Developing an Idea (Or, I Have a Shiny New Idea, Now What?)

Since November is National Novel Writing Month, we thought we'd talk a little about how to get from that first bright and shiny spark to a fully developed story.

Carmella says:

After I decide on an idea, one of the first things I do is get a journal for the project. Then I start filling it with questions. By asking questions (for instance, what is my main character's goal? Or what would happen if x happened?), my brain starts processing. It's kind of like that journal in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" - only I ask questions and the story answers back! Once I have a good grip on the basics, I start working on an outline. I used to be a pantser but I've found that developing an outline really helps me keep my emotions (um, panic) in check. An outline is like my safety net. Early on, I also spent a lot of time talking about the new idea to trusted friends and my family. I call this "processing outward" but I think my family and friends just call it annoying!

Carmella Van Vleet writes MG fiction and "hands-on" non-fiction. Her debut MG novel, ELISA BING IS (NOT) A BIG FAT QUITTER, will be released in Spring 2014 from Holiday House.

Christina says:
 

What I do after I've decided on an idea:

1. Outline it. See this post: http://christinafarley.com/using-a-plot-grid/ or this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEjC3ri7UEo

2. Then I prep to fast draft the book. See this video for tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chpYaMLYxg&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLz2lJRGe6_9CWREAtp8JD5s4xiEam-cDC

3. Write like a crazy person. I don't check for grammar or even if it makes sense. I just write.

4. Once I finish the book, then the real work begins. REVISING!

Christina Farley is the author of the YA novel GILDED, which will be published by Skyscape in Spring 2014.

Kate says:

When I get a new idea, I write down everything I think I know about it. The characters, the setting, etc. Then I figure out what I have to start researching. While I'm doing some general reading on the subject I want to write about, the characters are usually begging me to start writing. So I'll write a chapter or two and then get stuck and come up with an outline. For my newest project, I've been using Save the Cat type beats. Armed with an outline and some background information, it's time to get serious!  

Kate Fall writes middle grade and young adult fiction and is an editor with Entangled Publishing. 

Andrea says:

Once I decide on my idea, I make a list of all the things that could happen in the story. Sometimes, I write to myself as my main character, describing her problems and what she wants. I don't usually use these ramblings in the story, but they help shape my thinking about where the story might go.

After I've done some thinking (and then lots more thinking), I try to fit my ideas into a plot framework, like the Save the Cat structure or Dan Wells' Seven Point Story Structure. And then I write up a one or two page summary of the story, just to give myself some direction. By then, I'm usually dying to get writing, so I do! All my plans change as I get further into the story and find out what it's really about.

Andrea Mack writes middle grade fiction, picture books and beginning readers.

Debbie says:

What I do after I've decided on an idea:

1. Decide on the idea
2. Shortly thereafter, realize the idea is terrible.
3. Attempt to come up with alternate ideas but then come back to the original idea.
4. Work on a rough outline.
5. Despair when I realize the ending is wimpy and clichéd and sucky.
6. Revise the ending until it's not quite as wimpy and clichéd and sucky. Resolve to make it stronger later but first, I actually need to start WRITING.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi illustrated I'M BORED, a picture book written by Michael Ian Black (Simon & Schuster BFYR). Her illustrations next appear in NAKED! by the same author, coming out from Simon & Schuster next May.

Ideas and Old Ladies

Image via Pimthida on Flickr

The other night my daughter and I were catching up on “Project Runway.” I’d been looking forward to it all day. They were just about to start the critiques, when someone knocked on our door. I was very surprised to find my elderly neighbor on my front porch, wearing what appeared to be pajamas.

My neighbor is from Vietnam. She doesn’t speak English and, frankly, can be a bit crabby. (It wasn’t uncommon for her to yell at my three kids when they were younger or to scold our dogs from over the fence.) Clearly, something was amiss for her to come to our door at 9:00 at night. But she was smiling and nodding and motioning me outside.

The woman took my hand and led me to her house. I thought maybe someone was hurt. Several generations live at the house, perhaps one of the young girls who like to play on the sidewalk needed help.  But, again, the old lady didn’t seem frantic. She let go of my hand and twisted her doorknob. 

“Oh!” I said. “You’re locked out.” I’m sure she had no idea what I’d just said, but finally we were getting somewhere.

The old woman took my arm again and began leading me down the sidewalk. And pointing. Did someone in the neighborhood have a spare key? Did she need me to translate for her? 

Then she began pointing up the road and waving around. 

I still didn’t understand what she wanted from me. I pulled out my cellphone, hoping she just needed to make a call. But she waved it away. 

 All I could do was smile and shake my head in what was, hopefully, the universal sign for “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

She was locked out. She was alone. I obviously wasn’t going to leave her outside so I began heading the two of us back to my house and tried to ignore the voice in my head that asked, “What the hell are you going to do with a 90 year old Vietnamese woman all night?!”

But then my neighbor stopped me in the driveway, by husband’s car. She pointed to it, to me and then waved her hand again up the road. 

Aha! Now I got it. She wanted me to drive her somewhere! 

I got my keys, belted the woman in and took off down the road, all the while watching for her frail hand to point which way to go. It may seem selfish, but I hoped wherever she needed to go wasn’t too far. I was already feeling awkward. (I kept wondering what would happen if we were in an accident. I didn’t even know the woman’s name.) 

As luck would have it, she directed to me the next development over. We found the house she was looking for and - huge relief - someone was there. A young man who came out to tell me she could stay there while she waited for someone to bring a key. The woman smiled and said probably the only two English words she knows, “Thank you.” 

As I drove home, I started to think about how ideas are like that little old lady. Sometimes they show up at really inconvenient times and dressed inappropriately. They  desperately want to tell us something, show us something, or take us somewhere. And we stand there, utterly confused. But if we take their hands and trust that the desire to be understood or to understand often gives us great patience, then maybe they’ll take us on an adventure. 

And if we’re really lucky, they’ll give us an opportunity to do something good, to write a book. Maybe for that one kid or teenager who can’t tell anyone what’s wrong. Or who feels locked out from “normal.” Or who is wandering around in their bare feet, needing somewhere safe to go for a while. 

Who knows? That one reader might just be the kid who lives next door.