Full Transcript for Where Do Your Ideas Come From?—Inside a Writer’s Process

notes on my phone when I go into the notes app where I have like 27 different notes. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:48.560 I try to categorize it and be like, okay, these are for Jules, this is for Annie, this is for you know, whatever future book I'm working on, but inevitably they all just get mixed up. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.400 And then when I'm going to work on a book, I'm like, wait, what does that mean? 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.080 Like, who was that for? 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:07.759 But but talk about how ideas evolve because the you come up with a bunch of ideas, and sometimes, like you just described, they are maybe nuggets of a story, and other times it's the full meal deal. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:14.879 Uh, you come up with the entire uh plot of a book and and and then everything in between. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.319 Yeah, I mean, I think there's sort of like an evolution to ideas. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:26.879 And so one example that comes to mind is my new cozy spy thriller that's coming out, Murder Moves In. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:30.080 This is coming out next January, January of 2027. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:36.240 And that started with really just like a nugget of an idea over a decade ago. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:43.360 And I put it in a notebook and I wrote down that first thought, which was really based on the interaction that I had with a neighbor. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.840 And I came home and you and I were like, oh my gosh, like this is so much potential for a story. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:54.319 So I maybe wrote, I don't know, two, three paragraphs of that nugget of an idea, basically. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:03.439 And then that sat in a notebook like this on my desk in closets at various points in time, and I did nothing with it. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:11.199 I just like, I do think, especially for any new writers out there, it's important to take these out of your head. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:12.400 That's what I've learned. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:24.240 And that's why I have stacks of notebooks and a ridiculous list of notes in my notes app, because otherwise, what I will find is I will just try to keep spinning on that idea when it's not ready. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:31.439 It's just that little hint, that spark of something that then needs to sit and wait for a little while. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:42.000 Yeah, and because you mentioned a notes app, I'm going to interject with some tech guy uh maybe tips for the writers out there. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:47.680 You know, storing notes in notebooks is great and writing them down is great. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:52.720 Um, searching for those notes at a later time is a little tedious then. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:59.680 Um so if you like to, and hey, if you want to use a pen, pencil, and a notebook and write write them down, that is awesome. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:05.680 But you can still take pictures of those pages and pull those into notes apps. 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:15.680 And there are so many notes apps out there that will uh through OCR optical character recognition, we'll be able to, you'll be able to search your notes very easily. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.959 So just a a tech guy tip there. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:23.040 You are gonna have to pry my notebooks out of my cold dead hands. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:27.600 And look, I have a searchable way, I have little colored tabs, like darlings. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:31.199 For those of you who are listening to the podcast, I have a little yellow tab here. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:32.959 That's for Annie Murray. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:37.839 I have a little pink tab for Jules, I have a blue tab for new ideas. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:39.199 Yes, I know. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:50.720 This is a it is not uh for the darlings out there, this is something that I've been trying to like move Ellie toward forever, and it's not going to work. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:55.040 But I'm just saying for some writers out there, that might be a good strategy. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:04.480 No, I love it in theory, and in my writers group, I have a couple writer friends who take notes on their iPad for that reason because then they can search them, they can categorize them. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.160 Like again, I love it in theory, but I have a process that works for me. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.720 And that well, that but that's what's important, right? 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:12.800 Is finding the process that does work for you. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.879 So there's nothing wrong with that. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:16.160 No, there's nothing wrong with it. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:22.480 Okay, so I think the most important thing that I do from a writing perspective is this idea comes to mind. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:31.519 I have to put it somewhere because otherwise, I'm like I mentioned, I'm gonna spend hours perseverating on it, trying to think about what it is when I don't know yet. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.399 I just know that it's a potential story idea. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:38.079 So I have stacks of notebooks that those rest in. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:46.240 And then what happens is sometimes a month later, a few weeks later, I'm like, oh wow, this one really has legs. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:50.079 I would love to use this idea, let's say, in the next bake shop mystery. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:55.759 That's a little clearer cut, I feel like, if it's something that is related to a series that I'm already writing. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:01.120 But I still have stacks of ideas for future books for every series that I'm writing. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:08.800 If we're talking about something like Murder Moves In, this new mashup that's like kind of cozy, kind of spy, kind of thriller. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.639 It's got a little bit of everything. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.279 That just sat as a note for a while. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:17.839 And then it was like

