Idea Factory: Where My Ideas Come From

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

I feel like people always ask writers: Where do you get your ideas?

More often than not, the answer is everywhere.

It’s the same for me.

I get ideas from song lyrics, conversations, the radio, dreams, daydreams, Wikipedia, real-life events, funny things my co-workers say, freewriting, scents and smells, prompts, answers to the (many) questions I ask on Facebook, people I meet, Pinterest, memories from high school, websites I visit on accident, websites I visit on purpose, Tumblr, photographs and images, pretty dresses, cute things my favorite kiddos say, Quora, novels, memoirs, poems, books of quotations, books of symbols, books of trivia, books of anecdotes, books of mythology, instruction manuals, online journals, art, antiques, trees, weather, arguments, and on and on and on.

I usually start with an idea and a handful of characters. Truest started because of a Wikipedia article I stumbled upon years ago about a topic that continued to fascinate and haunt me until I decided to write about it. The next novel that I’m working on was sparked by a tiny entry in the Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were. The novel after that? Inspired by a website I love and the what if thought that popped into my head one day while visiting it.

Of course, the characters make the story, so once I have an idea– even just the tiniest wisp of one– I have to start assembling the cast. I start actually by looking for pictures– I scour Pinterest, Tumblr, & We Heart It until a picture hits me and I know that’s my character. I know a lot of authors despise character surveys and think they’re a waste of time– and I actually can agree that’s true for most surveys (this is not the time to worry about my character’s favorite color)– but I have two that I just love and always, always use. The first set of questions comes from Gotham Writers’ Workshop. The second set are from this Yingle Yangle post. When I finish answering those questions about my main characters, I am usually brimming with ideas and feel like I know tons more about them.

There’s lots of research involved. I end up requesting a boatload of books from my public library and from the university libraries in the Twin Cities. I read like a maniac– both on paper and online– about all the various elements that I think are going to matter to my book (some of those things will not survive the cut, of course, but knowledge is knowledge and I love learning!).

Research and drafting will mostly happen simultaneously, and the entire time, I will keep getting ideas from everything in my world, jotting them down, and turning them into scenes.

Inspiration and ideas are all around us, and if you have your eyes and ears– and heart– open, you can’t help but marvel.

Image credit: Andres Nieto Porras

Read These 10 Novels and We Can Be Friends

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

I break out in a cold sweat when I try to define my top 10 novels, so I’m not going to give these that label … but such a list would be pretty darn close!

I consider myself a strong curator, and I am telling you that you just absolutely cannot go wrong with these ten. These books are ones I will always, always suggest– and I will always, always want to talk about them too. And I will always, always wish I wrote them.

So, what are you waiting for? I challenge you to systematically read these ten novels, let them work you over and change your life, and then let’s talk.

Noticeably absent: the Harry Potter series (because if I were to choose just one, I would choose #7 Deathly Hallows, but I would also never recommend that one read it without reading the rest of the series); The Last Battle and the rest of the Narnia books (because, again, I chose just one, and I think it’s the best story of the seven, though The Last Battle has possibly/probably been more important to me). See, this is what happens when I force myself to make such list. Caveats! Caveats, I tell you!

Not a Therapist, Just a Resource

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

It’s true: I know a fair amount about OCD. I experienced it for 20 years, I successfully went through ERP therapy, I wrote an (unpublished) novel about a character who struggled from it, I am part of the leadership team for OCD Twin Cities, and I blog about it regularly.

But I’m not a therapist.

I’m only a resource. I can tell others what I know, what I’ve experienced, what to look for in an ERP therapist, what books might be helpful, etc. But I cannot walk them, hand-in-hand, through exposure therapy. I have to remind others AND MYSELF of this. Often.

To those of you who blog about OCD and ERP, do you have this same problem? How do you handle it?

For (lots!) more about OCD and ERP, go to jackieleasommers.com/OCD.

