On Influences and Inspirations

by Karole Cozzo

Summer 2017 finds me with a manuscript at the copy edit stage, which means I’m this close to feeling like the project is officially put to bed (woo hoo!). And we all know what that means — the writer’s mind immediately starts churning away, wondering “what’s next?”

In thinking about what influences the direction of my stories, I’ve narrowed it down to four categories: personal experiences, professional experiences, imagination, and what I’ll call “the reading/publishing world at large.” I suppose all of my books have been impacted by each of these categories to varying extents.

Personal experiences. Certainly, my personal experiences and relationships have revealed themselves in stories at times. Characters will inevitably come to resemble people I’ve known or engage in behavior patterns I’ve observed from them. It turns out I’m a pretty kind author, and characters have tended to embody positive characteristics of my friends rather than anything else!

Professional Experiences. My work as a school psychologist has definitely impacted the topics and themes in my books. My first two novels, which dealt with topics such as life with autism, cyberbullying, and living with physical disabilities, came about after spending my days working at a school for students with severe autism and later, an area high school.

Imagination. My third novel, about a theme park princess… well, that was all a play of my imagination. I’m a seasoned Disney park-goer, but since copyright prevented the story from actually being set at Disney, I had a ton of fun dreaming up what a “Disneyesque” park would be like, embellishing, putting my own twists on classic concepts.

Readers/Publishers. And every time I’ve sat down to tackle a new project, I’ve certainly given thought to what people want right now. What are people going nuts over on social media? What’s showing up with that #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) hashtag? Certainly, I believe it’s important and critical to stay true to your personal motivation and passion when considering projects, but it’s impossible to completely avoid the fear that you’re writing a story few people may have interest in reading if you don’t consider the pulse of the YA community.

So talk to me in the comments…

What influences you in selecting writing projects?

Have you ever successfully translated someone else’s idea or request into a project that was all your own?

How important is it to address the wants and needs of the reading community compared to writing what you want to write? What are the dangers in paying too much attention to “what’s hot”?

If you broke it down, what percentages would you assign to the above-mentioned factors as influencing you?