another five years before I was like, ooh, you know what? 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:23.040 I'm I'm really feeling drawn to want to revisit that idea. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:35.199 And that kind of sparked because of another, while we were on a road trip, we've talked about this, where we were mapping things out, but there was also like this thing that happened in the neighborhood that kind of re-ignited my interest in that idea. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:40.160 And I kind of had some headspace where I was like, oh, I just I I'm not writing right now. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.360 So I want to, I want to noodle on this new idea. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:54.240 Um, and I think there's something to that, to letting new ideas have time to just simmer in the background if you're not sure what to do with it yet. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:55.680 To marinate. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:56.639 Marinate. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:57.519 Marinate. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:01.120 Just to put it into bake shop uh lingo. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:13.839 Actually, you mentioning road trips is another important thing that, regardless of your note-taking uh technique or or you know, tools, or lack thereof, is that right? 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:14.560 Or lack thereof. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:15.360 No, no, no. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:29.519 Regardless of how you take notes for your ideas, make sure that you have that instrument or those instruments with you at all times, because an idea can strike anytime and anywhere. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:39.200 Um I just uh in fact, just yesterday, I remember I came running out of the shower on my towel and I said, Oh, I gotta take a note, I gotta take a note. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.000 You were like, What? 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.240 I said, I mean notes in the shower. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:43.919 Halftime shower notes. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:44.320 Yeah. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:44.799 Yeah. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.559 I think you need to invent this. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.080 Who else wants shower notes? 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:54.480 But I think there's that's true that a lot of times like the best ideas happen when we're not sitting in front of our computer. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:07.279 I talk about this all the time in our in my mystery series masterclass because I think you know, there's like different energy that comes when you're actually writing and drafting something or editing something versus just letting your creative energy run wild. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.279 And for me, ideas tend to happen when I'm out for a walk, when you and I are out for coffee. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:20.720 Yeah, when you're in the shower, when you're doing something where you usually don't have something on hand to take a note. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:21.360 Yeah. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:31.360 How many book ideas or series ideas do you think we have come up with on road trips alone over the years? 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:37.039 I mean, I think on road

trips it's gotta be at least a dozen, if not more. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:52.320 It might be a couple dozen because there are so many that are currently sitting in notebooks where we've sketched out, you know, like a pretty decent 10 to 12 page outline for a story or a series that I have not yet had time to write. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:54.240 And I do think there's something about that too. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:55.840 There's something about movement for me. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:01.759 I think that's why ideas tend to happen when I'm out for a walk, when I'm swimming, when I'm on a road trip, when I'm driving. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:06.399 Like, yeah, there's something about like the creative energy flowing that way. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.720 But we don't come up with all the ideas. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.320 We do not come up with all the ideas. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:15.679 It's true. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.320 Let's talk about that. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.399 Tell me, what does that mean? 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:40.879 Well, that means that a lot of people that we know, which another way you could say it is literally everyone we know that's right, volunteers ideas all the time, all the time, and some of them are really good, some of them are out there. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:57.279 I know it's a mix, and the thing that I will say about the darlings in particular, and this really surprised me when I first started writing, I'm used to it now, but at least a few times a week I will get email from you, darlings, with murder suggestions. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.440 And I gotta tell you, you're scary. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:12.720 Yeah, I you know, it is funny the number of people over the years who have come up to you and said, Oh, Ellie, I have the best idea for you as to how to kill someone and get away with it. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:26.879 And I'm thinking, there are a lot of people out there thinking about murder all the time, and like putting a lot of energy into those plans, which is a little concerning. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.080 Some of you might need to scrub your browser histories. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:31.039 That's all I'm saying. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:32.240 That's all you're saying. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.080 Just a word of caution. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:34.960 No, it's so great. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.799 I do think there's something collective about that that's so fun. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:39.440 And it's true. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:50.879 I mean, it's like I I remember one of the very first talks that I did when I came down to the Rogue Valley was at a big retirement community in Medford. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.759 Um, and it was so sweet because I had a line out the door. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:14.240 I thought for people wanting to have me sign books at the end of my talk, but no, everybody came and there were multiple sweet little um men and women, you know, like in their 90s and up that were like, I wrote a note for you, Ellie, about a way that you should kill someone here. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:19.120 So it's always just too like yeah, you wonder. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:25.600 I I don't know, living in a retirement community, there might be like I I think tensions can get a little hot sometimes, right? 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.440 There's some built-in drama and those sweet little grandmas, watch out. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.639 They they're taking notes. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:35.440 They they too have stacks of ideas, and they're like, Oh, there's a mystery writer in town. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.679 I'm gonna hook her up, which is really fun. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:52.399 Like, I love hearing ideas from readers uh because it does there's something just fun about the idea of oh, you finished one of my books, and now you're like, hmm, let me tell you, I've got an X I want you to off. