Waar kry skrywers hulle idees vir stories vandaan?
Dis nogal ‘n moeilike vraag om te antwoord. Selfs Stephen King en Neil Gaiman reken dat hulle nie altyd presies weet waar hulle idees vandaan kom nie.
Die Vanderkloofdam loop oor, 2013. Height of the dam wall: 108m.
Die Oranjerivier aan die onderkant van die Vanderkloofdam./The Orange River below the Vanderkloof Dam.
108 m hoog/108 m high
Met my was dit tot dusver ‘n kombinasie van faktore. Kom ek probeer die proses betrokke by my debuurroman, Sweepslag, só uiteensit:
1) Ek was besig met ‘n avontuurverhaal oor diamantsmokkelary.
2) Terselfdertyd hoor ek ‘n nuusberig oor twee meisies van Bloemfontein (jonger as 14) wat ontvoer is nadat hulle ‘n saamrygeleentheid van ‘n vreemdeling aanvaar het.
3) Ons het saam met vriende by die Vanderkloofdam gaan hengel (my man en seuns is ywerige vlieghengelaars). Die dam was vol en al die sluise was oop. Dié foto’s het ek destyds daar geneem. Ons vriend het ons per motorboot na ‘n eiland in die middel van die dam geneem en daar is al die kinders oorboord om te swem. En dit op 80 m diep! (Gelukkig mét lewensreddingsbaadjies aan!) Dis ‘n kombinasie van hierdie gebeure wat tot die skryf van Sweepslag gelei het.
‘Melissa Burkley sê in Psychology Today dat stories in die skrywer se onderbewuste geskep word.
Dit maak beslis sin.
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So where do authors get their ideas for stories?
Difficult question. Even authors like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman reckon that they don’t always know where their stories come from.
With me (to date) it has been a combination of factors. Let’s look at my debut novel, Sweepslag:
1) I was busy with an adventure story about diamond smuggling.
2) During that time, I heard a radio report about two girls from Bloemfontein (both younger than 14) who were abducted after they had accepted a lift from a stranger.
3) Friends of ours invited us to go fish with them at the Vanderkloof Dam. (My husband and sons are keen fly fishermen). At the time, the dam was full and all the sluices were open. (I took these pics with a cell phone.) Somewhere close to an island in the dam, all the boys went overboard (with life jackets, thank heavens!) to swim. The Fish Finder indicated that the depth was 80 m.
It was a combination of these events that inspired the writing of ‘Sweepslag.’
Melissa Burkley in Psychology Today reckons that stories are created in the unconscious mind of the author.
It definitely makes sense to me!