Image credit: Unsplash

Healing This Way

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

I’ve heard from several people that healing and recovery have not looked or felt the way they had imagined. I know this was true for me too. This is a poem I wrote about the dissonance:

HEALING THIS WAY

seems so vague and transient and distracted,
as if you could catch it chewing its nails
or sitting exhausted on the winner’s podium,
weary legs dangling before the number one.
Where is the magical trip across a definitive line,
the diploma, signed and dated and official,
the raw victory cry from the top of a mountain?
I had always dreamed that rescue would be shiny,
but a dull dime is still worth ten cents.

For (lots!) more about OCD and ERP, go to jackieleasommers.com/OCD.

Image credit: Kevin Dooley

Jackie’s Team

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

Back in January, I met for life and writing advice with my college writing instructor, the brilliant and beautiful Judy Hougen. Although I didn’t blog about it at the time, one of the things she encouraged me to do was to pull together a team of people who would support and encourage me during the crazy rollercoaster publishing journey.

I did that.

I have a hidden group on Facebook with carefully selected members, and they are absolutely my team. These people (who span five states and two countries) hear my prayer requests, calm my extreme panic, celebrate my victories, help me process decisions, dialogue with me when I get stumped while writing. They do it all.

I can’t tell you how much my team means to me and to my sanity. Yes, of course, I had/have each of them individually, but to cull them all together into one secret platform where I can vent and complain and cry and fear and rejoice has been unbelievable. They have allowed me to be completely unmasked and vulnerable with them so that I can maintain my composure in front of the rest of the world.

This post goes out to the members of my team. Thank you, all of you, for everything.

Image credit: Dawn (Willis) Manser

Words like Spears

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

Being a 32-year-old writer is complicated.

I am learning to master language (though I am far, far from mastery, to be clear), and I know how to wield words: I honor people with my words and I hurt people with them too.

At 32, I have more grace for others than at any other point in my history. But I am also the freest I have ever been, and so I exercise sharing my voice more than ever before.

Let’s just say that all of these factors mean that I have a lot of weapons on me and also a lot of cure. I am still so far from knowing how to use these resources rightly.

Image credit: Unsplash

Being Single & Writing a Book

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

People manage it every day: romance and writing.

I have no idea how.

I really don’t think that I’d have a completed book and a book deal if I were dating someone (or married, for that matter). I can barely juggle my relationships with friends and family, working a full-time job, and finding time to write all at once. I feel like if I suddenly had a sweet, hilarious, dorky, godly man (because that is the kind I’d want) in my life, my barely-there time management would utterly crumble.

Maybe not. What do I know?

The single years. Sometimes it feels like there have been too many; they are getting stacked upon each other so precariously that the tower is ready to topple. I think I will live if it does (though I’m not always sure). I am creating something beautiful in the next room over.

On a related note, have I ever told you to Date a Girl Who Writes*?

*if you’re sweet, hilarious, dorky, and godly

Image credit: Ben Raynal (top), Dmitry Ryzhkov (middle), Andrada Radu (bottom), stitched together and modified by me

Sweet Freedom

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

Alison Dotson, president of OCD Twin Cities, and I were emailing recently about how sometimes we feel as if we say the same thing post after post, article after article, especially since they usually involve our own stories with OCD, and history doesn’t change.

But I reminded her that even if we’ve heard our stories over and over, someone else might be hearing it for the first time. Not to mention that sometimes those of us with OCD need to hear the truth multiple times before it is finally able to sink into our heads and hearts.

So here it is again:

I was in bondage to obsessive-compulsive disorder for twenty hellish years. I was plagued by ugly, intrusive thoughts that caused me intense anxiety and even terror. Many days I felt completely out of control of my own thoughts, and I hated the ugliness that polluted my mind. I was sad, lonely, depressed, lost, engaged in an ongoing war where the battlefield was my own brain.

And then an amazing psychiatrist named Dr. Suck Won Kim gave me not only a prescription but also the phone number to a cognitive-behavioral therapist in the area, along with the warning that ERP therapy “will be hell” and the encouragement that I had to do it anyway.

And I did. For twelve grueling weeks, I practiced the exposure therapy assignments set out by Dr. Christopher Donahue, and after twelve weeks of hell … I was free. Free for the first time since I was seven years old. I could barely even remember what freedom felt like, what it felt like to be master of my own thoughts, to rule over my OCD instead of having it rule me, and so it was actually a little scary at first.