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.360 Well, and and and that's a good point. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:01.679 And I want to make sure that like we we're joking, you know, that like we love hearing the ideas. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:07.440 And that leads me into the next point that there are no bad ideas. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:27.600 Um, there, you know, even an idea that might not work at the time is something that could be reworked or might, after it marinates, might become something that that is is uh uh an idea for a book or or you know can be worked into the plot of an existing story later on, right? 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.840 So you want to keep track of those as well. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:40.320 Yeah, this is something I talk about all the time when I'm coaching new writers, is there are no bad ideas, especially when you're in an early brainstorming creative flow like that. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.240 Every idea gets written down. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:47.039 Even if at the moment that it comes out, you're like, oh, I don't know, what am I gonna do with that? 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.679 And we're gonna do like, I can't think of something. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.600 We're gonna murder someone with pickles. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:52.799 Are we? 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:59.600 I well, okay, let's write that down because maybe the pickles then have been brined in some kind of poison. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:01.120 So actually, this is a great idea. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.120 I should write this down right now. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:17.600 A low bake shop, Jules is gonna make some kind of like delicious uh potato salad, and someone's gonna end up dead after they've sampled the potato salad because the killer snuck in and put poison in the brine. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:26.559 And now we also have no idea like what was the motive, not the motive, what was the method of murder? 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:34.639 So yeah, I mean, you just you never want to discard an idea because it could lead you somewhere fantastic. 00:14:34.639 -->

00:14:37.200 It could lead you nowhere, believe me. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:41.679 I have so many dead ends and then thoughts that were like, oh, that could be really cool. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:51.679 And then once you explore it a little further and you try to build a sketch or a plot around it, you realize, like, oh, that doesn't really have legs. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:56.639 But again, then there have been ideas where I think that initially. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:05.039 And one example of this is the Meg Reed Return, A Cozy Kind of Christmas, which came out last year. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:09.840 We had sketched out this plot for another murder mystery. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.399 That was my very first mystery series. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:20.960 Meg, she's this bumbling journalist, if you're not familiar, darlings, who wants to be a New York Times investigative reporter but can't get a job. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.440 So she's writing for this extreme magazine. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:41.919 And we were in Bend for an event at Sun River Books, and we happened to be walking on the Deschutes, and we were like, oh my gosh, this would be a great way to force Meg to try her hand at surfing because there's this part of the river where you actually get to like practice surfing. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:48.720 They've created like a little rapids, although it seems a lot more intense than someone starting out, right? 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:52.000 It looks a little scary, honestly. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:59.120 Watching it, some of the some of the people practicing are very, very talented, and we've seen some epic wipeouts there too. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:08.480 Yeah, and it was one of those epic wipeouts where I was like, oh, okay, I can imagine that Meg now, it's been 10 years, and now she has this social media following. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:17.039 She's a huge sensation on TikTok, and somehow she gets convinced to try this surfing thing, and then there's a murder that occurs. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:22.720 So that had been sitting in a notebook for a while, and I was like, yeah, I don't really think it has legs. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:27.279 I'm not sure that like the timing's gonna work to bring Meg back. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:36.960 And then when my publisher was like, hey, we would love to re-release all of the original titles, and in doing so, we would love for you to write another book. 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:44.480 And I said, Well, gosh, you know, like I've had this idea for a while, but I'm not sure now that it's a murder. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:47.440 And so that evolved into this holiday rom-com. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.600 So I I had kind of written that idea off, and you just never know. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:17:03.519 But that that's another important point, I guess, is the impact of real-world events or or things that you come across and how that plays into ideas. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:10.799 So talk a little bit about that for writers and and how they should probably pay more attention. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:24.559 It it the act of coming up with ideas for books or plots or or or any elements of a story really involves kind of paying a little bit more attention to your surroundings and what's happening, right? 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:29.039 Yeah, which is another thing that I always love to do when I have some free time. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.960 And we were just traveling last week. 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:40.720 And so I would write in the mornings and then I would go find another spot in the afternoons and bring my idea notebook and just kind of people watch and pay attention. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:50.960 And I just think that's such a rich way to start to develop ideas and whether that's like layering in the background of a story. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:59.599 So, like if we're thinking about the bake shop mysteries, for example, for those, let's say we're in Ashland, I'm thinking about like what's happening in Ashland. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:01.920 So we were just there about a month ago. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:03.759 We obviously lived there for many years. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:05.440 Our son went all the way through school there. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:24.559 So, like every year in late October, there's this just like sweet, charming, wholesome small town homecoming parade where all of the kids at the school, all the different teams are making floats and they shut down Main Street and everybody like runs out from the businesses to watch and cheer them on. