By Jennifer Wilck
One of the most frequent
questions I’m asked by people when they hear I write romance is, “Where do you
get your ideas?”
The question is
surprisingly difficult for me to answer, or at least it used to be, because it
makes it sound as if I’m sitting down and consciously making an effort to come
up with a plot and characters and a conflict. Perhaps some writers do that, but
for me, the process is more organic.
My best ideas for a
story come to me when I’m most relaxed—right before I fall asleep, while I’m
driving (and trying to shut out my kids’ music) or when I’m walking the dog.
They are all times when I’m not thinking about what I should write. Although I
think he’s gotten used to it, my husband doesn’t really understand why I bolt
out of bed and race to my computer in the middle of the night, rather than
waiting until a decent hour in the morning, and my neighbors know me as the
crazy lady who talks to herself while walking the dog.
But that’s how my brain
works best, and I’ve gotten used to keeping a pad beside my bed (if I can’t
race to my computer) and downloading a robust dictation device onto my phone
(so at least I can pretend I’m talking to someone). The ideas are ephemeral, so
I have to jot them down when I get them.
Sometimes the
inspiration pops into my head as a conversation between two heretofore-unknown
characters (and when they use accents, it’s amusing). Other times I’ll see
something and ask myself, “What if...” I could see a character on TV and wonder
what would happen if I put him or her into that situation X. Occasionally, I’ll
pass a store or a billboard that intrigues me and provides a setting that I
want to flesh out. And once, I was inspired by touring an old Victorian mansion
and imagining who would live there now and why (I’m still working on that
story, actually).
Once I jot down my idea
or scene, I flesh out the characters, figure out their motivation and conflict
and try to get them to their happily ever after. There’s always a lot of
emotion in my books and I favor strong, sassy heroines and strong but
vulnerable heroes.
As you can probably
guess by now, I don’t outline ahead of time, but I do create one afterwards. As
I start round one of edits, I write down what happens in each scene and
chapter, where certain descriptions are (that helps me make sure that blue eyes
don’t change to green midway through the story) and the progression of the love
scenes.
There’s a fine balance
between the discipline of writing and the creativity of my muse. The key to
completing my manuscript is maintaining that balance. Tell me, where do you get
your ideas and how do you turn them into a book?
___________________________________________________________________
Jennifer Wilck started telling herself stories as a
little girl when she couldn’t fall asleep at night. As an adult, she started
writing them down and after several years of writing, editing and querying
publishers, she’s a multi-published author. Her favorite stories to write are
those with smart, sassy, independent heroines; handsome, strong and slightly
vulnerable heroes; and always end with happily ever after. When she’s not
writing, she loves spending time with her family and friends, reading, traveling
and watching TV. She volunteers with her Temple and is also a freelance writer
for magazines, newspapers and newsletters. A Heart of Little Faith and Skin Deep were published by Whiskey Creek Press in 2011. The Seduction of Esther, the first in the Women of
Valor series, was published in June 2013 by Rebel Ink Press. The next book
in that series, Miriam’s Surrender, published September 2014. She can be
reached at www.jenniferwilck.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Wilck/201342863240160.
She tweets at @JWilck. Her blog (Fried Oreos) is www.jenniferwilck.blogspot.com
and she contributes to Heroine With Hearts blog on Tuesdays http://www.heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com
and Front Porch Saturdays at Sandra Sookoo’s Believing is Seeing blog http://sandrasookoo.wordpress.com.
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