How the magic happens

Or: Where my story ideas come from

Writing feels like magic to me. Some authors won’t write the words “Chapter One” until they have a fully fleshed-out outline. Me? I love a blank page.

I’ll get an idea. Maybe I heard an interesting radio segment. Maybe an episode of NCIS got my creative juices going.

For example, these ideas might seem to have nothing in common:

• CSI New York had an episode where someone had BIID, Body Integrity Identity Disorder. He was convinced part of his own leg wasn’t his, and he went to horrific lengths to get rid of it.

• I saw a PBS Frontline episode about a town where the school board tried to introduce Intelligent Design as a competing theory to evolution in high school science classes.

• Driving along a two-lane highway in Maine, noticing all the small signs on the side of the road exhorting people to vote for town counselor or whatever, I wondered how the highway lawn mowing machines worked around them.

• I had recently learned a little something about power animals.

Even though these topics appeared in my life at different times, I wrote the words “Chapter One” and eventually published The Evolution of Ethan Poe.

Another time there were different inspirations:

• I heard a radio segment about synesthesia.

• The Scripps National Spelling Bee caught my attention.

• The question of transgender was beginning to bubble up in a big way.

• I was fascinated by what I was hearing about the cultural phenomenon, Straight Edge.

Even though these topics appeared in my life at different times, I wrote the words “Chapter One” and eventually published Educating Simon.

When I wrote “Chapter One” for Thinking Straight, all I knew was that a gay fifteen-year-old named Zack Stark was being sent by his Christian Evangelical parents to an “ex-gay” camp for the summer. I made some quick decisions about my main character:

• His name was Taylor Adams.

• He was sixteen, gay but not out (though he had a boyfriend).

• His parents were seriously Christian, and Taylor considered himself Christian as well.

• His “ex-gay” camp would be modeled after Zack’s. (Zack had posted a copy of the counselors’ handbook, and I grabbed it.)

I wrote the words “Chapter One” and started writing.

Sometimes I have to ask my characters for help. At one point, about two-thirds of the way through Thinking Straight, everything seemed to grind to a halt. I sat back in my chair and stared at the laptop screen. Then I said (silently), “Taylor? What’s happening? Did I go wrong someplace?” It felt like he took my hand and led me back to a scene in the previous chapter. “Here,” he said. “This is wrong. Charles and I stay roommates.” I deleted everything I’d written after that point, and the story took off running.

Don’t let anyone else tell you what your process should be.

I once had someone who was an excellent writer tell me that having a detailed story outline before starting the story was non-negotiable. That worked for her. But it was the worst advice she could have given me. I’ve found that the more detailed my thoughts are about a story, the harder it is for me to write it. I think that’s because my characters are telling the story; I’m just the medium. What happens as they begin to interact with each other is often a surprise to me.

Here’s some advice for writers struggling to become authors:

• Discover your voice (something you can do only by writing).

• Figure out your process (something you can do only be writing).

• Don’t let anyone else tell you what your process should be.

• Write.

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I’m an inveterate observer of human nature, writing novels about all kinds of people, some of whom happen to be gay or transgender or bisexual or intersex—people whose destinies are not determined solely by their sexual orientation or gender identity. Check out my work on my website.