But let me tell you: you get used to freedom, joy, and light pretty darn fast.

The last five years have been magnificent.

Please, please ask me questions if you have them.

For (lots!) more about OCD and ERP, go to jackieleasommers.com/OCD

Image credit: Jesus Solana

Who is Jackie Lea?: My Friends Share

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

So, the last survey I took of my blog readers said that you wanted more of me, and while that’s quite flattering, it can sometimes be a little weird to always be writing about myself. So, for this post, I asked three of my best friends a few questions about me and let them answer! I failed to factor in that my friends are the best, sweetest, most generous friends ever, so in the end, this blog post looks like a great big attempt at fishing for compliments (I promise it wasn’t!). Their kind words are such a reflection of how great they are!

First, the cast of characters:

me and Des at her wedding!

me and Ash!

Eir and me! (throwback– Eir, we need some new pics!)

How did we meet, and what was your first impression of me (be honest!)?
Des: We met at Northwestern. You asked my boyfriend at that time to be in charge of a South Dakota club for prospective students, but he didn’t want to and told you to ask me. I said I would do it, and we started talking about South Dakota club and lots of other things! My first impression of you was actually from the emails you sent as my admissions counselor. You seemed super outgoing and friendly, and I liked your love for camp. I was excited to meet you, even though I never wrote you back!

Ashley: We met at Pine Haven camp when I was in tenth (?) grade. You were already super close with my favorites from doing faculty with them at a different week. I was jealous of how much they adored you already.

Erica: I met Jackie at our summer camp when I was in high school. My first impression of her was that she was really funny and that I wanted to hang out with her more. She told funnier stories than anyone I had ever met!

How did we become friends?
Des: While planning for South Dakota club, we talked about almost everything else over coffee dates and eventually we decided we should live together (which is a good story).

Ashley: I think the moment I realized how great you were was when you were telling stories at Sno Feast (a youth get together). My side hurt from laughing so much and I just kept thinking, “why didn’t I get to know her sooner?” It was such a fun weekend and definitely laid the ground work for you to continue to make me laugh non stop.

Erica: Jack and I really became friends that fall after we met at camp when we attended a retreat. I think our main connection was that we both lived in the Twin Cities, since all of our other friends lived elsewhere. We decided we should hang out, and there began our friendship through getting dinner together and chatting online pretty much every night!

What’s your favorite memory of ours?
Des: Funny: Laying on the floor napping at a youth group retreat, and the girls come in. “You guys are the lamest youth leaders ever, except for [redacted].” You respond, “Well at least we’re not the lamest.” And then we continued to laugh about several inside jokes!

Serious: Watching God save you from OCD over the years. There were so many times that I would just think, “Why in the world, God?” but he has turned it into an amazing testimony that you can share! He is using the redemption of your brokenness as a gift to others, and it has been a privilege to experience that with you.

Ashley: I don’t know that I can pick just one. Truthfully, my favorite memories are simple. Sitting around while you entertain us with stories is always a favorite.

Erica: I feel so lucky that I have so many favorite memories with Jackie! I will choose 2. First would be when we returned to camp together the following summers and we would set aside one afternoon to go on a canoe ride together and talk about EVERYTHING (mostly about boys and God). There was one canoe ride where the wind was so strong we barely made it back to shore! My other favorite memory is when Jackie came to visit me my first year in college in Chicago. We sat in my dorm lounge one night and laughed, cried, and prayed…we missed each other so much! Basically, neither of these are unique events, but the best part of our friendship is that we enjoy each other no matter what we’re doing!

When you and I get together, we are most likely doing what?
Des: Reading, working, chatting over coffee or a meal, catching up about life, talking about the silly things my students doing, watching SNL, watching Harry Potter, watching a Disney Channel Original Movie

Ashley: Probably getting coffee or supper and rehashing everything that has happened. We vary from topic from anything funny to the deepest pits of our souls. Whether we’re sobbing or laughing, it’s always real and honest topics.

Erica: Eating dinner and watching TV shows like true spinsters.

What’s one thing you think my blog readers should know about me?
Des: You care deeply for people and about truth. I think it shows in your many passionate posts, but it really is true of you as a person!

