So Many Ideas

My head sometimes feels crammed with ideas. I mean, everyone has story ideas right? Fantasies or a spark of a story that you think you could turn into a book or a movie or a tv series? Well, I have them too, and the more I indulge these ideas by actually turning them into novels, the hungrier I get. I want to give each possible story a voice. That's one of the most fun things about writing, because you never know what an idea will grow into.

When I first come up with an idea for a novel, it usually starts with a scene or some kind of world view. I'm not the kind of writer who sees a character first, for the most part. Instead, I visualize a world and then try to imagine what kind of people might inhabit that world. Of course, a spark of an idea is just a tiny kernel of story and the characters I imagine there are just cardboard cutouts at first. It's only when I decide to really write the story that the situation and the people come alive for me. Sometimes, to be honest, I don't even truly know what the story is about or who my main characters truly are until the first draft is finished. Writing is exploration - and it's freaking fun.

There's no way to know what twists and turns a plot might take when I first embark on the journey of writing it. I come to my computer with a scene in mind, but a lot of the time, something completely different comes out. A character will do something I wasn't expecting that will turn me in a new direction. Or a bomb will go off somewhere. Or someone will get murdered. In some ways, it often feels like my story exists somewhere in entirety and my job is to uncover it. I am merely the treasure hunter digging my way through the dirt and mud to find the real artifact hidden somewhere underneath.

I am loving the Peachville High Demons series more and more as the series goes on. Harper has completely come alive for me, and so has Jackson. This town is alive for me. I can see it so clearly in my head now! But on the other hand, there are so many other worlds and idea in my head that I feel a little bit antsy. I'm anxious to get to know those other people and those other stories, too. But I can't leave Harper hanging! Her story must be finished first - and that's not going to happen in Book 3. Possibly not Book 4 either. I'm thinking it will take 5 books to get her story down on paper.

And what comes after that? Hopefully many more series and a lifetime of having the pleasure of discovering new stories.