Leann Harris here. I've come to the conclusion that those of us who write look at the world differently. When something happens--good or bad, we think, "How can I use this in a book?" I have an example of which I'm the star
I was going to my high school reunion. After I packed to drive to my hometown, I grabbed up the invite to take with me to make sure I knew where the reunion was being held, looked at the date and discovered it was the week before. How stupid did I feel? As I was mopping around it occurred to me it was a great meet for a book. Both the hero and heroine had misread their invitations and meet at the hotel on the same day only to find they were the only two. I felt better.
The lists are endless:
-You break a leg and figure out you can use this with your hero/heroine...
-you get the last seat on a bus...
-fall in the hardware store...
-your child drinks bleach and you have to rush the child to the emergence room(this happened to friends and the kids were okay)...
-run over the expensive hose (as pictured) and it's your hunky neighbor..
If your child does it, they can find themselves in a book.
What my family doesn't know, won't hurt them.
4 comments:
Leann,
You're so right about thinking like a writer. We use everything, don't we?
While everyone else may be thinking, "Ain't it a shame," after hearing a down-and-out-on-their-luck story, I'm weaving it into my latest WIP. Nothing is wasted.
I wonder if God allows life to happen so we can capture it in our stories.
Now, that is the first thing I think about, Debbi. How can I use this in a book?
And I wrote this a couple of days ago, scheduled it and it didn't show up. I discovered my error and fixed it. But I can use that in a book. What a good hook. That could get the heroine in a world of hurt.
My book that comes out in August was inspired by a "what if" scenario at work. As executive assistant in my department, I was tasked with greeting new employees their first day and spending the morning with them to get them set up with ID badges, parking, paperwork, building tour, etc. Well, about seven or eight years ago, a very handsome, built-like-a-football-player (my type!) guy was the new employee I was to spend my morning getting squared away. He had a somewhat military bearing, and shortly after meeting him, I learned he'd been in the Army. Being an Army brat, I asked him where he'd been stationed. Turns out he'd been stationed at White Sands (where my father worked, as a civilian by that time) my junior and senior years of high school. Can you say my romance-writer's mind went wild?
Whenever I speak to a writer's group, especially with young people, I always tell them that if they can't look at what's going on in their lives and come up with at least three or four story ideas by asking "what if?", they're going to struggle with trying to be a writer.
My very first book, back in 1999, happened because I accidentally dropped off my diary when I dropped off my library books. And, yes, I'd just broken up with a college boyfriend so talk about angst-filled.
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