I’m deep in writing mode lately, which means that I slip off the radar socially.  The social media strategist and marketer in me is cringing, believe me. I don’t know about you, but the real work of writing occurs under the surface for the most part, as things are thought through and sorted out. That’s no excuse, however, for falling out of touch with you. So I’m giving myself a challenge: post ten new blogs over the next ten days.  Just to shake things up a bit, I’m going to be focusing on my own writing process (as opposed to that of my literary heroines). 

Today’s topic?  Ideas. 

I think there’s a myth that writers wake up in the morning, float over to the desk, look out the window on the glistening springtime or pastoral view, and are visited by a gentle muse who bestows a Good Idea.  “Ah,” they say, stroking their chins appreciatively.  “That’s it!”  Then they begin to write in a whirl of inspired bliss. 

Maybe that’s how other writers do it, but my experience is way messier and infinitely more frustrating.  Here’s my process:  Get one idea that kind of stinks.  Go down the path of research, thought, planning, figuring it out.  Realize it’s total crap.  Get new idea.  This one seems downright brilliant.  Tell someone about it—they blanch and stammer something polite but unenthusiastic.  Suffer from crisis of confidence and abandon idea. 

Et cetera. 

This process is repeated multiple times, with fits and starts.  Sometimes it takes a long freaking time (Only this month have I become confident enough about an idea for a new nonfiction project…yes, almost two years since my first book appeared.  Sorry, Harper.). Sometimes it doesn’t.  Sometimes I desperately need the input of my partner, my business partner, or a few trusted writing buddies.  Sometimes I have a sense that if I tell another human being, it will be jinxed forever and will surely fail. For me, the important part is to remain open to the right idea.  Nothing is perfect, but good thoughts sometimes take time to percolate.  I try to read widely, talk to new people, eavesdrop on conversations, give myself long walks and time for random, unstructured thought.  Given all of those inputs, ideas usually come. 

Before I go public with an idea, I always ask myself several questions.  What’s the idea? Is it really unique? How? More importantly, what can I bring to the idea that nobody else can?  Is this something I’m willing to talk about all day, lose sleep over, and devote at least a quarter of my working brain capacity to for the near future? 

If the answer is yes, I freak out.  Oh, God.  Here we go again.  And that’s the place I’m in right now.  Here we go again…

What about you? Where do you find your ideas?