Mama Needs A Book Contract: Where do you get your ideas?

Showing posts with label Where do you get your ideas?. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Where do you get your ideas?. Show all posts

Saturday, December 15, 2007

A Clean Idea

Posted by Carolyn Erickson at 9:35 AM

I was just reading an article by Jodi Webb (over at Kristen King's "Notes in the Margin" newsletter) about where she finds ideas for her articles.

She makes some great points, but I had to quit reading the article because I suddenly got the idea for this post.

My ideas come to me in the shower.

It may be the result of being quietly, blissfully alone (finally!), or it could just be the inevitable consequence of being somewhere without a pen handy, but I know for certain I'm not the only Mama who has solved a problem, found a great title, come up with one more bullet-point or decided how to organize globs of information so it flows coherently while the lather streams down.

(And that was a very LONG sentence! :D)

Here's what I want to know, specifically: Do YOU get ideas in the shower? Think of it as an informal poll. Even if you're not a writer, I would like to know just how many of us find the process of lather, rinse, repeat so inspiring, and WHY?

One thing is certain. Whenever I'm working on a particularly difficult assignment, I get sqeaky clean!

What about you?

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

We are a group of writing mothers who have come together to write about being writing mothers! There's no age limit, no required number of kids and no one way to be a writing mother, please join in the discussion!

Beware... no topic is OT.

Queries? Check
Poop? Check.
Time management? Check.
Boob talk? Check.
Pregnancy? Check.
Internal and External Editor problems? Check.

So *exactly* who are we?

Heather Cook is a mother, writer and sales manager (in her Day Job) writing from Calgary, Alberta. She has two non-fiction books due out in Spring and Summer 2009. Cook focuses on writing articles and books about horses and parenting. Because, uh, those are related, right?

Carolyn Erickson is a freelance writer, working from her home in Wichita, Kansas. (No, it isn’t all cows and wheat. We have sculptures, and tech companies and famous entrepreneurs. Yes, it is hot, but it’s a dry heat.) More importantly, Carolyn is Mom to her first-grader, and step-mom (not wicked) to two grown sons. When she isn’t writing, she likes to join Yahoo Groups and talk about writing. (And she likes to think she’s funny, but it’s a dry funny.)

Dejah, is a freelance writer. Her work may be read in national technology media. She is the author of six (unpublished) novels and two (published) technical books.

D Kai Wilson is a 20 something writer that's just returned to university to sit a joint honours degree around raising two kids and writing several books.

Faten Abdallah is a "Jill of All Trades". Abdallah is a freelance writer and the mother of a preschooler. She also teaches an education course at a university and recently launched her copywriting and writing business.

Linda Sherwood is a freelance nonfiction writer. The mother of four children, ages 13, 12, 10 and 8, Linda just completed her master's degree in English composition. When she isn't writing, she teaches English composition and journalism at a community college.