The Ideas Patchwork
It takes more than a single lightbulb moment to create a book. One idea can sustain a short story, but a novel of 80,000 words or more needs layers, sub plots and a breadth of characters and moments of action. The Man She Married inched its way into my mind when the opening scene came to me while driving. I wanted to slam my foot onto the break to stop immediately,but first checked the rearview mirror, to see a lorry close behind so obviously I didn’t. But my brain asked-what if I hadn’t checked?
What if, why, who, how, where-are all questions that I use to tease the story out of my subconscious. In this case-who was driving, why did they feel the need to stop, where were they coming from, where were they going to, where were they at the moment and why were they so distracted that they didn’t check the mirror? And then-what happened next and how were they going to deal with that?
Psychological thrillers require high stakes and moments of drama and so my next stage was to see just how much hot water I coul put my characters and see how they react and then create why/how for that, in order to give a well rounded character and back story. People’s behaviour and motivation are both what make them interested and keep a reader engaged and so even if I don’t keep everything about them in the final version, I can usually always answer why they did something or reacted in a certain way. In theatre, I used to “hotseat” a character in order to know what toothpaste they use, what side of the bed they sleep on, what their favourite flavour of ice cream is, so that you can know them inside and out and really know why they do what they do.
With The Man She Married, I started with the accident. Which then brought in the amnesia.This then led to the relationship with Beth’s husband being difficult for reasons we want to find out. Another why, another layer. I then added circumstances that brought the characters to this moment in time and let the drama play out.
This is how I tend to put together a story-and I hope that you enjoy answering the questions I ask, as you read The Man She Married.
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