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:29.759 So I'm setting the next bake shop in late October, early November. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:38.319 And that's just gonna work in as sort of background color, but a way to really kind of like flesh out that world and bring in some real details. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:44.160 So then if you happen to be in Ashland in late October and it's homecoming, you're gonna be like, wait, the parade is real. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:50.319 I can go watch like the water polo team in their little pop-up pool on a flatbred truck. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:51.680 Like, that's so fun. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.000 Yeah, I love that parade. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.119 It's so much fun. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:00.720 What mistakes might new writers make when it comes to ideas? 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:01.920 Who okay? 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:10.640 Well, I think one of the first mistakes that a lot of new writers make is they get too attached to one idea. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:16.000 And so, or too attached to this has to be the idea. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:25.359 And what I've learned over the course of my writing career and writing almost 50 books now is that ideas do ebb and flow and change. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:42.960 And the more that you can lean into that and take the start of that idea, and then, like we've talked about, give it some time, see where it leads you, um, and not get so

locked in in this like singular focus of okay, I have this one idea. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.640 I am going to let's think. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:52.400 Let's say I'm gonna send someone to the moon and on their way there, they're gonna get murdered in space. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:53.920 Oh, you should write this book. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:56.240 I'll work on pickles, you work on this. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:56.480 Okay. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:57.839 Okay, got it. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:09.039 But then you get a quarter of the way into that book and you realize I don't know anything about how space travel works. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:10.160 What is gravity like? 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:11.440 How, how are they getting there? 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:12.480 Is this a sci-fi? 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:19.119 Like, you haven't done then any of the other work to help support where that idea leads. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:30.480 And specifically for a mystery, you need to do, especially for a first book, some serious plotting and planning in order to then let that idea run wild and flourish. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:36.000 Because then I think what happens is with new writers in particular, you have this great idea and it's true. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.000 It's like, oh my gosh, yeah, I want to read that book. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.400 Like, how does the murder occur in space? 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:41.599 All of those things. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.640 But you get, you know, past the first 20, 30 pages where you've got this fun, fresh idea. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:49.039 And then you're like, oh no, now what? 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:58.400 And so I think then what happens is a lot of writers just stop writing because it's like, oh, I had this fun idea, but now I don't know what to do with it. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:11.279 Um, and if you spend a little more time planning and mapping that out and having a true sense of where you're going, then you're much more likely to keep writing past the point of the idea being fun and new and shiny. 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:12.799 Uh, that makes sense. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:15.279 Um, do you want me to explain all that stuff right now? 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.279 How space travel and everything? 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:18.799 Because I can I can tell you all that. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:19.519 Okay, please. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.480 Yeah, we need to know. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.440 And how can like would it be a gunshot in space? 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:28.720 That's gonna kill the rest of the crew, like it would need to be a special kind of gun, but okay. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.119 Yeah. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:30.400 Yeah. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:32.319 Um we'll talk about this later. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:46.880 So I would say murdering somebody in space with a gun is a risky, risky maneuver because if the projectile were to go through the person and hit the exterior hole, you could kill yourself in the in the process. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:51.119 So just something to think about when it comes to murdering people in space. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:58.240 You know, if anybody, if you ever find yourself in that situation, just make sure you consider that before you try it. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.759 Or better yet, darling. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:01.599 Send us your ideas. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:02.160 Right. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.240 Right. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.279 Exactly. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:14.000 But see, this is kind of what can happen too, where it's like, oh, you we would have a fun conversation like this on a road trip where I'm like, oh my gosh, I should totally write that book. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:15.440 Like, we should write that together. 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:17.519 And then that idea sits for a while. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:25.839 It's like, oh, okay, that's a great idea, but that's gonna take a lot of work and research that I am maybe not perfectly prime for. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.400 But hopefully then that idea goes out there into the ether. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:31.119 And whoever is meant to tell that story tells it. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:52.000 And let me tell you, darlings, um, you've never been as uncomfortable as I have been driving a logging road in the backwoods of southern Oregon, sitting next to the murder mongress Ellie Alexander, and she just looks out the window and casually mentions, I could totally hide a body back here. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:52.720 Right. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:54.000 I'm like, what? 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.480 Like, oh great. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:57.200 Yeah. