Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Like most authors, I'm often asked where I get my ideas. One of my novels was inspired by a movie I had seen. Another was inspired by an article in a magazine. Another time it was a "What if?" question that popped into my head. Sometimes I'll come up with a title first and try to create a plot around that.

For my novel Is He Or Isn't He?, the premise of the book was given to me by my editor. She called me up and said, "Would you like to write a book about two best friends—a gay guy and a straight girl—who both develop crushes on the new guy at their high school and they don't know if he's gay or straight?" Of course my answer was yes!

From that point, it was like building a house. Who would the gay guy be? Who would the straight girl be? Why were they friends? As the questions kept popping into my head, so did the answers. I'd scribble them down, and soon I had pages of notes which I then shaped into an outline.

So, where do you get your ideas?

John Hall
Author of Is He Or Isn't He?