Thursday, July 3, 2008

Where ideas come from

I thought I'd take the advice of the editor and think of alternate titles for my novel. I've been revising the novel and this kind of sit-up-straight, diligent, being critical type of working can be draining. So I decided to "work" on it differently. To come up with a new title requires a mellow mood, a slouchy posture, and a wandering mind.

So I was sitting in bed, with the lights off, and my mind off on its happy stream-of-consciousness trip, and several titles popped into my head. None of them works, by the way. But a totally off-the-wall title gave me a light bulb moment. I got an idea for a whole new novel and the idea took off and I almost couldn't sleep that night.

The next day, I sat down and started writing. It felt great. I knew immediately whose point of view I would use, I knew his personality, his attitudes, and what he's been doing the past 14 years that led up to the moment when the novel opens.

So the new title for my old novel is still nowhere to be found, but now I've got two WIP, both in the beginning stage. Ain't life grand?

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