Talking about birds on a wire: a guest post by @jarrettrush

Prelude Ramble by thea

I get asked it all the time; you do too, I imagine, if you’re a writer: “Where do you get your ideas?”

I dread that one almost as much as I dread the question about what my book is about. I still haven’t nailed that one yet. The truth for me is that I really don’t know.In a post on Jason McInytre’s blog, I told him that my approach to writing is one of discovery and that it’s always a pleasant surprise to find something I write holds up to the research. He seemed to ‘get it’, which leads me to believe that stories and ideas are out there in the ether somewhere, waiting to be pulled down and brought to life.

If you're lucky OIT is still on sale at Amazon for 99c

For instance, in One Insular Tahiti, I wanted to freefall write from a famous first line of a novel. I picked THE most famous first line I could think of: Moby Dick’s  “Call me Ishmael.” What ensued was a full novel about reincarnation and the idea that who we were can shape who we are.

Free Stuff:

Later, Jarrett Rush will guide you through a writing exercise, but first I’d like to mention

comment to enter the montly draw

that I’d like you to come back and tell us how it went. this month the gift for a lucky random commenter is Mel Comley’s Impeding

Justice. Simply comment on Writer Wednesdays and get entered into the monthly draw.

Need More Exercise?

If you don’t like this exercise or you still feel the need for some inspiration, The Writing Network (twitter ID @theladywrites) has a different one you can try. It’s just about getting creative and feeling inspired. Doesn’t matter to me whose exercise you do, just exercise.

And now without further Ado:

To get your engines revving, Jarrett Rush takes over the blog post

Buy Me from Smashwords

by Jarrett Rush.

I think most writers are interested in the creative process of others. I know I am. I like to read how someone’s latest masterpiece came about. How did it go from that nugget of an idea to a finished product? It’s the nugget that interests me the most. Where does it come from? How do we get ideas? Seriously, if you know, please leave a comment and tell me.

For me, my book, Chasing Filthy Lucre, is ultimately the result of lunch. Or really the walk back to my desk at my day job after lunch. My mom liked the movie “Bird on a Wire” when I was younger. For a reason I can’t explain, the title popped into my head while I was walking down the hall heading back to my office.  I let my mind spin the rest of the walk. I have to climb three flights of stairs and down a long hallway, so there was a little time. When I sat back down at my computer I banged out the following bit of dialogue.  (It was OK. I was still on my lunch break. )

“How long have you been on the wire?”

She was blonde, tall, and entirely fake. I could practically hear the servos fire when she batted her eyes.

She slid her long legs a bit closer and swirled her drink in her glass.

I grunted an answer and she asked me to repeat it.

“For as long as I can remember,” I said again and kept staring at our reflection in the mirror behind the bar.

“Oh, a lifer.”

“Practically.”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you are very mature for someone who has been riding for that long.”

A flub in her language database programming. “I don’t think you mean mature. I think you mean old. And, yes, I am.”

A soft chuckle. “I suppose I do. You’re old for a lifer.”

That was all I had. Interesting, or at least I thought so.  I wasn’t sure where it was going or even what it was all about, but I liked it. I emailed it to myself and added to it that night once I got home. It’s a story I haven’t done anything with and it sits half-finished on my hard drive. It wasn’t a fruitless effort, though. That story did give me the concept of data addiction and a network that people can plug their bodies directly into. It’s a concept I fleshed out with a writing prompt from my writers group.  That story became one that I loaded to Smashwords. (Get your free copy here:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31485)

And those two bits of creativity are what turned into Chasing Filthy Lucre and the New Eden Series of novellas I’m working on. The novellas didn’t come directly from those ideas, but the concepts that my mind spun out of the movie title “Bird on a Wire.”  I find that fascinating. Now if someone could just tell me how that title got there.

It’s Wednesday.  Thea likes to give writing prompts on Wednesday and all this talk about ideas has me curious. What would you all do with the title “Bird on a Wire?” Post your creation in the comments. Or put it on your blog and leave a link in the comments. I’ll come back next Monday and read what you wrote. My two favorites will get a free copy of Chasing Filthy Lucre.

Jarrett Rush lives in the Dallas area with his wife, Gina, and their chocolate Lab, Molly. His short fiction has also appeared at A Twist of Noir. His novella, Chasing Filthy Lucre, is available at Amazon ( http://tinyurl.com/43zg5rd ), Barnes and Noble ( http://tinyurl.com/3wqzm7a ), and other ebook retailers. He blogs at Jarrett Writes (http://jarrettwrites.blgospot.com).

BTW: by Thea

God in the Machine is free. totally free

my free short story God in the Machine available at feedbooks and Smashwords.

About Thea Atkinson

Thea Atkinson is a writer of character driven fiction.

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