Ashley: Jack has one of THE best hearts of anyone that I know. Jackie loves Jesus first, and friends second. I’m so thankful to be in the second category. I went through a really rough year and Jack let me sob and be broken and yell. She was in the midst of everything with me. You will not find a better friend than my dear Jackie Lea.

Erica:

One thing that is really beautiful about Jackie is that she is so good to people. She always looks out for the kid that’s an outsider, she calls my mom on Mother’s Day, and she’s so generous. I remember when I first started getting to know her she would say, “I just LOVE people!” I think she’s definitely rubbed off on me in that way and I’m so thankful. Also, I think the blog world should know about Jackie’s stubs. 😉 [Note from Jackie: did you all know that I’m missing two of my fingertips and six of my toes? It’s true.]

Why do you think our friendship works so well?
Des: We are opposite in lots of ways but we love so many of the same things—Jesus, teens, good boy stories, little children, reading, teenie-bopper music and movies—just to name a few.

Ashley: Our foundation is in Christ, which means that it is already at a deeper level than other friends. We have the understanding that each is a safe person for the other. I can confess the terrible things that I am doing or thinking about. Which is received in love and usually a gentle reminder that I need to shape up. We both have the understanding that this friendship is permanent and that we are support systems for each other.

Erica: We find the same things funny. We like and care about many of the same things. We can be completely ridiculous and completely serious, all at the same time. I think we’re the kind of friends that can share the most random detail of our day or our deepest hurt with each other and know that the other will respond with equal care or interest to both.

Well, my blog readers, do you feel like you know me a little bit better now?

THINGS WILL NEVER BE OKAY AGAIN [& other lies I sometimes still believe]

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Jackie Lea Sommers

It’s been about five years now since I underwent the Exposure and Response Prevention therapy that changed my whole life, and those five years have been amazing: I have so much freedom, so much joy.

But 20 years in slavery to OCD does leave behind some residue, and I’m only now beginning to recognize those areas of my life where that’s true.

One thing that I’m sure most OCD sufferers will understand is the obsessive thought that things will never be okay again, which sometimes has a tail of until I do X on it, so often resulting in a compulsion. It’s actually kind of hard to explain this feeling to someone who doesn’t have OCD because it’s difficult to express how in that moment, you can sometimes see no way out. The fear is crippling, the anxiety so intense that we shatter beneath it and either cave in to a compulsion to temporarily alleviate the ugliness of that moment or else fall into a stupor of depression.

Things will always be like this.
I will never feel comfortable again.
I’m going to always think of X now when Y happens.

It’s such a black and white way to look at things– and so terribly short-sighted! If we can learn to push through the discomfort without performing a compulsion, we are legitimately shocked on the other side when that “truth” we so adamantly believed 24 hours ago is no longer true.

Even though OCD is no longer my master, there is fallout from years stacked upon years of thinking this way.

Just the other week when I was writing in Duluth, I saw myself play through this entire scenario. I got frustrated with a scene I was trying to re-write, and I decided, I absolutely cannot do this; I will never be able to do this right. Then I succumbed to compulsive behavior (all without realizing it!) by emailing my editor and asking for more details. The next morning, I had an email from her: “Let’s talk this morning. We can find a solution. You should be comfortable and happy with what you write.”

And so we sent back and forth a few emails, and things were better. You know, those same things that would never be better. Yeah, those ones.

All this panic that I have been experiencing is because I feel like control is being taken away from me. What does a person with OCD hate the most? Uncertainty.

So, while in some ways this anxiety that I’ve been experiencing is quite different from my OCD (in fact, I would go so far as to say that it is not OCD; it does feel different), I guess I’d have to classify it as a repercussion or consequence of years of obsessive-compulsive thinking and behavior.

Now that I have recognized that, I am hopeful that I will be more mindful of that thinking. I want to be able to say to myself that my reaction is programmed behavior from years of reacting thus, and that– just like so many things connected to OCD– it too is a lie.

For (lots!) more about OCD and ERP, go to jackieleasommers.com/OCD.

Image credit: unknown

JACKIE LEA SOMMERS

Author & Advocate

Category Archives: real life