During one of my one-on-ones, a writer who was moving from writing personal essays and nonfiction to her first fiction asked: When you’re writing fiction, how you figure out what to write about?It’s a great question, because theoretically, once you’re unmoored from reality, you could write about virtually anything.
I shared with the writer that my books always always always start from a personal place. My first suspense standalone, NEVER TELL A LIE, grew out of my feeling isolation as I waited to go into labor with my first child. COME AND FIND ME is about a woman whose world has imploded until it’s just her and the Internet.
My advice: Write from a personal place. Get out a mirror and figure out what you love/hate/care about. That’s your starting point.
What advice would you give?
RHYS BOWEN: One thing I always say when addressing beginning writers is never to write what you think will be popular or will sell well. For one thing by the time the book is published the IN thing will no longer be in. For another you have to spend many months with those characters and in that environment. You have to love being there, to look forward to sitting down at the computer every morning. I have to be excited to see what my characters will do next or my reader won’t be excited.
I always start from something that fascinates me or has touched me emotionally in some way: stories about Tuscany in WW2 that I learned about when I was there. Questions about my spinster aunt and her time in Venice. Lady Georgie was born because I wanted to create the
most unlikely sleuth and I wanted to have fun. Molly Murphy was born from an emotional visit to Ellis Island. You don’t feel compelled to write about something then don’t write about it!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Seconding what you and Rhys have said, Hallie. Books take a long time (I should know!) and you absolutely have to LOVE what you're writing. You write the book you want to read, not the book that someone says is trendy.
I started my Duncan and Gemma series partly because I loved British detective novels, and partly because I was missing England dreadfully and wanted to be there in my imagination. And I think you have to figure out what matters to you emotionally, because that's how you create characters who feel genuine.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Number one--you have to care. Find out why YOU care, and then the reader will care. There’s also a blink reflex, I think, that maybe, in me, evolved from my reporting brain, that pings on “oh, that's a good story!” It’s like--if an idea is a pebble, some you toss into the pond and they sink to the bottom. Others, somehow, create ripple after widening ripple. When I test an idea in my mind, I see if it makes ripples. Or even waves.
The First To LIe came out of what I learned emotionally going undercover as a reporter. How does it feel to be someone else--and lying as you do it? And then I realized we all do that, every day. Oooh. What might happen? (In that same book, I also had a separate good idea about structure. But that I cannot reveal.)
JENN McKINLAY: I write comedy in both mystery and romance, so I always go for the joke, the pun, the pratfall, or the shenanigans. Why? Because life is hard, tragedy abounds, and I need something to laugh at or I just don’t see the point in getting out of bed. That being said, I find that writing fiction allows me to ponder my fellow human beings and try to figure out why they do the things they do. I can people watch all day. I find others endlessly fascinating. Whether I’m writing a story about falling in love or finding a body, I enjoy taking all of my observations and twisting them into something completely new. Where to start? For me? Usually with a joke.
HALLIE EPHRON: So it's all about following your gut, not the market. So, if you were writing a novel, where would YOU begin?
I can see the “rightness” of each of these approaches, writing about something important to you, that you have feelings about, that you care about. I guess I’d start with some self-reflection . . . .
ReplyDeleteWhich can also be funny :)
DeleteTrue enough . . . .
DeleteThe common thread seems to be to write about something you care about and can dig into your own feelings about it before your characters’. Jenn, I like what you said about finding people so interesting, too. I think everyone has something interesting about them, something they can do or a story from their life or family. As well as the large, obvious interests in our lives, I think there are little kernels that start a spark and grow into something larger.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Hub and I were dating we used to sit outside the coffee shop and make up dialogue for the people we watched walking past. I knew he was the one for me when I was laughing so hard, coffee came out my nose. Apparently, he found that attractive - LOL - good thing!
DeleteWarren and I used to do that. Great fun. It's always a good sign when the guy makes you laugh.
DeleteA lot of commonality in these nuggets of wisdom! I would only add, write the kind of book you want to read. I write female protagonists because that's the kind of book I (mostly) read. I've said this before, but way back when, I discovered Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and Katherine Hall Page. I said, aha! I stopped reading Robert Parker and other books with male protagonists (written by men), because I was was SO tired of having to read about women's "gams" and "racks" and all the other talk about their bodies. With women authors and female protags, it just wasn't there.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Edith - though sometimes what you feel like reading can change a lot, six months later. This year is a case in point.
