In a few weeks I'll be unveiling both my new website and the first episode of "The Word Count" Podcast. I'll be talking about the genesis of The Prodigal's Foole and other projects I've been working on, as well as interviewing a few authors who share some pretty deep insights into their own works and the ideas behind them.But I'd also like to add comments to the podcast from the blog. Snippets from other readers/writers and industry folks, if you will. Click on the comment section below to share your story ideas and the thoughts behind them. Please make sure you include your name, whether or not you'd like to be mentioned and the where the seeds of your idea for your Works In Progress (WIPs) came from.
I'd love to hear and share your stories...and feel free to post your blog site, website or other ways the world can read more about you.
I'll be waiting!
9 comments:
Hi, RB, my family is from Mass. I was just there visiting my uncle in Boston. He lives in a new building by the Garden.
Anyway, I was inspired by a book, The Beautiful Libraries in the World, to write my new WIP. When I went to the Boston Athenaeum it confirmed that my story should be set within the libraries of the world.
This icy January, I came off my bike and broke my shoulder. Unable to cycle or drive, I walked to and from my workshop. As I walked, I wondered what it would be like to be alone in a freezing London with no identity; no home, money, access to friends or family, with the authorities hunting you. I noticed all the things Londoners throw away on the streets, and trespassed in an abandoned, half-built block of flats.
That's where I got the idea for An Unofficial Girl.
Majority of times, my ideas come from dreams I've had. One of my current WIPs was based off of a dream about a house on fire and a girl screaming inside of it. I didn't like the dream but the novel is turning out very well.
I got hooked on the woman I'm writing a screenplay about in grad school. (Thankfully she was a great poet, because I was determined to write about her work anyway!) Mary Robinson was famous for being famous, or shall we say, infamous. Which is what makes her so fun. Deep down, despite my very best efforts, I'm still a rule-following good girl at heart.
Writing about a woman who did breech parts when women were hiding their legs--and everything else--in public, a woman who tried to blackmail the Prince Regent when he refused to pay her the settlement he promised after ending their affair, is wish-fulfillment territory. And a lot less exhausting than trying to pull a full Lohan at my advanced age.
Most of mine come out of thin air and make no sense. Only one of them was a direct result from something I lived with. My father developed Alopecia Universalis when he was in his late thirties. He lost all his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. Growing up, I often contemplated what it would be like not to have hair. And that prompted me to write a book where the MC has Alopecia. It is called Bare and I am in the process of writing it.
I build my first drafts as scenes, taking interesting places and situations and throwing my characters into them. For instance, with my novel Rogue's Curse, I threw my protagonist into a sex sting similar to "To Catch a Predator." Other scenes involved how Alcatraz island might be utilized 2000 years from now, and several other "What Ifs?" Plot cohesion comes later (as does the murder of most of these darlings for the sake of plot and pacing), but the building blocks of the story are built on scattershot scenes of "What ifs" or "Wouldn't it be cool if my horrible monster...?" questions.
Often I find a story or a novel is not just one idea but a collection of ideas. Often a news story will trigger a thought that becomes a sub-plot for a character. I have had news stories churn until a complete short story emerges. I've also had ideas that begin in dreams, posing a question that it takes an entire narrative to answer.
My stories are based on love, the first three drew from some personal experience but the new one is based on one of my favourite songs of all time - Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits. I recently heard a new version of it by Lisa Mitchell and it gave me a great idea for my new book.
Dreams, mostly, day or night. Sometimes I'll wake up with an idea for a scene, and then I'll daydream the rest of it until I get an idea of my characters and where I want to to with it. Also, I have MS and have recurring problems with dizziness and vertigo. When that happens, all I can do is lie in bed and daydream. I come up with a lot of crazy stories that way.
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