You Have an Idea for a Book, But is it a Good One? Who Cares?

"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas."– Linus Pauling

The light bulb goes off in my head a thousand times a day as a writer. You can't listen to the news, radio, or even read without the what-ifs, and now that would be really interesting if...

I have conversations with myself all the time about what is or is not interesting. No, I'm not crazy...well, maybe that's debatable...at least not certifiable, yet. Inner dialog is important when hashing out issues of what to write, what not to write, or who would want to read it. If I did it out loud, I'd never stop arguing with myself and those large, men in the white coats would surely come by to pick me up. My mental gears turn constantly, even in my sleep. I keep all these ideas in a file. Some are used in current works in progress while others wait for a revelation to be expanded into a storyline. Yes, when I wake up from a particularly vivid dream I write it down. I keep a notebook by my bed. Granted, they are not good ideas, but one day they might be.

From these seeds have come my science fiction stories, and some pretty nasty scenes in my suspense writing. I know what y'all are thinking... this lady has a screw lose and is not working with all gears engaged. Yes, and yes. It is hard to be an author without having some really wicked and dark thoughts. When writing suspense, there is always a clock ticking in the back of your mind. You always ask, how do I turn up the heat. When things are bad for the protagonist, how do I make it worse. How do I up the ante. Actually this is the basic for any good fiction.

For example today this idea for a story fluttered through my mind. John is killed by terrorists, while carrying an important document that has to arrive in the Capitol within two days. His wife, Karren, arrives on the scene just moments after her husband's death. This is the seed of an idea for a storyline. It sounds simple, but now increase the tension. Karren is devastated by her husband's death, but she decides to carry out her husband's mission. The assassin sees the wife pick up the documents. I continued my musing and wrote myself into a corner. Okay, file this seed away for another day.

I've known many famous and not so famous authors in my life. I guess I just happened to be at the right place at the right time or maybe, it's kismet. The one that had the earliest impact on my life, without me realizing it at the time, was Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 Space Odyssey, 2010.

It was happenstance. I was living in Sri Lanka at the time. I met him while he judged a school writing contest. He liked what I wrote. In fact, he gave me a ribbon and told me not to stop writing. He advised me to eat, breathe, sleep the craft and reach for the stars. Being a teenager, I had more important things on my mind like boys, but I kept a journal of all my travels. So I guess in a way, I was following his counsel.

It wasn't until the late nineteen-seventies when I met Eugenia Price; Lighthouse, Beloved Invader, did I seriously look at writing. At the time I had a child with a disability, she told me to write, no matter what. Just write it all down.

The point of both advisors was whether it's a good idea or not...just write it down. If the seed bears fruit, then you know it was a good one. If it doesn't, put it aside for another day. Because of my idea file, I never run out of ideas to work from. I've been collecting them for over thirty years. The advent of the computer makes finding the idea I want much easier by catalogiing them. Bits and pieces of ideas can multiple into storylines, articles, novellas, novels, and non fiction books. Unless you seek to be published, then your writing ideas, dreams, journaling are just that...yours. Your ideas for storylines and articles need to be held close like a lover's embrace and nurtured into growth. So all those ideas popping into your head, write it down and write on...