My Writing Process: Story Seeds

 Suzanne Warr tagged me and asked if I’d like to join the ‘My Writing Process’ blog hop. Be sure to check out her post, if you haven't already.

Usually, when I write about my process, I go on about how I like to use turning points, book maps and index cards to plot.  This time I’ve decided to step back to the true beginning of my stories—to story seeds.

I think the perpetual need for inspiration is one reason writers have to make sure to get out of their writing cave and experience real life.  Seeds can come from anywhere—from a painting in a museum (that’s where the love interest in my current WIP came from), to visiting a craft fair or farmer’s market (that’s how I learned about glassblowing and got a boatload of ideas for my published novelette THE BRAIDING), or just from driving around. With the addition of a few 'what if' questions, a unique building or a tree can sprout into a story. Sometimes it’s a snippet of an overheard conversation or an expression on a stranger’s face.

I carry a small notebook and pen with me at all times—and, yes, I’ve used paper scraps pulled out of the trash and napkins too. I take photos and videos. And, when I get home from an inspired trip, I add all the new seeds into my ongoing writing journal. Having them all in one place, saves time and avoids frustration. 

Some seeds never grow into anything. But, usually, I end up combining a bunch of seeds from different times and places to come up with a more surprising and complex plot idea. Often the combined seed ideas end up getting trimmed, but better to start with more material than too little.

So go out, enjoy spring and see what ideas hit you—just be sure to record them all for future use. You never know which one’s will sprout into something fabulous.

Writing: Starting With the Mystery Element

This old tin box was one of the elements that inspired my current WIP.  When I first saw it at a yard sale, I didn’t know who the characters in the story would be or where the story would be set or even what time period, but I immediately was inspired to use the box and its contents as a clue. Why? Because just looking at it made me want to know more—like what was inside it and why had it been kept for so long? It really had very little value and was only moderately attractive.

I did know the deceased elderly woman who had owned the box. The woman's family had been moderately well off and she'd been quite attractive as a teen.  Also years ago the woman had told me that she’d been sent to finishing school in a larger nearby community. There she'd had a hot romance that ended in a turbulent and very brief marriage to a wealthy man.  After that she’d always lived alone in her family home.

I opened the box at the yard sale, then instantly bought it for two bucks and took it home.

Inside was a collection of valueless mementoes--but they all were neatly dated and labeled.  For a while I thought about organizing them by date, and then writing a midcentury historical romance based on them. Instead they became the backstory for my current WIP—a contemporary mystery where a teenage girl is trying to unravel a secret from her family’s past.

My main character spotted the closed box several chapters ago.  In the next scene, she finally gets to open it and look inside.  It’s been a lot of fun thinking about how napkins, soap bars and sugar packets can become vital clues. Also, knowing I was going to use these clues even before I had a plot or characters, challenged me as a writer.  But for me, the challenge is part of the fun.  

How about you? Do you know what the vital clues are before you start writing a story?  And how about your closets, do you have mementoes tucked away—things which someday may inspire stories?