When I speak to writers, students, and other readers, I am often asked where I get ideas for my stories. At this point in my writing life, I get them from my idea file.
Yes, there is a physical file. I have been slipping ideas into it for decades. Those ideas came from a multitude of places: museums, historical sites, books, newspapers, family, friends. Ideas are everywhere! Usually, they find me.
Storytelling Begets Storytelling
When I hear an interesting story, I conclude it might also interest others. It goes into the file.
Sometimes, the idea goes into the file as an incident to research more at a later date. Other times, it thuds into my brain complete with possible characters.
When I visited Kings Mountain battlefield in North Carolina, I learned of a ragtag militia from western Virginia, who came down from the mountains to join with the patriots to battle the British. I immediately thought, “What if a motherless girl joined the group with her father?” I named her Polly, and put her into the idea file. Another story always took top spot in my mind, so Polly stayed filed.
Storytelling from Learning
My novel, Like a River, began when I visited a steamboat museum and learned about the Sultana, a steamboat that exploded on the Mississippi River in 1865 and killed more people than died on the Titanic. What? How could I have never heard of such a terrible tragedy? I had to learn more.
I talked to museum staff and found the best reading material on the subject. The Sultana disaster went into my idea file. I created a main character (Leander) and pondered how to tell his story.
The idea stayed in the file for many years while I worked on other projects, but the Sultana and Leander lived in the back of my brain. Other characters (Given McGlade and his sister Lila) joined the story, and I tucked them into the file.
Several times, I wrote a first chapter, but it didn’t quite work, so Leander stayed in the file—but also in my brain.
Storytelling from Collaboration
At a writers’ meeting, one of my fellow writers told me her partner’s great-great-grandfather had been aboard the Sultana. She offered to share his papers with me. I posted a photo of the ancestor (Jacob) on the bulletin board above my writing desk. With Jacob watching, I finally got the story to gel.
I wrote a synopsis and five chapters and took those to a workshop. Author Rich Wallace suggested that since Leander was going to (spoiler alert!) lose Lila McGlade to his brother, the poor guy needed a new love interest.
I already had the perfect candidate. I went to the idea file and took Polly away from Kings Mountain and moved her to the Civil War with Leander. I rethought the story, and Leander and Polly energized me to begin again. It was a long process, but well worth every step.
Ideas brew in my mind every day, and if one doesn’t work, I know where to find another. The idea file is crammed full. Yet, there’s always room for something new.
