I regularly read authors complaining about Writer’s Block. Perhaps it is true, there are enough websites which go into incredible detail about. (Perhaps the antidote to overcoming Writer’s Block is to write an article about it!). I, unfortunately, appear to have the opposite problem — too many ideas.
Some problems, however, are good to have, especially if you are a writer and a story teller.
I have 3-4 major projects I am working on at any time with ideas ‘popping’ into my head all the time. I scribble, I transcribe, and I record them all, adding them to the bank of story and plot ideas waiting to be written.
I typically start with an idea, then work the plot backwards from there. Take for example, The Seed of Hope. The Seed of Hope started with a simple idea “what if magic grew on trees?” This idea alone had me thinking about all the what if’s that question raised: what if you one got one chance to take the magic? what if magic wasn’t always good? what if someone stole your magic? what if being entrusted with magic was a responsibility requiring some sort of sacrifice?
From those questions alone, I think I could write a dozen books.
This morning was no different. I was away with my family, the sun yet to rise over the redwoods of Russian River. I was lying in bed thinking about one of my current writing projects, The Pillars of Light. The Pillars has a fantastic world in which it is set, with some very unique concepts and magical systems, but I worried something was wrong.
One thing I don’t like doing is writing a ‘paint by numbers‘ book: protagonist has a destiny, grows in power, finds out their kin is the antagonist, and in the end everyone ends happy just as the author had discovered after the first 100 pages. That’s just not how I write. Somehow I could see that, if I didn’t take action to adjust my plot and story arcs, The Pillars could easily turn into that.
Then…..WHAM….another idea hit me (yes, sadly I am telling the truth, this is how ideas usually occur to me: flashes of inspiration that i can visualize in my head which will stick with me until I write them down).
I grabbed my IPhone and ducking under the bed covers, so as not to wake my wife. I frantically typed a paragraph of a great idea that started with a simple idea.
What is the idea? Well, for that you will have to wait 
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Tags: idea, inspiration, Quinton Wall, The Seed of Hope, writers block