Spills On A Page

Sorry to all my author and blogger friends, but sometimes I find these author interviews rather repetitive and boring. What I'd really like is to hear the wacky stuff that really goes behind the scenes.  If I were to interview authors, I'd have to ask them the  goofy, sarcastic, questionable questions to keep things interesting. Maybe something like these...

1. Which one of your characters would you most want to be?
2. If you could go back and change anything about your story, what would it be?
3. Which one of your characters would you want to have a... um...physical relationship with?
4. Which one of your characters would you want to have an emotional relationship with?
5. What is your "drug" of choice while writing?  Or, what "drug" were you coming off of when writing this book?
6. What is your writing to Twitter-goofing-off ratio? (in hours, minutes...)
7. Are there any parts of your childhood secretly written into your story? Which ones?
8. What is the biggest unknown, or most embarrassing fact about this book?
9. Which one of your family members suffers the most while you write?
10. Have you ever based a character off someone in real life that you hope they never find out about?
11. What is the one question you've always wanted to be asked, but no one ever has? What is the answer to that question?
12. What was your favorite day dream/fantasy that ended up being written in your story?

So my current WIP (aka my love, my nemesis, my pride and joy, or my royal pain in the @#@, depending on the day) is a science fiction story involving a royal coup and earth being a penal colony. See this post if you would like more detail. This is my first sci fi story,and I have to admit, there are times I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew (*cough, cough, gag, gag* Anyone know the Heimlich Maneuver?!)

It's a tough genre! World building isn't an easy thing and to those for whom it comes naturally, I tip my hate (uh... I mean hat) to you. Unfortunately, I've had to pry much of it out of my brain with a crow bar. However, I am lucky enough to have my family who helps me hash out many of my ideas and inconsistencies. They are proving to be a handy bunch!

Tonight I was trying to work out a way for one person to view the thoughts, feelings, and memories of another and bouncing ideas for this off my hubby. Now, you have to understand that my hubby is not a sci fi nut, nor does he do much illogical thinking. With this idea, he kept trying to come up with ideas that were of this world and in line with our modern technology. He wasn't understanding what I was trying to explain, that this technology, paranormal activity, or whatever it was gonna be, did not have to be a logical idea that we know and understand in our day/time/place in space. But in my attempts to explain this to him, I learned one simple truth.


And explained well, I might add, which is where many of the challenges arise. Still, every little insight is something to celebrate along the road to creating a well written story. I have since worked out my issue and come up with an interesting concept for this exchange (I told you they were proving handy).


What I want to know now is how do you come up with ways of working through story concepts?  Also, like my idea with science fiction, what insights have you learned about writing?

I am starting a semi-regular event here that I'm going to label "Story Starters." This is for those times when we lack the inspiration to write anything at all. Here's how it'll work:

1. I'll list one or more ideas in a post that should get you thinking of a story. It may be a word, phrase, picture, or even a song that can start inspiration.
2. If you find one of the prompts interesting enough to write something, let me know in the comments section. You can post the story itself, or feel free to leave a link to your blog, etc where you posted the story.  I may even feature some in future posts (with your permission, of course)!
3. Um... there is no third step...

There's no time involved, so if you read a story starter new or years from now (if I should be so lucky to still be around) feel free to still participate. I will also post a story inspired by the prompt as well, but seeing as I do generate them quite randomly and I want to give you the chance to come up with ideas on your own, I will do this in the near future.

And with that, the first Story Starter is:

"Row upon row of grape vines..."

1. Start with a crust.  It's not the best part of the pie, but without it, everything else will fall apart. The crust makes the dessert easier to dish out.  (Like a story, planning and preparation are essential to holding everything else together when you present it to a potential agent or publisher.)
2. Fill it with yummy stuff.  Oreo ice cream is what I'd do, but as long as you've got complimentary ingredients, you can do just about anything. (Your story is subject to whatever you put in it. Better make it good!)
3. Layer the topping.  Let's be honest, this is what really attracts us to the pie in the first place! It's the only part you can see until you get into it. It makes the whole thing look great, and it tastes good too. (We go into writing with that wonderfully, elusive dream of someday publishing our work. Often, we don't know just how involved that is until we get started.)

First and foremost, thank you for stopping by my blog today.