Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

 Where do you get your ideas from?

Raise your hand if you're a writer who has been asked that question!

I got an unexpected, but very welcome, call from my CP to discuss the latest batch of TKTS chapters*. I write fantasy and she is not a fantasy reader or writer, but the stars somehow aligned, and we've been CPs for years. She often has clarifying questions about the fantasy elements, and yesterday she said, "I don't know where you get these ideas, kid, but I like 'em!"

I don't know about you, but I tend to get idea snippets. Usually a line of dialogue or a what-if question. Tying in with our conversation about managing multiple projects, these snippets can simmer for ages before I know if a whole story can be made out of them.

Do you have a go-to answer for this question, or do you try a new one out each time?

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(*Only one more section of the manuscript to go to my CP and editor! I'm planning a post to talk about how we've tackled this. **Yes, my CP calls me kid, it's her thing.)

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[Image: A stack of open books in warm tones of dark red and brown, with a fancy multi-faceted lightbulb sitting on top.]