Where does your inspiration come from? Do you write in the mornings or the evenings? How do you get the idea for a plot? How do you write such vivid characters?

All journeyman writers know these questions. If you have been to a reading or read an interview of a popular author, they abound. This question bubbles up within every student of the art at some point. What is often missing, and what even the talented author often cannot articulate to words, is the real question: Where, for you, do your inventions begin and how do you recognize them?

For each author, this is different. But essential to the process for every author is analysis. If you do not look, if you do not see, if you do not stop to polish an idea, then how can you recognize dusty gem from dusty rock? Thus, you must begin by finding a strategy that causes you to dig into everything you see, to be curious about every experience of your day.

I’m taking a course on creative writing, and ran across this passage about the importance of journals as an intimate, vital friend to the writer. Enjoy.

Keep the journal regularly, at least at first. It doesn’t matter what you write and it doesn’t matter very much how much, but it does matter that you make a steady habit of writing. A major advantage of keeping a journal regularly is that it will put you in the habit of observing in words. If you know at dawn that you are committed to writing so many words before dusk, you will half-consciously tell the story of your day to yourself as you live it, finding a phrase to catch whatever catches your eye. When that habit is established, you’ll begin to find that whatever invites your attention or sympathy, your anger or curiosity, may be the beginning of invention. Whoever catches your attention may be the beginning of a character.
Writing Fiction, by Janet Burroway

Wow, I realize this is a comic, but what an amazing idea for fleshing out stories.

You could use this for plot arcs, character interactions, themes, and just about anything within a novel.

It looks like a bit of work, but the end result is a wonderful map of the story line and characters, useful for analyzing even the worst sort of story problems.

Since brainstorming and outlining are such important activities for writers, I am cross-posting this article about Mind Mapping Tools from my tech blog.

Give it a peek.

In the real world, information is everything. It starts wars, ends them, reveals the truth, obscures it, catalyzes invention, saves lives and destroys them… it’s all about what information gets into which hands.

Great story tellers utilize this effectively to build tension, twist plots, and rake their readers over the coals. I’m going to spend more time exploiting this great insight in my works, you should too. Here’s a quick primer into ways I’ve seen in used for great effect:

• Two characters know enough bits that, if put together, they could prevent impending tragedy. However, because of space, conflict, time, or the simple fact that the subject never comes up, they don’t put two and two together.
• Good guy thwarts enemies because he knows something they don’t
• Antagonist (and reader) know something hero doesn’t. But hero trusts antagonist who leads him farther from the truth — a great twist for the romance elements (“Didn’t you know she’s in love with Handsome Dude? You don’t stand a chance”)

Also, keep in mind the implications of this principle on your life.  The largest obstacle of families, businesses, and even nations is the proper dissemination of information. That includes sharing the stuff that needs to be shared and also keeping information out of the wrong hands.

The toddlers aren’t mature enough to deal with mom and dad arguing, they need a unified front; teens do need to understand drugs and sex so they don’t think them mysterious and exciting and do think of the consequences; a wife does need to hear that you love her and think she’s pretty; she doesn’t need to hear that you think the potatoes are too plain; friends do want to know they matter, your sister doesn’t need to hear that you think her husband is a jerk.

In a country where manners and denial of self are naughty words, knowledge is the cure.

This year for NaNo, I’m going to attempt a novel-in-stories. I’ve devised 10 possible plots and I’ll write as many as it takes to finish my 50k, targeting each short at 5k words.

Take a look and let me know if any of them sound exciting; feel free to add your own creativity too; please note these are all working titles…

Shilo

A cold blooded assassin, a legend at his trade, is hired to kill a girl he’s been protecting. When he finds out they are the same person, he’ll have to make a choice: his life or hers.

Joansen

A man bent on revenge devotes his life to finding a killer, only to learn that the man runs an orphanage.

Meeting Solnarra Vons

Tisho Ukaneo takes no prisoners while warring the savages who damaged his sister, Misane. The lines of justice get hazy when he is faced with executing a young girl who reminds him of Misane.

Under the White

Two refugees search for sanctuary. They are led by an Elle, who doesn’t sink in the snow while they travel, and each tries to contrive a more convincing story about why.

House of the Lost

A boy arrives on a bus full of kids, all runaways. They are delivered to a nightmarish mansion where they are forbidden to ask questions and curiosity can be deadly. The walls whisper and children disappear without warning, and the only way to survive seems to be by avoiding attention.

Nightwulf

A man has vivid nightmares where he is chased by a wolf. Occasionally he sees visions in the dreams. In one, he is bitten and he wakes with a fever and suffers what he thinks at first are hallucinations of a spirit world. He’s not so sure when he sees a man pushed off of a building by an angry ghost.

Halo Soldier’s Journal

Two video game characters, modeled on halo soldiers, pass the time by exploiting game mechanics to perform pranks on one another. One has a compulsion to stick grenades to things for fun, loves the way his partner forcefield glows when he shoots him in the back, and tells bad knock knock jokes. The other is obsessed with saving ammunition, complains about his cod piece being too tight, and inists on driving all the warthogs.

The (Un)Martyr

A man, overwhelmed by the carnage of war, is determined to die in battle, but plans keep going awry.

Starlight (rewrite)

A woman seeks her memory and finds out she didn’t really want it, but she’s a little too late.

Vodik Von Varediss (rewrite)

A librarian of no particular bravery outwits a fearesome interrogator to save the last heir of the kingdom from death.