I never have ideas either...
In her interview with The Millions, author Anne Beattie discusses her new volume, The State We're In: Maine Stories. When asked where she gets her ideas she says, "I never have ideas. I don’t plan or plot. My husband was in Europe on vacation with his brother, and I decided to sit down and start writing and see what happened."
I wish I could say the same thing but I not only plan AND plot, but I do copious amounts of research each time I start a new novel. Almost every single story idea I get starts with a setting. The first story I can consciously remember writing was called The Starlight Lounge about an abandoned cafe on the side of the road that my parents took me to once (my parents' affinity for taking me to abandoned locations as a child is a whole other story in itself). My first full length novel was based on two different insane asylums in Massachusetts, the second based on an abandoned cottage in the central region. I have piles of napkins, PostIts, paper scraps, envelopes, and other assorted detritus tucked away with possible settings scribbled on them. I also keep a file of instant photos taken on various road trips that I know will one day inspire an entire novel.
The setting, for me, inspires the rest of the story and I have to figure out how to fit the characters into the story which can actually be quite frustrating, especially when your MFA mentor points out that you describe buildings in more detail than you do people...oops.
xoxo
Poison
I wish I could say the same thing but I not only plan AND plot, but I do copious amounts of research each time I start a new novel. Almost every single story idea I get starts with a setting. The first story I can consciously remember writing was called The Starlight Lounge about an abandoned cafe on the side of the road that my parents took me to once (my parents' affinity for taking me to abandoned locations as a child is a whole other story in itself). My first full length novel was based on two different insane asylums in Massachusetts, the second based on an abandoned cottage in the central region. I have piles of napkins, PostIts, paper scraps, envelopes, and other assorted detritus tucked away with possible settings scribbled on them. I also keep a file of instant photos taken on various road trips that I know will one day inspire an entire novel.
The setting, for me, inspires the rest of the story and I have to figure out how to fit the characters into the story which can actually be quite frustrating, especially when your MFA mentor points out that you describe buildings in more detail than you do people...oops.
xoxo
Poison
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