Monday, April 9, 2012

Idea? What Idea? Where?



 I have a confession to make: I have no idea where I get my ideas.

It’s a question I’m asked at nearly every single one of my booksignings, and I know other authors get that query all the time, too. I usually hedge when I answer, and say that my problem isn’t coming up with ideas, it’s figuring out which idea can be stretched to hold a reader’s attention for 300 pages.

It’s the truth, but that doesn’t address the real question.

I think, for me, ideas are like soup. I’m a terrible cook, so hang on while I struggle through this analogy. Coming up with a storyline works best for me if I don’t hover over it – if instead, I toss a few ingredients into a pot and let them simmer for a while. (Er, that is how you make soup, right?)

My ideas take shape slowly, and my subconscious is my partner in crime (or in chick-lit) because it does the heavy lifting when it comes to sifting through possibilities and finally closing in on a storyline. While I do things like walk the dog, put away clean laundry, and – fine, I’ll admit it – read PerezHilton.com, my subconscious is busy at work. And then, after a while, I step into the shower and a fully-formed idea pops into my head - usually just when I've lathered up with shampoo and can't escape to write down the idea. I remember it the best I can, then shoot an email to my agent and editor to see what they think. The next step is to go buy a pretty new notebook so I can sketch a broad outline of the book. (“She never buys me a new notebook. She didn’t even thank me,” mutters my exhausted subconscious.)

I’m reluctant to analyze the process to closely, for fear that my ideas will all flit away like brightly-colored butterflies. (“She really needs to knock it off with the analogies,” mutters my increasingly bitter subconscious. “Soup, butterflies. What’s next? Unicorns?”) So for now, I’ll keep giving my answer that really isn’t an answer – and I’ll hope my subconscious never quits and goes in search of a place with better working conditions. 

Sarah Pekkanen is the internationally-bestselling author of three novels, including These Girls, which publishes today! Jodi Picoult hails it as "Bittersweet, laugh-out-loud funny, and painfully real." To view the trailer for These Girls, which is a lead BookRiot TV trailer today, please click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcw8aXvpd8Q 

13 comments:

  1. I, too, hope your subconscious never quits coming up with ideas!

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  2. Kathy, you are such a kind and supportive friend! Thank you!

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  3. Love this post, Sarah! It's so true-- the ideas need time to marinate (if I can borrow a cooking analogy!!) and I, too, get ideas when I'm in the shower!

    Can't wait for THESE GIRLS to get delivered!! Already pre-ordered....

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  4. I use pretty notebooks, too! They really work. Special pens are also helpful...

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  5. Sarah
    What a beautiful cover!

    As for ideas and where they come from -- who knows? I might understand where a tiny hint of the idea came from but no, not really, and I too do not want to overanalyze where the ideas come from for fear that whomever or whatever is giving them to me might stop--yikes!

    Thank you for the post!

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  6. I absolutely can't wait to read These Girls! After devouring Skipping a Beat as soon as it was released, I am trying to be patient. :) Great post!

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  7. Thank you so much for these kind comments! I love nice pens, too, Cindy - but my kids keep taking them. Jillian and Brenda, hope you love These Girls! xoxo

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  8. Sarah!! HAPPY PUB DAY!! I hope you sell a gazillion copies of These Girls!

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  9. I have a pretty box full of scrips and scraps written with my pretty pens in pretty notebooks. And still have no idea how the ideas surface from the moon craters of my demented mind. Great post, Sarah, and Happy Pub Day!

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  10. Sarah, love the book trailer! It brought a tear to my eye and made me want to call my best friend :) Congratulations and best of luck with the new release. Can't wait to read it!

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  11. I love a reason to buy pretty notebooks and new pens...Cheers on your release. And I just read about you on She Reads!

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  12. Thank you so much - and I'm thrilled you like the trailer too! xoxo

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