Writing is easy. Ideas are hard.

For me, the act of writing is really just describing. I get a notion in my head of how a scene is going to play out, sort of like having a video playing in a loop on the back on my eyeballs. Then I just describe what I see. Person A runs from here to there; they say this thing to person B; person B reacts really badly; A and B argue; some issue is resolved.

Simple.

The really difficult part is coming up with the ideas in the first place. I was once asked how I managed to cram so many different ideas into a book. I wasn’t consciously aware that I had, but I guess I like to know how things work and why people do the bizarre things they do. So when it comes to writing a book, I need to have an explanation for every character’s motivation. Someone can’t be bad just for the sake of being bad. There must be a reason underlying that badness. So I like to explore what that reason might be. That leads to more rounded characters but also to a more satisfying story. And it helps generate ideas along the way.

Most books are based on one very simple idea, which the author then teases out and explores in depth. Take Harry Potter. It’s a story of good versus evil, of vengeance and of choices. Harry could easily have gone across to the ‘dark side’ very early on in the first book. But he didn’t. Why is that? JK Rowling then spent the next six and a half books exploring that question, and some amazing ideas were generated in the process.

So if you’re writing your own stories, start with a simple set-up. Say, computer geek is selected to play on the football team. Think of the back-story for all the characters who are likely to inhabit that tale. Think why each character acts the way they do. Then mix it up and have some fun.

Best of luck!

Check out Richard Newsome’s books here. His trilogy –  The Billionaire’s Curse, The Emerald Casket & The Mask of Destiny – is available for loan from the Aquinas Library. It’s a rollicking adventure story that’s lots of fun! Mrs O.