Where Ideas Come From

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Where Ideas Come From

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My guest today has been writing since grade school, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that he became a full-time writer. Since then, Bruce Blake’s first short story, “Another Man’s Shoes” was published in the Winter 2008 edition of Cemetery Moon. His first Icarus Fell novel, On Unfaithful Wings, was published in December, 2011. He has plans for more Icarus novels, several stand-alones, and several more books in the Small Gods series.

One of the most common questions you hear asked of authors is ‘where do your ideas come from?’ If you read a few interviews, you’ll find a wide variety of answers, many of which are pre-formulated to evoke laughter or feelings of inadequacy. Part of the problem with the question, I think, is that so much time has often passed since the author had the idea for the book, he or she likely doesn’t even recall the impetus for the novel.

In the case of my upcoming book, When Shadows Fall, it has only been a couple of months since I began work on the project, so perhaps I can give you a tour of the writer’s mind (please tread carefully … there’s a lot of darkness and it’s a bit messy).

I had finished writing the third book in my Icarus Fell urban fantasy series and began work on another project which, I’m sorry to say, didn’t go so well. It did, however, put me in the mood to write epic fantasy; it had been nearly six months since I completed the Khirro’s Journey trilogy, so it was time.

Step One to Story Idea: Choose Your Genre (or Sub-Genre)

Once I’ve settled on what kind of story I want to write, I try to think of a ways to make it a little bit different from the norm. In the Khirro’s Journey trilogy, I chose a non-traditional protagonist. For this series, I decided to have a prophecy discovered on an ancient scroll. Not so different, you say? How about a little confusion as to who the prophecy refers to, both on the good side and the evil side? I’m interested.

Step Two to Story Idea: Think of a Twist

The third thing that came to me as I pondered the nature of this prophecy was the term ‘Small Gods’, which then became the title for the series. Something about it captured my attention, possibly because when we think about gods, we don’t think of small things, but big, all-powerful beings. This prompted me to sit down and really think about the Small Gods, their role in the story, and other details about my world in general.

Step Three to Story Idea: Build Your World

As the world came together, more characters and story ideas came to light. I started thinking about having two groups known as Small Gods to throw more uncertainty into the prophecy. When I began digging into the religion, which I decided to be Goddess-based, I wondered what it would look like if the devotees of the religion were all women. What would happen to the men? What if a sect of men broke off and were secretly in opposition to the women? The more I thought, the more possibilities screamed at me to get writing.

Step Four to Story Idea: Imagine the Possibilities

The last thing I decided on—which is something I hope most authors do when they set out to write a new book—was to challenge myself. Not only does When Shadows Fall follow four different story lines, but I was determined to make the voice of each different and distinct. But it gets worse … in the second book, which I am currently writing and expecting to be ready for a Dec. 1 release, I am writing one story line from the POV of a blind character—no description based on sight—and another from the POV of a character who doesn’t speak the same language as any of the other characters. Fun stuff.

Step Five to Story Idea: Challenge Yourself

So there you have it … where a story idea comes from, at least in the case of When Shadows Fall. For me, it is rarely in a dream or a flash of light, fully-formed and ready to put pen to paper—it’s work. Not as glamourous as thinking a muse sits on my shoulder and whispers, but it gets the job done.

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