Michael W. Sherer
The premise or inspiration from almost all of my books starts with a question--what if...? The question can be sparked by a story in the news, a photograph, a television, or even a dream. My Tess Barrett series, for example, was born from a bizarre dream in which phrases came at me in a barrage--blind rage, blind instinct, blind trust, blind justice, blind ambition--so fast and furious they woke me. I sat up wondering what the dream had been about, and realized they were book titles about a blind teen girl who is at the center of a mystery, a thriller, a conspiracy of some sort. And the question--what if?--inspired the rest of the story.
For example, what if the girl wasn't blind from birth, but was blinded in an accident? What if it was a car accident that killed her parents and left her an orphan? What if this girl was not only at the center of the thriller, but went about solving mysteries, and ultimately the mystery of what caused the accident that killed her parents and blinded her?
But how would a blind, orphaned teenager solve crimes and mysteries? She would need help, support. What if she had not a seeing eye dog, but a seeing eye guy? And so on. If you ask the question and let your imagination run, the answers may surprise you.
As to the actual process of writing, inspiration doesn't come easily. Writing is a job. It's work, often difficult. The author Tim Clancy was once asked by an interviewer if he thought his sons would follow him into the career of writing. He said, "God, I hope not. Writing is hard work, like digging ditches."
As a writer, you can't wait for inspiration. You have to sit down and do the work. On some days, it's painful, staring at a blank page or screen, ending the day with few or no words. On others, the words flow and the task seems easy.
Even those "ah-ha" moments, when inspiration strikes like lightning, are usually the result of hard work. Mine often come after hours or days of what author Cam Newton calls "deep work," time spent focusing on a problem, issue, plot twist, character background, or whatever. It's time spent thinking, with no distractions, and it's not easy. Ultimately, though, it's fruitful.
For example, what if the girl wasn't blind from birth, but was blinded in an accident? What if it was a car accident that killed her parents and left her an orphan? What if this girl was not only at the center of the thriller, but went about solving mysteries, and ultimately the mystery of what caused the accident that killed her parents and blinded her?
But how would a blind, orphaned teenager solve crimes and mysteries? She would need help, support. What if she had not a seeing eye dog, but a seeing eye guy? And so on. If you ask the question and let your imagination run, the answers may surprise you.
As to the actual process of writing, inspiration doesn't come easily. Writing is a job. It's work, often difficult. The author Tim Clancy was once asked by an interviewer if he thought his sons would follow him into the career of writing. He said, "God, I hope not. Writing is hard work, like digging ditches."
As a writer, you can't wait for inspiration. You have to sit down and do the work. On some days, it's painful, staring at a blank page or screen, ending the day with few or no words. On others, the words flow and the task seems easy.
Even those "ah-ha" moments, when inspiration strikes like lightning, are usually the result of hard work. Mine often come after hours or days of what author Cam Newton calls "deep work," time spent focusing on a problem, issue, plot twist, character background, or whatever. It's time spent thinking, with no distractions, and it's not easy. Ultimately, though, it's fruitful.
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