(This is a mirror site of my webpage karenjcarlisle.com)

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Ideas floating around in the Ether

Some days, I struggle for the spark of an idea, a story, or inspiration for artwork. Other days, the ideas drop from the sky, falling around me like hail - hard, fast and hard to avoid! I have mentioned previously that I have note books in convenient places to jot down ideas, notes or phrases that pop into my head.  This week,  the notebook has been very useful. I have had three ideas for short stories. A couple have the potential, with work, to be extended beyond that. 

What I find fascinating, is how varied and unexpected are where and what can trigger an idea for a short story. The first idea grew from two simple lines about a fact related to how much sleep we get in our lifetime. I happened across the fact by accident. I had possibly skimmed over it several times before but this time it caught my imagination and an idea was born. It has two incarnations: one is pure science fiction, the other has a steampunk feel. Currently, I am leaning more steampunk right now, most likely as the story I am currently working on is based in the Victorian era. That could change by the time I start on this, in earnest.

Sometimes it is just an idea for a title which can then spurn a slew of ideas, all spilling out. This was the case for the second of last week's revelations. The short story theme was the Fae. Immediately the words La Fée Verte (The Green Fairy) were there. My train of thought ran through different fairy tales, myths, legends and customs. Following some more research, I have two vastly divergent basic storylines. One dark, one more positive. One is the subject of my next short story; the other will possibly be incorporated into a novel length story I am working on. 

Just now I have finished writing down some ideas for another short story. This will most likely have one of my current characters, or possibly one of her friends, returning to wreak havoc. I got the idea while I was waiting for a doctor's appointment. I had just collected my copy of the latest Archeology magazine. In it was an article related to body snatchers in Victorian times. 

This week, I am polishing up a short story, the inspiration for which followed a particularly bad migraine. I can't stop them, so I might as well make them useful. 

Having commented on how easy some stories can be created, I have to admit that this has been a very good week. For the past three weeks, I have been mulling over ideas for a Twisted Fairytale themed short story competition. Just when I think I have an idea, it slips away. The few I have jotted down,  I still have a month and a half to see if I can be inspired and come up with an interesting perspective for this one. I will let you know how I go.


No comments:

Post a Comment