https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher en-us N/A nina@ninadavies.com Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:02:25 CST 20 https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/135/1/Designing-Your-Novels-Premise/Page1.html Where do you get your ideas? If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked this wrong-headed question. . . .

Ah, well.

When a non-writer asks me this question, basically, I just smile and lie, because the truth is more complicated, less magical, indeed, a good deal grubbier than most people who are just making conversation really care to hear. If you tell them that it’s work -- hard work -- they look at you like they suspect that you must be doing it wrong.

There seems to be a myth floating around out there that story ideas pop full-blown into our imaginations like Athena out of the head of Zeus. Sheee-yah.]]> no@spam.com (Gaelen Foley) https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/135/1/Designing-Your-Novels-Premise/Page1.html https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/131/1/Theme-Thoughts/Page1.html theme, in no particular order:]]> no@spam.com (Alicia Rasley) https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/131/1/Theme-Thoughts/Page1.html https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/16/1/Story-Flow/Page1.html Just recently, a writing friend, who, despite being an excellent writer, is having problems with her story's jerky feeling, asked me: "What do you mean by flow (big wail here!!!)?? I know how to recognize it in other people's writing, but I'm not sure what the specifics are. Is it a technique you can learn, or more a feely, intuitive thing?" ]]> no@spam.com (Melissa James) https://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/16/1/Story-Flow/Page1.html