Cora Foerstner
I get ideas from all kinds of sources. News, gossip, comments people make, articles I've read, discussions I have.
What makes the idea stick and turn into something I want to write about is usually a character or characters that I can imagine in the world I'm thinking about. Also, I play with the ideas and the world for a long time because the story has to be something I'm willing to spends months or maybe years thinking about and writing about.
I know this is a question readers are interested in and ask all the time. My guess is that writers have played with ideas, stories, and characters all their lives.
As a child, I daydreamed in class, imagining stories or making other stories better. Even when I was a teenager and other girls daydreamed about boys, I would get lost in stories and adventures. My junior year in high school, I had ongoing stories about a teenage girl, me of course. When a class got boring, I'd pick up the story where I left off. She was so awesome that the president called on her to take care of tricky international jobs. She could speak eight languages, knew karate, and had the intuition of a career diplomate. That was my thriller year: a teenage female James Bond.
Most of my stories centered around an awesome girl or woman. My brother and I used to have discussions about the weak, silly women in books, on TV, and in films. Like all other girls, I wanted to see a strong female who knew how to take charge. I loved it that my brother also wanted to see a woman of action.
This desire is probably why I love Buffy and Joss Whedon. A few in the entertainment world get it; the rest need to catchup to Whedon. "Wonder Woman" is doing an excellent job, as are many new TV programs that feature strong women and the men who aren't intimidated by them. (The 100, Kill Joys, Dark Matter, Jessica Jones, etc.)
What makes the idea stick and turn into something I want to write about is usually a character or characters that I can imagine in the world I'm thinking about. Also, I play with the ideas and the world for a long time because the story has to be something I'm willing to spends months or maybe years thinking about and writing about.
I know this is a question readers are interested in and ask all the time. My guess is that writers have played with ideas, stories, and characters all their lives.
As a child, I daydreamed in class, imagining stories or making other stories better. Even when I was a teenager and other girls daydreamed about boys, I would get lost in stories and adventures. My junior year in high school, I had ongoing stories about a teenage girl, me of course. When a class got boring, I'd pick up the story where I left off. She was so awesome that the president called on her to take care of tricky international jobs. She could speak eight languages, knew karate, and had the intuition of a career diplomate. That was my thriller year: a teenage female James Bond.
Most of my stories centered around an awesome girl or woman. My brother and I used to have discussions about the weak, silly women in books, on TV, and in films. Like all other girls, I wanted to see a strong female who knew how to take charge. I loved it that my brother also wanted to see a woman of action.
This desire is probably why I love Buffy and Joss Whedon. A few in the entertainment world get it; the rest need to catchup to Whedon. "Wonder Woman" is doing an excellent job, as are many new TV programs that feature strong women and the men who aren't intimidated by them. (The 100, Kill Joys, Dark Matter, Jessica Jones, etc.)
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more