Friday 12 February 2010

You know you’re a writer when…


Reading Jackie’s "What Would An Alpha Male Do? blog post (a hilarious but unfortunate incident at a restaurant) prompted me to re-muse on random moments we all have as writers. Well, moments I've had in my writing life, if I'm honest, but it was a relief to know I wasn't alone.

Wait, I digress.

I have a long commute to work (hour and half most days. Each way). And as an avid people watcher, (I make no apologies for this, for it is all in the name of research), I have constructed many a scene by letting my imagination run riot.

Some of those moments have involved some unlikely scenarios – girl with spider tattoo on her foot prompted an arachnophobic heroine trapped in a bathroom full of spiders who needs rescuing by a hero who happens to be passing outside her window when she screams. Hmmm, that story is still in stasis.

But I've had other moments when I’ve had a thought, shaken my head and said to myself, “only a writer will think like that!”

Here are a few examples:

A stunning woman with crutches struggling up a long staircase. Cue - what would my hero do? Would he sweep her off her feet and carry her up? Convince to stop in the middle, share his freshly-bought Starbucks coffee while they get to know each other? Or just stomp past her because he's sworn off women since...(insert preferred woman-hating scenario here)

Or

Seeing another equally stunning woman wearing tight jeans (cue insane jealousy on my part) and wondering whether my hero would be repelled or attracted.

Or

Seeing a man and woman walking side by side but not quite touching or looking at each other and wondering if they've had an argument/are secret lovers/are at the end of their relationship and wondering how to resolve that particular conflict.

So…have you had moments like these? I’d love to know!

Or if you've written a book based on such random thoughts, let us know. I love a great read!

Happy reading and writing.

8 comments:

  1. I saw a ramshackle little truck stop with a sign outside advertising showers, and got the idea for a collection of erotic stories about the proprietess and her clients...

    But it morphed into a full-length romance and the heroine isn't nearly as hoochie as I'd originally planned. LOL

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  2. Very cool, Piper. I sooo love it when that happens!

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  3. I got a ton of ideas like these when we went on holiday last year. We were driving through France to meet my mum's longest friend and what can I say? Provence is so inspiring.

    I have an idea about a hero and a vineyard (mum's friend lives next to one!), another is a heroine who is making pottery and selling it to passing tourists. She's run away from the hero, but don't know why. Yet!

    I see ideas all over, grab a pad of paper and scribble it down. I'm hoping I'll never run out if I carry on doing that.

    At last, after all these years I have a use for my over active imagination :-)

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  4. Mais oui, Jo. Vive la Provence! Your ideas sound so exciting. I love the selling to passing tourists one. Of course the hero (A French Count perhaps?) will catch her eventually. And the fireworks would begin, n'est pas?

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  5. Glad it's not only me! But you can tell by my example that I'm a SAHM!! My oldest was watching The Little Mermaid and it she was looking over the balcony at the prince and the evil (but beautiful) Vanessa (I was doing dishes) And I thought, what if the heroine was at the palace, and she loved the prince, but he was with another woman...the one he was about the marry...which spawned one of my fave Presents MSS!

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  6. Thanks for the shout-out Maya! :-) And yeah, I consistently have moments like that. I'm a people watcher and I also get a lot of fun out of stories in the newspaper. In fact, planning a story now based on this newspaper headline - Bridesmaid Found in Bush! Lol!

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  7. Maisey, lightbulb moments are the best, aren't they? Had one yesterday (a v.v. sad one) but one that will spawn a hell of a black moment! So there was rejoicing and tears too!

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  8. Your blog deserves a shout-out, Jackie! Sadly I tend not to read a lot of newspapers since my head is always buried in a book ;). Maybe I should start. Bridesmaid Found in Bush! ROFL!

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