Goodreads asked Esben Kobberstad:

How do you get inspired to write?

Esben Kobberstad I get inspiration through all sorts of venues, so this is a tricky question to answer properly. As a self-appointed wannabe nerd, I’ve always entertained an eclectic mix of interests, from history and archaeology to hard science such as astrophysics. Combined with an interest in diverse genres such as Crime, Science fiction, and Fantasy, my brain gets constantly bombarded with the weirdest cross-couplings triggered by some catalyst or other gleaned from my interactions with the mix of interests I just mentioned.

My creative technique is most definitely not of the “pantsing” variety. I never simply “start writing” to see what might come out of it. Instead, I wait for what I call “loose associations» to interconnect and spark off an idea, sometimes just the germ, for a story inside my head. This tends to happen suddenly and without warning, as it often occurs when I’m reading or watching something that not necessarily has anything to do with the idea whatsoever. Alternatively, it might also happen when I’m doing something completely unrelated, such as when I’m starting to fall asleep, you know, at the time of night when free-firing neurons fire off what ALWAYS seems to be a “brilliant” idea in your brain …

My initial process is to scratch the new idea down on a piece of paper or the old computer before it evaporates from my mind. Then I put it aside for a few days and willfully try to ignore it. If I discover that I can’t, I figure the idea to be about 60 % realizable and worth the extra time and effort it takes to develop it into a more detailed proof of concept. I do this to a point where the major plot twists are outlined, and the overall story from A-Z is somewhat complete but in very crude brush strokes.

Once my new concept sketch is done, I resist the temptation to work on it any further and file it away while focusing on finishing my ongoing projects. You might wonder why, but at this point, the new idea is still not at the point where I’m 100 % certain it is worthwhile developing it into a fully-fledged script. The reason for this is that I know that my joy, emotional high if you like, at discovering a new tale to tell will initially overpower my already challenged powers of reasoning. By filing it away for later revision, I manage to create the time I need to cool off and revisit the idea at some future point with a cool, level head.

This also means that I always have lots of potential projects in the works, as new, in my opinion marvelous, ideas come in at a way faster rate than I’m able to finish up my manuscripts. When I’m good and ready to consider what to write as my next book project, I have the luxury of being able to pick and choose from lots of stories in a wide variety of genres. Then, when I have made my selection, it simply a question of developing the sketch I already have into an almost complete working document. You see, I like there to be some surprises for me too along the way, as I write it out!

But there is a but at the end: Before I start working on the actual script, I force myself to reassess it one more time. Is it truly exciting and interesting enough to warrant months, possibly years, of hard work? Will it do well? Will my target audience like it? What is the target audience for the new story? Is there one? These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself if you want to be a successful author, and if most of the answers are “yes,” I start to forge ahead on my next book.

flag