Guest Post: Hannah Harrington

December 16, 2011 Heidi Uncategorized 0

Please welcome Hannah Harrington to the blog today! Hannah is the author of the recently released (in the US anyway!) Saving June. Today she has a post in where ideas come from as well as a chance to win a copy of Saving June or the grand prize… an iPod skinned with the cover of Saving June. Giveaway details after the post!

Where Ideas Come From

One of the most common questions any writer get is, “Where do your ideas come from?”

I suck at answering this question. That’s because there is no process—it just… happens. Sometimes the idea for the plot comes first and the characters second. Sometimes a character is fully-formed in my mind and just waiting for me to find something to do with him or her. Sometimes a single line of dialogue pops into my head, and I start writing from there with nothing concrete in mind until I stumble upon a hook.

I realize that’s a tremendously unhelpful answer for aspiring authors out there, but that’s just how it goes!

It’d be nice if there was a place you could go to find ideas, like an idea store, or maybe a tree where you could pick them off of branches like apples, but unfortunately that’s not how it works. Ideas can come from everywhere around us—our own life experiences, random dreams, overheard conversations, questions of “what if”, thinking about the world as we see it or how we wish it would be. The list goes on and on.

I’ve been asked a lot about the inspiration behind Saving June. The truth is there were a lot of factors leading to me writing this story. Some of it does come from personal experiences; I did experience loss as a teenager, hung out with anarchists and participated in political protests, and I’ve gone on plenty of road trips. Music is a driving force behind the story too, and certainly had its influence. I could probably list a hundred different songs I listened to while I was writing the book. Expressing what music meant to me as a teenager definitely shaped the story in the early stages.

But more than anything, what led me to writing Saving June was the feeling that I had a story to tell. The idea—a girl fulfilling her deceased sister’s last wishes via a cross-country road trip—really just provided the framework for everything else I wanted to say. And that’s a lot of what writing is: relaying a story that only you can tell, because everyone’s perspective is unique, everyone has something to bring to the table that no one else does. Ideas are necessary, obviously, but they’re only the first step. What’s most important is figuring out what exactly you want to say and saying it in a way that only you can.

Thanks so much Hannah! Although I’m not a writer I am always interested in what inspires people to write! Keep reading to learn how to enter the giveaways…

About Saving June – goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Indiebound
If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.

When Harper Scott’s older sister, June, takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split up her sister’s ashes, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the urn and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going—California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession…and an unknown connection to June. So when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs. Except…Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down—again.

About Hannah Harrington – website, Twitter, Goodreads
Hannah Harrington resides in Michigan with one dog and too many cats. When she isn’t busy writing like a crazy person, she enjoys arguing about politics, watching documentaries, playing guitar (very badly) and speaking about herself in the third person.

The Giveaways!!!!