On Fireflies and Jackhammers, by Lori Roberts Herbst

I’m sitting cross-legged in a field filled with wildflowers. The sun has set, and stars glitter in the night sky. Fireflies teem around me, their tiny bodies pulsing with light. The swarm appears as infinite as the stars above, yet it doesn’t suffocate or frighten me. On the contrary, I find it exhilarating.

 

After a moment, it occurs to me that each individual firefly contains a story idea. One small creature alights on my outstretched hand, as
if willingly offering me the contents of its creative reservoir. 

 

I cup the little bug in my hand. Then I leap to my feet in sudden awareness that each firefly wants me to explore its story. I am surrounded by the illumination of limitless creativity.

 

Then I wake up.

 

I’m not sure which part of this fantasy is more implausible — my easy access to a multitude of ideas, or my ability to fluidly arise from a cross-legged position (I haven’t been able to do that since childhood…)

 

But here’s what I’m getting at: perhaps there are authors out there for whom the firefly scenario is reality. If so, I’m envious of them. For me, ideas seem to rest beneath layers of concrete. Retrieving them requires weeks, months, or even years of persistent jackhammering. I keep expecting ideas to emerge fully formed from my subconscious, like Athena springing from Zeus’ skull. Alas, it hasn’t happened that way. In my world, the mining of ideas is sweat-generating, teeth-gnashing, nail-biting work.

 

Stephen King said the novel Misery came to him in a dream. Lucky stiff. My nighttime escapades tend toward the more mundane, like moving laundry from the washer to the dryer. Hmm…what if I discovered a valuable gemstone nestled among the soggy clothes? What if I opened the dryer and found a portal to another dimension? Perhaps it’s time to get out my jackhammer. 

 

 “You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.” — Neil Gaiman

 

What’s the best idea you’ve ever had, and how did it come to you?

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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com