Guest Post: CJ Hosack on Ideas in Process

Ideas are cheap. It takes some serious dedication to turn them into a story. The process for turning my current book from idea to manuscript began in some dark creative times. Over twenty years ago I decided to turn my desire to write a book into action. While my small children were still sleeping in their beds, I got up early every morning to write for an hour before they woke and those tiny whirlwinds consumed my day. It took me over a year, but I finally held a finished manuscript in my hands. I was so excited I gave it to a bunch of friends to read… but no one read past a few pages. One friend FORCED themselves to read through it and proceeded to tell me everything wrong with it. I was so discouraged. The idea I had turned into a novel had flopped, big time, and my process had failed.

I decided what I needed was to learn how to write stories. I had a bachelor’s degree in history, so I knew how to write an academic historical article, but I was new to writing fiction. My friend offered to help. They gave me writing prompts and I wrote some short stories. None of these stories were successful, but I wrote one story a few people thought was decent. It was a short story inspired by the kinds of silly, imaginative things my brother and I would do when our parents were out on dates. It was fun and cute- and the cat did it! I even submitted it to a magazine and got a personalized rejection letter, which at the time I didn’t realize was a treasure. The rejection was the last straw for me. I decided I could write an academic research paper, but not fiction. I gave up writing and watched longingly from the sidelines as my friends continued to write.

Fast forward twenty years and I’m browsing an author’s website where I discover their college lectures were posted on YouTube. Intrigued, I started watching them… and had an earth shattering revelation- I am a writer! I just haven’t practiced enough. I get excited, but what do I write? I think back to the one short story that had been a moderate success. When I originally wrote that story my brother had drifted out of my life, but he was back and that infused me with a desire to expand on that short story. I thought perhaps I could write a series of adventures by these two characters, like maybe a series of short middle grade stories or something like that…but no- I love fantasy. I realized it needed to be a fantasy, just for me.

My excitement level was through the roof, but I sat on the idea for a couple of months. I wanted to make sure I was going to really commit to this story. It was the end of the year and I decided once the new year started I would begin to do some world building. I’m not even certain how all the pieces came together, but since my characters were based on me and my brother I started there. I am adopted, so my main character would be adopted. I wanted to explore that theme- how it feels to be a part of a family, but not feel like you truly belong. I pondered upon a magic system that would highlight that feeling. I decided the magic needed to be hereditary with a required proof of bloodlines through family history research. I had recently graduated with a master’s degree in public history. This meant I had just studied how to run an archive, or a museum. My story needed a library/archive/museum that was malevolent, mysterious, magical, and definitely its own character. The rest of the ideas and worldbuilding naturally sprang out of how to make those ideas into an interesting story that worked logically. As each plot problem got solved, a new piece of the world formed.

All these ideas required hours of brain work, but they were still fairly cheap until I put them on the page. This is another facet of ideas- the inspiration that comes from reader feedback and brainstorming. The first round of readers helped me see the angles I hadn’t thought of before. The complete rewrite inspired by editorial feedback took it in a new direction. My writing community helped me plot better structure, then poked holes at my worldbuilding till I filled them. My brother asked, “What happens if you reverse the magic?” At another point he told me “I would never do that!” All of this pushed me to think deeper, to work harder- to not be satisfied with the easy answer.

Story ideas can come from anywhere, inspired by the world, life, and the experience it all brings. The real work begins when those ideas get put together in a story. This requires digging in and plumbing the depths. Putting those words on the page, and then letting others into that world. That world could be here and now, way in the past, sometime in the future, or a completely different planet. The building of those blocks piece by piece will lay the foundation. The most important lesson I’ve learned from ideas and process is to not give up. If I use those shiny, cheap ideas to keep the fire going, I can keep renewing my dedication and determination to make that story happen.