Happy Sunday, Wordsmiths,

I received some great writing advice years ago from a dear author friend who recently passed away. He was my sister’s nephew-in-law and the best human being. He was only 44. I will carry his kindness, generosity, and all the writing advice he’s given me over the years with me, always.

He told me once, “Gina, ALWAYS carry a notebook and pen with you wherever you go. Inspiration will strike anywhere, anytime, and if you don’t write it down when it does, you’ll undoubtedly lose it by the time you get home.” Wow, what truth that is. I no longer leave home without my trusty notebook.

BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THOSE IDEAS? THEY CAN’T ALL BECOME NOVELS

For me, that used to be the difficult part. Most of my ideas weren’t strong enough to become a novel or even a novella. But I’ve discovered along the way that all your ideas don’t have to become a novel. In fact, most don’t, and that’s ok. It’s great, even.

You can take those great ideas for characters, storylines, and settings and use them all.

HOW?

Let me give you some ideas for all of the inspiration that suddenly strikes. You can use them to write:

• Novellas
• Short stories

I’ve done those, but there’s much more you can do. There will always be ideas that you find interesting that you can’t seem to turn into something as big as a novel, novella, or even a short story.

Combine them and put them into a novel you’re already working on, or start a new book with all your ideas combined.

But, none of them have anything to do with each other, you may say. OH, but they can!

You can make just about any idea fit into your genre’ of choice. I once had an idea for a sappy Hallmark-esque read that refused to gain traction and develop further. But I liked it, even though I couldn’t make it grow.

What did I do?

I put that idea, main character, and storyline into the paranormal cozy mystery I also had ideas for, just not enough at the time to stretch into a novel.

I took my Hallmark-ish idea and the two other storylines and began brainstorming how to combine them into one book. And that’s how one of my paranormal, cozy mysteries was born.

I used my sappy Hallmark character as a client of my PI protagonist, who was murdered and hung around as a ghost who is now a friend who helped solve her murder and all cases from then on.

Another idea I had for a story that couldn’t find traction on its own became another client and storyline in that book. I changed my ideas slightly to fit into my genre’ and storyline, and voila’, before I knew it, those ideas (plus a few others) became a full-length book.

So, my advice to you is:

• Take something with you on ALL your travels to capture it when inspiration strikes before it slips away.
• Gather all those great ideas and have a blast tweaking them to fit together in one great storyline.
• Jot down funny or interesting interactions you have or witness while out and about.
• When you encounter an interesting person or conversation, jot it down in your trusty notebook. You can turn them into dynamic characters, storylines, or scene ideas.

Complete novel ideas rarely take shape in one fell swoop. Most of the time, books begin with a spark of an idea, then grow from there.

So, jot down all interesting ideas, interactions, settings (a cool cafe’, a strange pop-up storm), overheard conversations, quirky, funny, and endearing people you encounter, and start brainstorming ways to fit them all together in one fabulous novel.

Now, grab that notebook and get out there into the world. Endless ideas are waiting to be discovered.

Happy Writing,

Gina