Admit to someone that you’re a writer, and one of the first questions out of their mouths is usually “Where do you get your ideas?” Some people will even suggest that you should take their ideas and write them…splitting the money 50/50, of course. I wonder why it is that there’s a public perception that the ideas are the hard part. For me - and, I suspect, for most writers - ideas are like air. They’re all around us, and there’s far more of them than any of us can possibly use. All it takes to spark an idea in me is a newspaper article, a snatch of overheard dialogue, and the answer to the questions “why?” and “what if?” The hard part, as any writer knows, is turning the idea into a fully-formed story. But really, when you come right down to it, most of the ideas out there — at least in crime fiction — are variations, in one way or another, on a few basic themes. Greed, lust, wrath, envy, pride: All of these can form the kernel of a successful story. In fact, here’s an idea, for free, as a special bonus for the readers of this blog: A woman, tired of living with her no-account spouse whose constant low-paying jobs don’t afford her the lifestyle she wants (greed, envy) takes up with an older, more affluent man. Together, they hatch a plot to kill the woman’s husband (wrath). Meanwhile, the husband has discovered his wife’s infidelity. He perceives her infidelity as an insult to his masculinity (pride) and sets out to kill both her and the man she’s cheating with (wrath). Now, all you have to do, my faithful readers, is actually write the story. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll tell you where to send my half of the money. Of course, maybe I should just write the thing myself. That is an awfully good idea…
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