Why, I’ve Got An Idea!
by Kevin Kilgarriff
“I can never come up with good story ideas.” “My life is boring.” “I don’t have an eye for a good story.”
These are just some of the statements you’re likely to hear from people that have decided to “become” a writer (I use that in quotes because if you write at all, for money or not, you are a writer). Often folks will decide, “Hey, I write well. Maybe I could get paid for it!,” but then find themselves not knowing what to write about! I’m here to tell you that ideas for stories, and even the inspiration that leads to a life in writing, can come from the most unexpected of places.
Five years ago my brother Pat committed suicide. He was thirty-years old and he was one of the greatest minds I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was as creative as they come. He loved to write. He wrote all of the time. I can remember sitting in church at my nephew’s baptism, and looking over at my brother to find him writing in his journal. He wasn’t the most religious of the bunch. That was certain.
I had always felt that I was a good writer – which is to say that I knew how to construct a sentence. But I would look at Pat and think “I could never do what he does! He writes creatively!” Then about a year and a half ago, a funny thing happened. As I sat on the train I thought about my brother, as I often do. I thought to myself, “What would I do if someone approached me here on the train with a package from Pat?” And with that, Brotherly Love was born. And I began to write. I wrote like I had never written before – with passion.
Brotherly Love quickly evolved from a passing thought on the train into a full length novel. Through my writing, I was able to bring my brother back to life, at least in my mind. I was also able to turn my Dad into a CIA Agent!
Then a funny thing happened. In between thoughts about the book, I’d start having all of these new, unrelated thoughts. It took me a while. But I soon realized that they were ideas! I was brainstorming!
I started keeping a running Word document of thoughts. Funny things I heard someone say. Stories I’d read. Conversations I’d had and heard. Things that my daughter had done that just had to be recorded somewhere (because I wasn’t quick enough with the camera). I became more observant. There were stories going on all around me and my mind was becoming better at noticing them, and creating them out of thin air. All of these thoughts were born out of my personal experiences. It seemed that my life wasn’t as boring as I once thought.
So I took all of these thoughts and wrote them all down in my Brainstorming file. Some of them were full-fledged ideas. Others were just random thoughts that I thought might turn into a story, or just add as a part of one. Not long ago, one of those thoughts turned into my first sale. It was a small step, but it showed me that I can be successful at this.
Now, a year and a half after it began, Brotherly Love is finished and I’m currently trying to get it published. I’ve seen the words “not for me” in print more times that I’d like to say. But I’m confident and undeterred. Well, today at least. It is discouraging. In fact it can be very discouraging! But I know that of the thousands of agents and publishing houses out there, someone will see it and think, “This is for me!”
I now write every day. I make sure that I’ve always got something with me to jot down ideas as they come to me. If a pen and paper aren’t feasible maybe you can keep a small handheld digital voice recorder. Write what you see. Write what you feel. Once you start, the words will flow like lightening from your fingertips. From that point on, Persistence and Patience is the name of the game. Someone will have an ear for what you have to say. Sometimes it just takes longer to find that ear.
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Kevin Kilgarriff is a writer and Recruitment Advertising Account Executive. He’s been writing forever (Yes, since the beginning of time!), but didn’t choose to share his work until mid-2004. A virtual novice in terms of writing professionally, his goal at Writers Remember is to share his experiences with other writers, and to hopefully help them through the trying times that a writer can encounter.
Recently Kevin started his own freelance writing business, Londontown Writing Services.
He blogs at Aspiring Adult and enjoys reading and writing in a variety of genres. His childish jokes are unrivaled and his vast collection of useless information, which he swears will one day be fully utilized, continues to grow exponentially.
Kevin lives in Warrington, PA, just outside of Philadelphia, with his wife and their 2 year old daughter.
