Most writers have a story to tell and tell it. And in the opinion of Anthony Trollope, a writer should never do otherwise.
There are, however, indie authors who ask their readers what they should write. Personally, I’ve never seen much sense in that. It’s akin to a comedian asking his audience what jokes he should tell.
So how does a writer decide what to write? I think most of us have all manner of stories inside our heads just waiting to be told. That being said, how the story gets told is what differentiates one author from another.
Caleb Pirtle III is writing a superb historical novel series called The Boom Town Saga. It’s the story of con artist Doc Bannister, who falls in love with Eudora, a woman with a past as mysterious as his own. The books are part historical drama, part love story, part mystery — and all fabulous.
Caleb’s books are set in 1930s East Texas. But what if we took that same story and set it on a planet in the Delta Omicron system, a backwater in the crumbling Muratorian Inter-Planetary Republic?
Or what if we changed the oil that Doc Bannister is supposedly trying to find for Magic — something everyone wants and no one has in an alternate universe version of East Texas? Now, that historical novel becomes urban fantasy.
We could take Caleb’s con man, put him in 21st century Dallas, selling bogus bonds that suddenly are worth something, and play up the romance aspect in order to get a romance novel.
Same story + different setting = different story
Sometimes, we do find ourselves in the situation where we have to tell a story. Maybe we’ve been asked to contribute to an anthology in a genre that we normally don’t write. The problem is easily solved.
All we have to do is take an old story and recycle it. James Scott Bell, in his book Write Your Novel From The Middle, suggests that very approach when one has run out of ideas and is looking for one. And it does work.
The ideas for what to write are all around us. No writer worth his salt need ask anyone for ideas. But if he runs short, he can always take that old book from 100 years ago, that no one reads anymore, and turn it into gold. How many times, I wonder, have Shakespeare’s plays been retold?
Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading (those old forgotten books)!
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Ah, you give me a warm fuzzy with that, and make me think about the effects that my decisions have on others. If you truly miss me, consider the occasional visit to https://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/item_id/2235519-Scorpion-Tales — Those occasional stories I refer to can be found in that anthology which takes its name from the fact that what they all have in common is a “sting” in the tail. Some of them are members-only, but you’re a member, so they’re all there for you.
After you bookmark that, delete this post; I’m not about dropping a shameless plug on a friend’s blog!
No need to feel badly about a shameless plug for yourself. However, the link doesn’t work. The site is private and I can’t get in.
Oh, for God’s sake! Thanks for pointing that out; I overlooked a switch in the setup, and it’s fixed now. I have to wonder how many readers I’ve missed out on over the last week or so…
Good morning, C.W., and I hope it finds you well! Ideas have never been my problem. I have so many ideas jostling for position in my head that there’s scarcely room to remember my medication, but when it comes time (like now) to sit down at the keyboard and turn those brilliant, complex stories, the likes of which have never been seen before, into dialogue, scenery, action… entertainment, the mind balks.
I need to do a blog entry… I need to answer email… I need to write a review of this great story I read last night… I need to sweep the kitchen… I need to get back to Skyrim before I forget what I’m doing in there.
I need to do anything but put words on the page, and the more marginal it is, the more I need to do it. I sometimes think I’m just burned out after six decades of chasing the dream. There are more problems we face than just a dearth of ideas. Thanks for raising the point, though. As always, it’s a good one.
Thanks for stopping by, Jack! I always appreciate your comments.
I do agree with you that there are more problems than a lack of ideas. Like you, I never lack for them. However, I consistently see in authors’s newsletters appeals to their readers for suggestions on what to write. And that’s what I’m addressing.
The real problem is, as you pointed out, that many writers procrastinate putting words on paper. I, myself, did that for decades. The question that begs to be asked is, Why?
Lawrence Block addressed procrastination in one of his Writers Digest columns years ago. From that column I realized that I procrastinated because I was afraid I’d fail — that is, be a failure in the eyes of my parents, who already thought I was a failure.
It took me years to overcome that fear, but I did. My late mother accepted my success as a poet, and even told others. She didn’t live long enough to see my fiction successes. On the other hand, to my knowledge, my father has never read anything I’ve written. He doesn’t even talk about my writing, or ask me about it. But I don’t care. I don’t need his approval anymore. Why? Because I learned to define success for me.
To date, I’ve sold 785 copies of my 30+ books. I’ve had 51,000 page reads in KU. Royalties = $ 1541.16. Over six years, that isn’t a lot each year. But it’s more than if I’d done nothing. Big name indies undoubtedly laugh at those numbers. I don’t care. It’s much more money than I made writing poetry. And reflective of a much bigger audience.
I don’t like marketing. In fact, I don’t like the business side of being an indie author at all. And quite honestly, I’m not very good at it. I don’t have the money either to gamble on paid advertising. I have to find free advertising and work it.
After six years of this indie gig, I’m convinced indie authors are in actuality mail order businesses. We need to build mailing lists in order to capture our fans. And so, six years late, that’s what I’m focusing my energies and scarce resources on.
I cannot not write. For me, there is nothing more important than writing. I’m always planning the next project and I’m always putting pen to paper.
Sure, I take breaks. But when I do, I’m always itching to get that pen back in my hand.
I can only speak for me. I procrastinated for years. Decades really. But eventually I slew the dragon, and have never looked back. I define success for me. And I am a success. And I’m working on being a much bigger one.
Writing isn’t for everyone. Just like chess isn’t. Or golf. Or mountain climbing. And there is no shame in that. It’s simply a fact of life.
All of us, to paraphrase Rilke, must look deep into our souls and decide what it is that moves us. And then go do whatever it is that moves us — that thing we can’t live without doing.
Yes, good sir, there are any number of problems that can affect a field as complex as writing, but you’ve got me thinking with that psychological stuff.
I may, like you, have been writing to demonstrate the facility to my teachers, most of whom felt that I couldn’t write a grocery list (one said a good career for me would be as a domestic servant), and my grandparents, in my case, who agreed that I’d never amount to anything at all. They were all dead long before Beyond the Rails landed on Amazon, and maybe I finished that series, my fantasy, and a few things I’ve offered on writing-dot-com to prove it to myself.
My reviews, though few in number, are uniformly good (one 3 without comment, and one 1 because the book didn’t ship on time; the rest all 4s and 5s). Perhaps that’s the validation I sought, and with it in hand as a matter of public record, the muse feels no further need.
But, who among us can analyze themselves? All I know is that I have scores of ideas, and not the slightest shred of ambition. Once in a while it flickers back to life long enough for me to squeeze out a short story for writing-dot-com, but long-term projects are not on the table. All I know is that this has been a great discussion that has helped me identify some issues, and you have my thanks for bringing it up. We’ll likely be talking again soon!
That’s very possible, Jack. Those teachers and family exert a lot of influence. And often it is downright destructive.
When I was writing poetry and getting lots of it published, I decided one year to write a sonnet and get it published. To be honest I stink at sonnets. But I was determined to write one an editor would publish. After writing quite a few, I succeeded. Once that victory was under my belt, I stopped writing sonnets. I proved to myself that I could write a sonnet and had no desire to write any more of them.
Perhaps its the same with you. However, I do have to say that I wish that joy in writing would return. Because I truly enjoy your work. As a reader, I have a bit of a void now.
Thanks for stopping by. And we will talk again, I’m sure. 🙂