Write Away

My ideas are mostly from other media. And a sense of exploration. I come at writing with this feeling of discovery. Even when I have things plotted out, there are things that surprise me when it comes time to actually write. So I take things that intrigue me from other pieces of media and I start asking questions that I feel like it would be fun to come up with some answers for. One of the stories I wrote started with me asking "is it possible for a society that practices human sacrifice to be sympathetic?" Another one started from me wanting to explore the idea of a Chosen One who ended up being rejected and how my character would react to that. Another time I was reading about psychopomps (guides to the underworld) and I asked myself what would happen if the one who was supposed to lead the soul to their final resting place decided they didn't like that person. My current project is looking at different attitudes toward killing and what makes one killing an evil murder and another one acceptable or even good.

I don't wait for ideas to come to me the way some people do. Sometimes they do find me on their own, but usually I'm actively trying to come up with ideas. I hoard ideas. I just like having them and looking at how many I have and enjoying dreaming about them.

Some people might think that I'm one of the people you mentioned who is inspired by social issues since I talk about representation a lot, but I don't often start out with those things in mind. I just start with different assumptions than the average person. In our society, the default person is a white straight man. My default main character is a queer woman who may be of any race. The plot doesn't come from that. That's just who she happens to be. I don't assume that there is a negligible percentage of disabled people and queer people and whatever other group isn't represented often. I look around me and see that these people exist so whenever a new character shows up in my planning, I go "okay, what if this person limps?" I don't assume that women will be subservient to men because there's a lower level of technology and it's therefore "realistic". There are lots of little assumptions that people make without even realizing that I try to acknowledge and exorcise.