Starting a Book, Part 1: Who, What, When and Why

I've blogged about the things I think about when I’m polishing a book, the last stages before submitting to my editor.

     My next two blog posts are going to be about the things I think about when I start a book, beginning with the very initial stages.

     For everyone who wants to know “where I get my ideas,” I’ll reveal I generally start with a “where and when” in the simplest terms (London, 1814, for example).  Then I imagine a man.  A handsome, troubled man.  A man who wants something, but not necessarily a relationship.

     Then I think of a woman who’s basically going to throw this man’s life into an uproar.  A woman who may or may not be “beautiful.”  A woman who wants something, but not necessarily a relationship. 

     I ask myself a series of questions, in no particular order.

     How, when and why do they meet? 

     As the story progresses, what promotes the relationship?  What threatens to ruin it?  What else can happen?  Some of these events will be tied to the time period, some won’t.

Who else is in these people’s lives?  Are they friend or foe, helpers or hinderers or both? 

Once the romance seems to be headed in the right direction, what major event threatens to destroy it?  What saves it?

Then I write a synopsis and hopefully sell the book that I then have to write.

Next blog post:  To Outline or Not To Outline?