. I have many pages with one paragraph and then…nothing. Will anything come of those? Who knows?
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Good idea. I’ve started doing that too, but ideas do not come thick and fast these days…
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I have a lot of ideas that never make it onto the blog. Some of the themes are far too ‘dark’ for a general family-friendly blog. Even when I have written some fiction serials about murders or serial killers, readers begin to bail out as soon as there is anything remotely graphic. Maybe I should write them on a different blog, with a warning?
Best wishes, Pete.
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Good idea. There is a market for graphic novels. You’ll get a whole new tribe of fans then!
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My head is filled with ideas, writing them down is the only way to get any peace. Mainly Sci-fi, so they would not be your thing, but they do feature strong women, for once I’m ‘on trend’.
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Lol! I wonder how long the ‘strong women’ trend will last for?
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