So I was driving down the road, on my way into work this morning. I live near a town called Bayard, Florida which the highway I was on, US-1, runs through. In Bayard, about three years ago, there were a bunch of old houses, motels, and restaurants, all abandoned. My husband and I took a photo trip through all of them before they finally tore them down. I don't know why, but I got to thinking about that particular stretch of road and all the pictures we took and suddenly I had a plot. It coalesced with some other ideas that had been swimming around in my head for years.
Since it's a time travel novel, I need to do some research. To make it even more difficult for myself, I decided that the trip back through time is gradual. Therefore, I need to research the entire twentieth century, back to the 20s. Yeah, I love a challenge.
The great thing is I even have the ending! But then, endings aren't my problem. Middles are.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good luck with the story. It sounds intriguing now. {Smile}
ReplyDeleteAnne Elizabeth Baldwin
I think it's the full moon. :-) I had two separate, seemingly unrelated, ideas merge into one in the past few days too. I'm dying to write this new story. DYING! But I have to finish the current wip (aka The Big Book That Wouldn't End) and revisions to a second before I can indulge.
ReplyDeleteJoely, be sure to get some of it written so it can re-ignite the fire when you are ready to write it. Two years ago, I had a plot that really excited me, but I waited to finish the current WIP. Now, I'm not so excited about it. Of course, some OTHER ideas now have me excited, but that's how it goes!
ReplyDeleteWe'll see if this story ever becomes more than scribbles in a notebook. The amount of research it will take is somewhat daunting.
Tia, I've got a notebook going too for the new idea. It's my reward -- if I write x words in the NaNo novel that's still not finished, then I get to dabble y minutes in the new idea. So far I've got some pretty good starts on character and worldbuilding. Still need a PLOT but it's coming. I can't wait to write this story--it's so...out there!
ReplyDeleteI think middles are easy to have a problem with... that's where that proverbial perspiration comes in. Sounds like you stumbled onto something interesting, though, so good job there. I've had a few of those instances myself but, writing straight up fantasy, the getting-ideas-from-real-life thing doesn't work AS well. Still works, but the day I start seeing dragons and what not is when I get fitted for the white jacket, eh?
ReplyDeleteIf you write time travel, do me a favor, if they change something in their own past, make sure that they then have some sort of memory of when they move forward. Always drives me nuts with time travels when they do that.
ReplyDeleteTD - it sounds like a great story, actually!
ReplyDeleteJoely - great way to reward yourself!
Lisa - they'll be going back beyond their own births, but if I change their lives, I'll be sure to let them have a double memory. I don't much like reading about any memory loss in fiction UNLESS it is resolved somehow, or there's a damned good explanation for them never getting their memory back.