Monday, September 05, 2011
So many aspiring writers ask me where to start when planning a novel. I love to start with brainstorming the idea with friends like we did last week in Brown County, Indiana.
To do this, it's best to have a partner or two or three. Do you have a friend who loves to read, even if they aren't a writer? Or a writer you've met at a conference? If so, then grab them and curl up for some fun. Remember:
1. YOU must have the passion. All the great ideas in the world won't work if it doesn't resonate with you.
2. Anything goes. No idea it too stupid to throw out there because even if it doesn't work, it might ping off into some other idea that does.
3. Chocolate is the necessary brain food. And coffee. Lots of coffee. Though I do feel badly that I didn't think to bring decaf and poor Ami was awake half the night. :(
4. Read some newspapers in the area to see what kinds of things are going on there. Visit the area. See what kind of people live there. To me it does no good to come up with characters first because the people in different areas are so unique. A character from California is totally different from one in Michigan. So figure that out and jot down ideas from travel guides and newspapers. Take a drive around town and watch people. See if some idea catches your interest. Sit in a populated area and listen in. You might catch a snippet of conversation that launches you into a great story. Have those ideas ready when you get together with your friend.
5. Try to make the "hook" as strong as you can by bouncing it around with your brainstorming partner. That's the interesting premise that launches the story. With
Lonestar Angel (shipping in about 3 weeks!) I noodled about how a woman might think she was divorced and yet still be married. And what could make her go off with her supposedly ex-husband in spite of everything? I came up with Clay arriving to tell Eden that the child they thought had died in a kidnapping attempt gone wrong was really alive--and he needs her help to find out which of 5 little girls is theirs. Of course, the villain was luring them to the remote Bluebird Ranch. . . I was hooked and I hope you will be too!
6. When you think you've milked an idea and it still isn't right, change tactics and go on to something else. You may even find you need to merge two ideas.
7. If you can, get away on a retreat. Going to a cabin this past week was just what we needed. We came up with some great ideas for the next Smitten story. And I came away charged up and thinking about my next Hope Beach story as well. But if the budget doesn't allow for this, just do the brainstorming in your living room.
8. Let the idea sit a while then look at it again. See if it sparks something even more new and fresh.
9. Think hard about your spiritual thread. A strong story can be created around something you feel strongly about. I was thinking today about a movie I saw when I was a teenager. It was called Imitation of Life and I've often thought about it over the years because it made a social statement about something the writer felt passionately about and it made me look at what I saw around me with fresh eyes. In Tidewater Inn, the first Hope Beach story I just finished, I loved showing how the path to sin is so subtle. The villain takes first one step then another in the pursuit of money until he is willing to commit murder to get what he wants. And at the same time, Libby is learning from Coast Guard officer Kirk that real joy in life is in giving. It was way fun to show that juxtaposition.
I'm on my way to Vermont to take pictures and get ideas for all of us. But there is something about being in the car that stirs my creative juices. I think I have the opening scene and premise for Rosemary Cottage. I was captivated when I found out that rosemary is for remembrance and also means dew of the sea. You'll have to wait to find out where those bits of knowledge led me but it was fun to go at it from that angle. My heroine's name is Kate which means pure. So you might take a drive with your spouse when you want brainstorm even more.
Have you ever brainstormed an idea? What helped you get to the gold nugget you needed for the story?
Labels: brainstorming
Colleen Coble
posted at
9:29 PM
Comments (7)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. A hurricane hadn't taken direct aim at the Outer Banks in quite a few years. I've been writing the first book in my new Hope Beach series, Tidewater Inn. I thought it would be fun to write about a Cat I hurricane hitting. Nothing TOO bad because I didn't want the focus taken from the main story conflicts, but I wanted to show the small island all pulling together.