DeleteYes, it is!
DeleteI know I posted some comments in the blog, but blogger ate them. I agree with others who say you need to be excited about your idea, excited enough to last a while. My first book about a neurotic lady golfer took 4 years to write. Luckily I wanted to understand the story and the character and I was fascinated by what it took to reach a very high level in the golf world. In my current series, it's food (endlessly fascinating) and Key West, and above all, the relationships between the characters that pull me along.
ReplyDeleteSo weird, isn't it, that character more than plot is what drives the mysteries that I love (and write), too.
DeleteExcellent advice all around. Most times, I start with a quirky news story I've heard or read and ask "but what if..." And then I'm off and running. Yes, I must care about what my characters are experiencing. Because if I don't, why would my readers?
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I am! Take an idea and see how many ways you can twist it!
DeleteI love playing "What if," Annette! I've had several books that have started with a quirky news story.
DeleteGreat post and a perfect writing assignment. Write the book you want to read and explore a topic that fascinates and excites you. This excitement and need to know is especially important in a series where your core community exists.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, being a bit savvy about the market doesn't hurt.
DeleteWe always hear, "be savvy about the market," and "don't write for the market." Paradoxically, both are good bits of advice. It takes a lot of faith to write the book you want to read, and believe that others (especially an editor somewhere) will want to read that very same book!
DeleteGreat advice. The first thing to me is caring about the characters. I have to be invested in them. Once I have that, I take news stories or overheard conversation and ask "what if...?"
ReplyDeleteAnd definitely what others have said: Write the book you want to read, not the one you think is "popular" at that moment. Because it might turn out you hate what is popular, and then where would you be?
Spot on, Liz! I feel exactly the same way.
DeleteA deadly invasive weed that causes horrific skin burns and blindness. What if...?
ReplyDeleteI look for the big threat to the main character and add some subplots affecting her kids to spice up the action.
Yikes!
DeleteWhen I start a story, be it novelette, novel, or program note, I often start with a moment of connection. It's usually when some off the cuff snarky remark of mine strikes a deeper chord of truth in the back of my brain.
ReplyDelete"How useless is a golden fiddle?" I said. And then I started thinking about what you'd do with a useless instrument you'd won from the Devil. I got Deep Ellum Pawn.
"What happens when everything you think you're doing right turns out wrong?" That's one of the questions behind the novel I'm working on now. I'm sorry to say I enjoy twisting my heroine up in unintended consequences.
"What if they're not just cute aliens?" That was the question that drove me to write my first novel. It was supposed to be a short story but just kept getting more interesting to me as I unraveled one question, only to find another.
I think that's got to be the key. Is this idea one I want to explore to an ultimate end? Do I love it, even if editors scoff at its non-formulaic plot line? If I can find real characters to help me answer my questions--people I like, and want to spend a lot of time with--then the idea is a winner for me.
"Even if editors scoff..." That's a hard one. It's a different situation when you are under contract versus trying to define your work with your first.
DeleteIt is, but in the end I find I need to tell the story I want to tell, because when I try to cram my story into someone else's mold, it just gets stupid and boring. And the editors still object to it not being "something" enough. I envy folks who can meet the marketplace in that perfect way but I've tried and tried and failed and failed.
DeleteWhich is likely why some of us are going the indie press route. Will I ever have a best seller? Fame? Fortune? A movie deal? Doubtful. But at least I can launch my stories out into the world and see if I can find an audience. And my career won't die because I'm stuck in the mid-list swamp. My voice will be heard, even if it's a tiny little voice in a big crowd.
Never say never, but I don't think I have a novel in me...but when I write non-fiction, the genesis of the piece is always within me and from my own experience. Maybe one day I'll make the leap to fiction, who knows?
ReplyDeleteNonfiction is hard work, too - you have to be committed to a ton of research and sifting and distilling and, of course, shaping and writing.
DeleteAbsolutely agree--whatever approach you take, it starts with something that grabs your attention and then won't let go--whether it takes you six months or four years to get to the end of the story. Write a story you want to read, no matter if you're told it's not the current publishing wave. A very long time ago, a dear friend and I decided to write a series of novels. She'd help with the research and I'd do the writing. The first book never got off the ground, precisely because neither of us enjoyed reading those kinds of books.
