Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

People who don’t write often ask those of us who do where we get our ideas. Even fledgling writers like me sometimes wonder where those famous authors we admire get their ideas, and can we get a key?

Where ideas come from are as varied as writers who have them. Ideas come from life, from our experiences, from our imaginations. They even come from other people. One of my favorite activities has always been people-watching. As a young teenager, my mother worked at California State University in Fullerton. She used to take me to work with her, and I was free to roam the campus. In the center was a small quad area, and I would sit there under a tree and watch all the students scurrying to and from class, fascinated with everything, taking copious notes. I loved the way people walked, the way they talked, what they said, how they said it. Body language was intriguing to me. One woman would toss her hair and smile and that seemed to mean “I’m available,” while another would toss her hair and walk away and it meant “leave me alone.”

People-watching is a great way to study real-life situations, to learn realistic traits that will add depth and dimension to your characters. You can do it in a park, at McDonald’s, waiting in line somewhere, even driving on the freeway. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve sat, dreamily watching the world go by, storing tidbits of information about conversations, body language and how facial features work together or against one another. Or how often such scraps of information simmer just beneath the surface, only to emerge years later as a wisp of a character trait or a bite of conversation I employ in my stories.

Try it – you just might like it! Post a comment about your people-watching experiences. I’d love to hear from you.