Out of Thin Air

Hey, MMM fans. I've been thinking about where our stories come from. Actually, I listened to a lecture Stephen King gave to a Massachusetts University on U-tube. He talked about the kernels that stayed with him. Those were the things he knew he would write, sooner or later.

He started Under the Dome when he was still teaching high school. But, he put the book away, wondering if it was too big for him to write then.

I have one of those books on my desk top. I've been playing with the woman's fiction for a couple of years now, maybe longer. I have the first scene in my head but I haven't felt comfortable enough to dive into the lake and find the lake monster. Not quite yet. Although the book keeps calling to me. I loved hearing King talk about his own process. It made me feel a little less freaky and more like a writer.

Today I hit send on an email to my editor. It's a new cozy proposal that I started playing with last summer during my two week driving trip out west to Idaho. The idea has been marinating for months, with me writing notes about the project. Then last week, I sat down and started making decisions. Who, what, where, when, and how. And one more decision, why. Who were the characters and why were they on the page when they were? My notebook page looked like doodles rather than an outline. But it worked and I'm excited to begin this new adventure.

So where do your stories come from fellow MMM authors? Do they drop down fully cooked as if you dreamed them? Or are you a mad plotter with spreadsheets and pages done before you even start to write the story?

Or are you like me, someone who takes an idea and plays with it for a while in my head before it turns into a story?

Lynn

By the way, GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER, the book that hit the NYT's list last summer is on sale through January. Amazon/Nook/Kobo - it's $1.99. It's a great time to take a chance on a new series.

DWD: Is it a crime?

We drove our RV to San Diego the other day and took I-10 to Interstate 8, which dictionaries could use to illustrate the definition of desolate. We had the road mostly to ourselves as we motored along at a cruise-controlled 60 mph. A storm front had already come and gone earlier in the trip, leaving us with bright sunshine, dry air, and our thoughts to ourselves. Blistering-hot Yuma lay in the distance for our overnight stop.

We played music on our iPod, but we've heard it all before; we chatted amiably, but as an old married couple we've said it all before. My mind drifted to writing projects. The lonely Interstate was a good place to plan the broad outlines of a novel. So I began Driving While Daydreaming, which shouldn't be a problem as long as the driving takes precedence.

I started thinking of some of my co-workers over the years of my checkered career, and who had traits that would make good fictional characters. And then I thought of some of my bosses. It didn't take long to think of one or two who would make dandy victims in a murder mystery. Mind you, most of them were essentially nice people, but some had a trait here or there that had me grinding my teeth. Combine the worst traits of several bosses, and voila (or viola, for the musically inclined)--you have the Victim Who Deserves It.  The entire office will shed crocodile tears, secretly glad someone else did the deed for them.

A unique plot? Of course not. Precious few basic plots exist, but only you have had that particular combination of godawful bosses and quirky co-workers. That's where you make the story your own. You don't want to describe real people, of course, so be sure to mix everything up. Combine not only personality traits but people's looks, even gender and occupation. And then get out your virtual gun, twirl your virtual mustache, and plot a virtual crime.

Don't worry. Keep your eyes on the road, and a jury will never convict you of DWD.