Finding Inspiration Through Daily Life

For as long as I can remember, I enjoyed making up stories. I remember walking home from school, creating dialogue in my head between characters. Sometimes I’d hold these conversations between characters out loud. Fortunately, I didn’t encounter many people along the way. 

The creation of stories has always fascinated me. I remember reading about authors who had written 20, 30, or more books and being amazed. Even while writing my first book for Love Inspired Suspense, a very real fear plagued me. What if this book was it? What if it was a fluke and I never came up with another idea?

Then it happened. As I was nearing the end of the story, I fell in love with a secondary character, and the inspiration that became Interrupted Lullaby was born. The irony was that this character had originally been slated to be a bad guy. But sometimes the story doesn’t follow the plan. 

I frequently get asked where I get my ideas. They can come from anywhere. Presumed Guilty was born from a conversation. Guarding the Amish Midwife was born out of a dream. Often, experiences will spark a scene that will grow into a book. Plain Retribution was created after hearing a new release on the radio.

Plain Refuge, for example, was inspired by a white water rafting trip I took with my family. I was terrified, and came very close to falling out of the raft. Once the terror had faded, I could see a scene in my head where my heroine, who couldn’t swim, was forced onto a raft to flee the villain.

Sometimes the inspiration for a book is much more mundane. I find myself constantly asking myself, what if? Deadly Amish Reunion came to be because I was thinking about my heroine, who was a widow, and how her husband died. I started to think of all the various explanations I could until I said, “What if he didn’t really die?”

I have a long list of story ideas. Every time an idea strikes, I add it to the list. I also keep a file on my phone of pictures or interesting facts, just in case I need a story idea in the future. I also keep a small notebook with me to jot down ideas and phrases. Sometimes a single line of dialogue. Everywhere I go, I try to find one idea. Something intriguing that might fit in a story someday. 

In my newest book, Amish Cradle Conspiracy, I had met both my heroine and my hero in Amish Country Threats. I hadn’t planned on making them a couple, but somehow while writing Levi and Lilah’s story, hints of a romance budding between Jack and Nicole seeped in. By the time Amish Country Threats was done, I knew I’d have to give them a story. But what? 

I went back to asking questions. What could I throw at them to keep them apart? Why hadn’t their relationship worked out before? Every idea, I’d write down. I didn’t use all of them for this book, but that’s fine. I save all my ideas in a list. They might help me start another story bin the future. I also never throw away deleted scenes or rejected proposals. I might be able to use parts of them in the future.

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I’m giving away a copy of Amish Cradle Conspiracy to one commenter. Thanks for joining me today!

From USA TODAY bestselling author Dana R. Lynn.

To protect an Amish community…

She’ll make herself a target.

After a pregnant Amish woman and her toddler are abducted, police sergeant Nicole Dawson charges in to save them. But when the kidnapper escapes with the child—and thinks Nicole can identify him—she becomes his new obsession. Determined to protect his ex-fiancée, FBI special agent Jack Quinn joins the case. But the clock is ticking in their race to uncover the baby-trafficking ring before another innocent is taken…

Dana R. Lynn is an award winning author who believes in the power of God to touch people through stories. She grew up in Illinois. She met her husband at wedding and told her parents she had met her future husband. Nineteen months later, they were married. Today, they live in rural Pennsylvania and are entering the world of empty nesters. She is a teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing by day and writes stories of romance and danger at night. Find her at www.danarlynn.com.