It’s a well known fact that author brains don’t always like to stay focused on the task at hand. You might be writing away on your current novel, or heading in to work, when suddenly your brain is mulling over ideas for a novel you haven’t even begun yet. It’s the crux of being a writer. You want that creativity, hell that’s the font producing all the wonderful ideas that produce your stories, but it’s also a bit of a pain.
This morning I was driving in to work when a song came on my iPod that reminded me of this book idea I’ve had for quite a while. (It was Junkie XL’s “We Become One” followed by “Such a Tease”.) What was my ridiculous mind pondering? A fabulous plot hook? An engaging character? No, just the summary. 😛
So here’s my summary for the upcoming novel, “Destruction from Within”. It started out as a short story, but then I realized this could have a really powerful impact as a novel. So I shelved the story and have been holding onto it for when I finish the two books for my werewolf series. Let me know if you would be interested in reading it.
Destruction from Within
Sam Henry is at the lowest point in his life. He lost his job six months ago, his wife left him, and his house is being foreclosed on. He’s a bitter man forced to live on the streets due to his “affair with bad luck” as his fellow homeless say.
When a beautiful woman claiming to be an alien asks him to destroy humanity, how could Sam refuse? Sure that would include his ex-wife and his old boss, but they deserve it. When faced with the reality of his decision, Sam begins to have second thoughts, but it might be too late to back out.
When that happens to me, I just open a mindmap and dump as much detail as comes to mind. Then I know when I come back to it, it’ll all be there waiting for me.
I think your “Destruction” story would work as a novella or short. Sounds interesting.
I like that! OneNote serves as my mental dumping ground, though it is a bit unorganized at the moment. Sometimes I’ll even record dreams as well for inspiration later. You never know what sort of stuff will be useful.
I may try this as a novella – I never really know how long a piece will be until I sit down to write it. When I tried to turn it into a short story, Sam’s pessimism and rage at humanity just didn’t make enough sense. It needed more build-up so that you understood where he was coming from. He’s going to be a sympathetic but unlikable fellow for a good chunk of the story though. Either way, he’s been begging to be written for quite a while now. /sigh