Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by KM Rockwood

An aspiring fiction writer asked me, “Where do you get your ideas?”

We have all been asked that question at some point or another. Probably numerous times.

I firmly believe that everyone has a story to tell, and I like to be as encouraging and helpful as I can be when someone approaches me with such inquiries.

Over the years, I have answered that question with a number of possibilities. Sometimes a quick few sentences is all that’s needed; sometimes a person is asking seriously and is willing to take a little more time to hear possibilities.

A standard answer is observing something, asking questions and following where that leads. A well-dressed young man with a fine leather suitcase is sitting in a dingy downtown bus depot looking at a cheap flip phone. What is he doing here? Well-dressed young men don’t often take intercity buses, at least not from dingy downtown bus depots. Is he an accountant carrying a suitcase full of cash he has embezzled from his employer and is ultimately headed for the Caymen Islands, but he doesn’t want to leave a trail of airline tickets in his name? Maybe he’s a spy whose cover has been blown, carrying the plans for a secret weapon, and is desperately trying to reach a safe house. Has he left his wife and family, not taking his car since his location could then be tracked? Might he even have killed the wife and family and is now trying to put distance between himself and the scene of the crime?

Current events can provide a rich launching point for novels. Even if our own lives aren’t filled with crime and drama, we’re constantly bombarded with news stories about what’s happening around us, and much of what is reported is fodder for fiction. One caveat here, though. Just because something really happened doesn’t mean it’s believable enough for fiction. Our stories can’t leave readers saying, “That’s way out there. I don’t see how that could ever happen,” when true events frequently fall into that category.

History, both factual and legend, is full of possibilities. It can form the basis for historical fiction, or past incidents can be rewritten into modern events. Cultures and habits and beliefs can change over the years, but we humans seem to be very consistent in our tendency to indulge in nefarious activities. And our attempts to avoid the consequences.

Motivation is at the very core of crime fiction. Sorting through the psychological thought patterns that result in crime. Have we a character who is impulsive and thrill-seeking? Do jealousy or rage play a part? How about lack of empathy and an attempt to justify the unjustifiable? Greed? Desperation? Does “belonging,” a basic human need, mean joining a gang and trying to impress the leadership and other members? While these influences are important, ultimately fictional stories arise from the depths of our own imaginations, and everyone’s imagination is different.

After the conversation about where ideas come from with the aspiring writer, I found myself wondering, “Where do I get my ideas?”

And listened to the numerous characters clamoring in my head, all insisting that their particular story needed to be the next one I worked on.