Well, guess what. Hurricane Irene took aim. A Category I with a strong storm surge, just like I'd written into the story about a month ago. Sorry, OBX! I wouldn't have done it if I'd thought I was being prophetic. It's enough to make me hesitate to write a disaster from now on. LOL
I have the cover up in honor of the VERY fun next few days. Denise should be in around 1:30 and we'll go pick up Kristin from the airport then head to Brown County where we've rented a gorgeous log home. Our editors Ami McConnell and Natalie Hanemann are going to meet us there. We will be brainstorming the next 2 Smitten books, and if there's time, some of our other upcoming books. We are so stoked! The only disappointment is that Diann is too sick to come. :( Please pray for her. This chemo is really whamming her hard. She's going to call in though and get us laughing. :)
So back to the original thought. Any of you ever have an instance where something you said or did turned out to be prophetic?
Labels: brainstorming, Hurricane Irene
Colleen Coble
posted at
11:42 AM
Comments (6)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
LONESTAR ANGEL
Well, I'm already plunging into a new book. I usually take this time waiting for Ami and Erin to get back to me to mull the story over and try to decide where I'm going but I had this idea come to me so fast that I had to at least writing the first few scenes. The scene was a woman about to be married when her ex arrives at the church to let her know that she can't remarry because he never signed the papers. And furthermore, the baby that they thought they lost to kidnapeprs is still alive. If you were me, wouldn't you want to know how that turned out? :-)
I've spoken at several libraries lately and people always want to know if I know the story all the way through when I start. And no, I don't. I've tried plotting it out. Really I have! But it's not any fun to write it if I know what's going to happen. I much prefer to start with an intriguing first scene and see where the characters take me. I get a much richer story that way. Now it might drive Ami and Erin crazy because there is probably more to fix that way. :-) But I get fun layers and unexpected twists that way.
So this is Angela in my head. The hero calls her Angel which she hates. But I THINK she's going to start liking it. Want to brainstorm with me? I'm still figuring out why someone would kidnap their child then come back to taunt them 5 years later. Clay is special ops so it might have something to do with his job. And Angela's family is wealthy so it might have something to with her. I'm open to ideas! Denise and I are going to have 6 hours in the car to brainstorm on Thursday as we travel to St Louis so any suggestions you give me now will be super helpful!
Labels: brainstorming, Lonestar Angel, plotting
Colleen Coble
posted at
10:50 AM
Comments (16)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
NEED SOME BRAINSTORMING HELP
Meet Katie Sullivan. She's the heroine of The Lightkeeper's Bride. I learned some awesome stuff at a Michael Hauge seminar a couple of weeks ago. His proposes that true love happens in a novel when the hero and heroine connect on what he calls the "essence" level. He says a character's "identity" is the outward mask they project to cover over a wound they've had and the mask is their protection. And that when the hero sees past that identity to the inward person and loves THAT person, that makes for a more satisfying book.
Want to help me brainstorm? Katie is an operator for Central in 1907 northern California. She's known as the person in town who knows everyone and everything since she's the voice on the other end of the early telephones. She likes the control of KNOWING. I need to figure out what her wound is and what real person she is covering over with her need for control and knowledge. Maybe her real mother left her with her aunt to raise at the age of five and she thinks by knowing ahead of time what's happening, she can control the hurt. Maybe she missed a message from her little brother than he was going swimming and he drowned. See where I'm going with the wound thing?
So here's your chance to help me mold a novel. Any ideas? Any wounds you're carrying around you'd like to see in a book?
Labels: brainstorming, Michael Hauge, The Lightkeeper's Bride
Colleen Coble
posted at
3:02 AM
Comments (25)
So many aspiring writers ask me where to start when planning a novel. I love to start with brainstorming the idea with friends like we did last week in Brown County, Indiana. 
Delicious
Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. A hurricane hadn't taken direct aim at the Outer Banks in quite a few years. I've been writing the first book in my new Hope Beach series, Tidewater Inn. I thought it would be fun to write about a Cat I hurricane hitting. Nothing TOO bad because I didn't want the focus taken from the main story conflicts, but I wanted to show the small island all pulling together.
