Why writers fascinate people, I’m unclear, but for some reason when a writer tells an interested person he writes novels, his audience’s attitude changes with an inquisition like none other. He will run a whole gamut of common questions until he’s exhausted his grab bag, but the one he will always ask is, “Where do you get your ideas?” Or, “I have all kinds of ideas, but could never write a whole book.”

And in asking a room full of writers, answers will cover a wide spectrum. Perhaps some will share similar processes, but responses will be as varied as the stories found in bookshelves!

Some swear developing a quaint setting births characters and conflict. Others insist interesting characters precede the conflict and drive their stories. Still, others admit without a strong plot the story will never fly just on a setting or character. You might even hear one claim a smell or visual picture initiated his story, a sad face, a tombstone in an old cemetery, a painting or symphonic melody. But the reasons one writes are closely related to how and why the ideas flow on paper, which is a topic worth exploring in a future blog.

On a personal level, I start with a general theme, and because I prefer reading and writing thrillers, I do not start with a character but with a high-stakes plot, although my characters do drive the story. 

My first novel, Castle of Cards, developed out of a relative’s request for a specific type of story, which started in one form, but after rewrites, ended up in a variation of the original plot. My second book, Mirrored Murder, started from a friend’s fascination with an acquaintance whom everyone believed had conveniently died just before being arraigned for embezzlement but later was suspected to have staged her death, escaped, and still living. As for Bold Sentry, current events sparked the plot and gave me the opportunity to inject a takeoff of a personal experience which is as fresh in my mind today as it was thirty years ago.

When I wrote short stories, sometimes I incorporated peculiar incidents I’d heard relatives tell. Sometimes it took form from a crazy paragraph I jotted down. I can’t claim a pattern.

There is no secret formula, no right or wrong, no mysterious process. It stems on what plot or characters I feel passionate about, whom I want to live with for months, and what journey I want to take.