ReplyDeleteA novella I recently finished started because I wanted to write a history of family, based on my genealogy research. Try as I might, I couldn't get a sentence on the page. The person who interested me the most was my paternal great-grandmother, who died when my grandfather was six years old. I could see the hot sun, beating on a row of children, hoeing corn mid-day. And so the story began and the characters merged and the times shifted and it became focused on a character who contained many of my ancestors within her. And I never have written up that family history.
What I'm hearing from all of you writers is write from your interests and your heart, not from a business plan of what sells. Heart and curiosity draw me to a story, not what's "in."
ReplyDeleteJungle Reds, thank you for sharing. I have been thinking about writing novels. I want to write a novel with a story set in an English village or Old Town Edinburgh, Scotland or a Welsh village. Or Copenhagen aka Kobenhavn. I've never been to Ireland. Perhaps someday?
ReplyDeleteSo far, I just have ideas in my mind. For me, it would have to be a story that I want to tell AND a novel that I would WANT to read. When I attempted to write the story, I read what I wrote and it was written like the books that did Not appeal to me. Maybe I am over critical of myself. I did not like the style ? of writing. When I read what I wrote, it seemed too simplistic?
When I was a kid, I would write and write stories. It seemed easier when I was a kid.
The ideas are there and I have to figure out how to convey the stories in a way that I want them to be presented. It would be great if I could write stories with a good vocabulary. I've been collecting new words and try writing a sentence to go with the new words.
One of my favourite professors mentioned that if I wrote a history (non-fiction) novel from a paper that I wrote, it would be more likely to get published. By now I think that book has been published. I could find out?
Ellie Alexander is always asking me "When are you going to write your novel?" It's wonderful that I have an author friend who is encouraging me to write a novel.
Diana
Diana, big words don't necessarily make for better writing. My advice is to always use the simplest word that will convey what you mean. And I think if you keep writing, you'll find the style that is comfortable to you. Also, I'd say don't hesitate to copy a writer you like. It's good practice and your own voice will start to come through.
DeleteDeborah, thank you. Thank you. I worry about copying an author that I admire because of the plagarism ? issue. As you said, it is good practice until my own voice starts to come through. Practice is the key!
DeleteYou've got to write a lot of bad, clunky, awful words before you get to the good words. It's like learning to play a musical instrument or bake a perfect loaf of bread. You have to practice. You started writing when you were a child? That's a great sign! And it means you have already gotten some of the bad writing out of your system. Keep writing.
DeleteThat question could have certainly been one of mines. When I was preparing for retirement, I thought about writing a novel.
ReplyDeleteI began some stories but nothing really sparked the flame. I love writing but I probably love reading more.
So I'll keep in mind all your advices for the day I'll be truly ready to write. Meanwhile, I'll read your fabulous stories.
One time, I heard someone change the familiar "write what you know" to "write what you want to know." That is so true because you will have to do so much research to get the story right that you will be come an expert on the subject. So make it something that fascinates you.
ReplyDeleteJRws, love you all! If I began a story, I'm afraid that would soon devolve into melodrama with unsavory characters and lots of sex. Sorry not to contribute to the the illustrious group of authors who gather here. I'll just continue as a reader. Thanks.
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ReplyDelete"Start with an interesting character and an interesting situation." I've heard that somewhere and now it's on an index card above my computer. Another card reminds me: "Let the characters tell you who they are and what they want." Writing a book is such a faith walk, isn't it? It takes so many solitary hours of intense concentration, and you just never know.... But it's a happy trance to be in while the writing lasts....
ReplyDelete"Faith walk." I like that phrase, and it's absolutely true.
DeleteStellar advice.Thank you.I may just print it out and tape it to the wall next to my computer!
ReplyDeleteYour writing what you love makes it much more likely that readers will care as well. <3 Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteEdith reminded me of a student who asked if all my stories were about women, I told him most, but not all, featured strong women because those were the ones that spoke to me. I might read 100 and select only a few to learn and tell. Now, when I selected stories for my "Drama class from hell" to choose from for their own telling, I broadened the selection, including what I thought would speak to them.
I love (and heartily agree with) all of this advice! I have to feel a 'heart' connection to a story--that visceral pull that Hank describes--whether it's to the situation or a theme or even not being sure why I feel that pull, but feeling it nonetheless. (And then somewhere in the process, I discover WHY I was pulled to a particular idea/story, and that's when I can revise and tighten and achieve--or try to, anyway--a unity of design in theme, character motivation, plot and setting.)
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