One of the mostly commonly asked questions to writers everywhere is, “How do you come up with your ideas?” It is often a mightily loathed question because a lot of authors have no clue where their ideas come from. It’s like asking someone who is funny how to be funny. They don’t know, they just are.

I’m going to admit something that I have never admitted before. Brave, right? (Especially to admit it in a public forum called teh Internets, which never forgets…)

I know where my ideas come from.

Ideas are not just fluttering around in my brain like butterflies all the time waiting for me to pluck one out of the air and use it. If that makes me less of an artist (which I imagine, to some of you, it does), so be it. That’s just not how it works for me. I have to work for my ideas a lot of the time. This is a little embarrassing, as I’m a fiction writer and supposed to be a veritable font of story ideas.

I’ll give you an example.

I was working on a book I’ve been working on for a while, and it wasn’t really going anywhere, so I decided to put it aside and start something new. Upon this decision, I took a methodical look at my top 10 favorite movies of all time. (Maybe that will be a different post.) After examining my list, I decided that the common things I like in movies are: romance, historical settings, adventure, Christmas, sci-fi and comedy.

I think it’s pretty accurate to say that that’s what I like in the books I read, too. I tend to gravitate toward romances (obviously), and especially historicals and adventure romances. And, I kid you not, I have a special section on my bookshelf just for the Christmas books.

So, what to do with this “new” information?

In a silly mood, I thought, “What if I could combine all of the elements I love into one awesome story?” The one element that kept throwing me off was sci-fi. Recently, though, I’d read a few blog posts about the new steampunk phenomenon. I was intrigued. It was a way for me to fit everything into one story. And thus, the steampunk time-travel Christmas romantic comedy adventure idea was born.

So, see, there’s really nothing mystical about coming up with story ideas, at least in my world. I hammer ideas out, rather than catching them. I sit and think, “I need an idea,” and then I use what I have at my disposal to come up with one.

Authors, where do you come up with your story ideas?Are you an idea catcher or an idea builder?

Readers, do you like knowing where ideas come from, or is it better if they’re metaphorical butterflies for authors to pluck out of the mist of their creative minds?

As always, tell me in the comments!

[Side note: Found a story from Christina Dodd about how she came up with the Chosen Ones idea. So which one is she: a catcher or a builder?]

You’re ready to go. You’re going to write that great novel that’s been rattling around in your head for years. You have a desk, you have a typing device, you have your coffee, you got yourself some fingerless gloves that make you feel all Starving Artist Chic…

And then you sit and stare at that blinking cursor, and think of all the reasons you really can’t write that novel just now… Someone else already wrote something similar. People might get offended. You just remembered that pile of laundry that really has to be done right this instant. It might sound dumb when you get it out of your head and onto the page.

You’ve got (dun dun DUN!) Page Fright.

So, here are my quick and easy (well, quick anyway) tips for getting over Page Fright:

1. Give yourself permission to write crap. I think this is the best tip I’ve ever gotten. If you’re allowed to write crap, it means you’re allowed to write anything, without putting the pressure of being a Great Author on yourself. Just write what you want, and worry about whether or not it’s crap later. (Some of it undoubtedly will be crap, but you may be surprised at what is and what isn’t.)



Cover via Amazon

2. Don’t think about the whole novel. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott has a nice essay that talks about this. Once you’re ready to sit down and write, you have to take it one “bird” at a time. Think about this Act, or this chapter, or this scene. If you think about the whole novel every time you sit down to write, you’re going to overwhelm yourself and head for the nearest pile of dirty laundry.
3. Remember: It’s all been done. There is nothing new under the sun. Blah, blah, blah. You’ve heard this little pearl of wisdom before, haven’t you? Well, it’s true. There are a limited number of big story ideas (and pearls of wisdom, come to that)  in the world, and they’ve pretty much all been told. So don’t worry if your plot sounds similar to someone else’s. The thing that makes stories great is how they’re told.
4. Pretend no one is ever going to read it but you. If you’re aiming to sell your book, this is obviously not going to be the case, but sometimes it helps to imagine while writing. That way you don’t have to censor yourself in case your grandma ever gets ahold of a copy. Plus, you can always tone it down later if you need to.
5. Just do it! Quit your whining and write. It’s not going to kill you.

Have you ever had Page Fright? How did you get over it? Tell me in the comments!

(You like that post title? Ever notice how my titles are never that clever? Yeah, that’s because my awesome copywriting friend Veemoe gave that one to me. Thanks, Vee!)