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.839 So yeah. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.880 Uh you just you just like look straight ahead and keep on going. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.119 You just look straight ahead and keep on going. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:37.759 Well, and to circle back to the whole like real world piece of that, uh, you know, if we're talking about adding back background color into a story like the Homecoming Parade or um for my novel detective series, which is loosely based on Phyloli or inspired by Phyloli, and everything that I write about, let's say, for a Christmas novel that is in the novel detective's world, would be based on us going and walking the beautiful grounds and seeing all the lights and touring the historic mansion. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:40.240 So there are all those layers that you can add in. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:45.119 But I do think there's a fine line, especially in writing cozy's. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:55.440 Now, this would not be true if you're writing a really like dark serial killer thriller or noir or anything that is like really like a modern mystery. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:09.759 But if we're talking cozy, there is a there's a firm line that I won't cross that is any sort of murder or crime that has occurred in real life, which makes me think about like driving the back roads

of Ashland, right? 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:16.480 Where there was this long-running story of this guy who had gone missing and was thought to have like disappeared in the woods. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:26.319 And I remember for many years, especially early on before we were living in Ashland, readers would come up to me at the end of a book talk and say, like, hey, like this case is still unsolved. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.680 You can see the posters around town. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:30.559 I'm like, oh gosh, no, like I don't I don't want to touch that. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:32.079 I don't want any of that energy. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:33.599 I'm not writing true crime. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:34.160 Yeah. 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:48.720 So that brings up another thing that I know that coaching clients and mystery series masterclass students of yours over the years have asked, and some have been concerned about, is, you know, the protection of their ideas. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:25:02.799 Like what worried about, you know, maybe people, other writers stealing their ideas or um, you know, their ideas showing up in the form of another book or maybe a TV show or something like that. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.519 Is that something that writers should be concerned about? 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.559 I mean, obviously, I can only speak for myself. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.279 And my philosophy on this is absolutely not. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:15.920 I don't think you need to worry and be like uber protective of your ideas. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:27.200 And I have lots of writer friends who are, and they're superstitious about not just new writers, but professional writers who have long-running careers that don't like to talk about what they're writing about, which again, I understand. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:44.960 So this is personal to me, but I just have this firm belief that what we bring to the table ourselves is our own unique voice, our lens, our lived experiences is what we breathe life into, then with every story. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:55.839 And if you think about the scope of all of literature and television and movies and plays, like the themes are the same, right? 00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:59.119 And even with a murder mystery, like the themes are the same. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:14.880 Even if somebody kills someone the exact same way, or if I have a friend who writes a baking mystery that is set in Louisiana, that's gonna feel very different than my series that's set in Ashland and coming from my worldview. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:29.519 So I don't think you need to spend a lot of energy in terms of being really anxious and spun up about like, oh, I've got to just like hold tight and clench on to this idea. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:33.759 I think I always use the garden hose analogy, right? 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:39.359 Where we want our creative energy to flow like the water through a garden hose. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:46.480 And when we start to like rest and get really anxious and everything, we're kinking it and we're shutting off that creative flow. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:50.319 So I I I'm fine with sharing ideas. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:57.359 I mean, we we already know from this podcast that there's gonna be a pickle murder and now there's gonna be a murder in space. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.400 So bring it on. 00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:00.400 A very cautious murder in space. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.480 A very cautious murder in space, yeah. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.240 Yeah, for sure. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:05.200 Okay. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:15.519 Uh any other idea-related writing tips that you want to pass along to the darlings out there before we wrap it up today. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:25.920 I think just embrace whatever ideas come in, write them down, write them down, write them down, write them down, because you will also forget them. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:27.119 I promise you that. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:36.960 Even like some of the best ideas, if I don't write them down within a few days or weeks, they just sort of vanish into the ether. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:40.000 We'll be like, oh no, we had an idea for something. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:40.960 What was that? 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:41.599 Yeah. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:42.559 Yeah. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:43.519 All right. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:47.519 Well, that about does it for this episode of Reality Writes. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:52.960 I'd love to hear from the darlings out there, especially writers with regard to ideas. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:59.920 Are you a pen and paper idea keeper or do you like to keep your ideas digitally? 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.599 Let us know in the comments. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:10.079 And also if you've got any other questions for Ellie about ideas and how to keep them and catalog them and et cetera, just let us know. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:14.480 Uh use the send us the message link and uh we will get back to you. 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:18.079 So with that, I will say until next time. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.839 Till next time.