Themes and Memes

Thea Devine today, watching as the snow stops, the sun comes out, and ready to jump-start some new ideas. I created this list for a workshop I gave at several Chapters (including CTRWA), and I’ve had a few new thoughts since I distributed the handouts.

Maybe you’re looking for a theme, an idea, a spine, some motivating mojo. Maybe you need a break from the WIP and want to write something just for the change (like, in my case, Not Sex). Maybe you want to play around with some bigger ideas and plot points. Maybe this list will help.

Family, faith, community: I think these themes the most important today
Anything goes vs old time values
Hedonism vs. religious stricture
Good vs evil
Something profound – like failure – shapes and changes a protagonist’s life
Loss of friends, community, job: after adversity, struggling to make a new life
Impact of separation, divorce, death
The love that could not be
Rebellion and where that leads the protagonist
Old boyfriend returns and upends everything
Consequences of sexual attack (Steubenville)
Repercussions of cavalier sex
Rags to riches: heroine spirals down and out and climbs back to a better life
An unseen lurking threat
Haunting — by ghosts real or imagined, conscience compels actions
Objects of desire: the key to a crisis in the present is in the mystery code located somewhere exotic that will save the country, the world, the planet (I love this theme)
The government is out to get us
The government is out to save us
Child in jeopardy
Impact of random violence (wrong place wrong time)
Controlled threat (stalker, serial killer)
Apocalyptic event changes life as we know it
Hero/ine against all powerful cabals that seek to dominate everything

And then …
Peripheral characters tell hitherto unknown story of a historical figure of real person –
The Other Boleyn Sister, the Tsarina’s Daughter, The Paris Wife
Ongoing characters reader falls in love with: Stephanie Plum, eg.
Exotic locations in exotic times: Wilbur Smith and Barbara Michaels, ca 1920’s Egypt; Daisy Dalrymple mysteries (1930s)
Wounded hero (like Jesse Stone) solves small town mysteries
Impact of major historical event (9/11, Columbine, Newtown)
Beloved fictional characters — like Mr & Mrs Darcy solving crimes; Jane Austen parsing out mysteries etc.
Boomer characters — the Covington novels
“clubs” — book, knitting, quilt. Jane Austen etc.
Historical mysteries — Alienist, Dante Club, Anatomy of Deception

Need some motive power? characters could be searching for family, a murderer, a lost sibling, assets, heirs, vengeance, treasure, lost love, an abandoned child, a new life, another chance.

Or they could be running from a murder charge, an ex-spouse, a stalker, toxic relationships, their childhoods, the past, responsibility, secrets (see below).

Or they could vanish. People leave for any number of reasons: they committed an opportunistic crime, were in an accident, were kidnapped, just took off, eloped, escaped an abusive situation, were running from the law, were seeking to start over, committed suicide

Maybe someone’s hiding something: someone’s secretly …

An alcoholic
An Exhibitionist
A pill addict/drug addict
A gambler
A shoplifter
An extortionist
An embezzler
Bulimic
Covets her sister’s husband
Endures physical or emotional abuse in a loveless marriage
Did bad things out of jealousy and never got caught
Got pregnant by seducing a man who resembled her husband who couldn’t have children and passed it off as his
Has an irresistible impulse to kill
Is really a bad girl when family and friends think is so good
Did something bad just to see if she could get away with it
Had a secret baby she gave away
Thought she was adopted; finds she was her mother’s natural illegitimate child

That’s it, guys. What do you think? Any ideas to add to the mix? I’d love to hear them.

Thea Devine is working on her next erotic contemporary romance — and pondering a handful of other ideas.

What John Said

I’m going to tell you what John said. John is the calm waters next to my endlessly churning hurricane.. John is orderly, logical and precise. I am way on the opposite side of that. So John keeps me sane during these crazy publishing times.

Arguably, every time in publishing has been a little crazy, so this is one thing John said to me when I was suffering my huge writer’s block year. He said, books get written one page at time (a journey of a thousand words?). One page at a time. If I didn’t write that one page, there wouldn’t be a page 2,3 or even page three hundred.

That was very comforting. I mean, who can’t write one page, even if it’s gibberish. But you know this writing secret – whatever you write, it’s not gibberish and it may be the start something wonderful at some point.

Or it may not. But putting words on paper is so satisfying in and of itself that it’s worth galvanizing yourself to write that one page even when you think the water’s muddy and the well is dry.

And, as it turns out, the well is never dry. The creative waters may scrape the rocks at times, but — as John said when I was reluctant to use an idea in my current WIP that I was saving for another book — there’s always another idea. Seriously. He said he’d rarely seen me run out of ideas.

Really. There IS always another idea. Aren’t our antennae always out, searching for the snippet of conversation that could be a head-snapping opening line, the thing in the news from which we can invent a high concept novel, the personal experience we can spin into an inspirational romance?

Aren’t you talking to people everywhere, listening to conversations, asking questions, reading everything, studying your husband who has had your number all the years you’ve been married?

Aren’t you trying really hard to fit a plot around the fire at the pharmacy? Are you writing everything down?

If you had to plot in 100 page chunks? That’s daunting. One page — focusing on what the reader needs to know? No problem. Only that and nothing more. Okay, got it done. Oh wait, you have to keep going — you can’t stop there. You seeded the first page with all kinds of things you need to carry forward. Keep going — page two and three, four, five … and then — maybe — the magic starts to happen.

Or not. But you’ve got a nugget you can save for another day, another plot, another WIP.
Remember what John said: you write it one page at a time, and there IS always another idea.

Thea Devine really loves John. She’s working on her next erotic contemporary romance.

Do Not Disturb – Daydreaming in Progress

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here.

Shh… hold on a moment. I’m staring out my window. Aren’t my squirrels cute? I know I should be writing but I’m vegging.

I’m not thinking about anything writing related right now either. And that’s okay.I’m remembering a recent trip to Ikea with my buddies, Katy, Suze and J. We had a lot of fun with those owl puppets.

I’m letting my mind wander while I look at this. . . . this is such a divine tree.

I’m a true believer in daydreaming/vegging out/being lazy. I can’t think of a single idea that originated from me sitting down and saying, “I will now generate story ideas.” That totally doesn’t work for me.

Here’s where my past ideas came from:

• Mystic Ink - baby name book while I was researching a totally different story.
• The Undead Space Initiative - driving my car.
• Misfortune Cookie – while daydreaming during my day job. Let me clarify – I was working on something repitive and my mind went into some other dimension.
• Ascension – during a car ride.
• Unnamed projects in the works – various places like sitting around being a couch potato, waiting in line at the grocery store, watching the news, and driving in the car (that seems to be my biggest idea generator).

The best ideas always sneak up on me when I least expect them! Kind of like those gremlins in the dryer that steal socks – no one sees them, yet the results are the same – two go in – one comes out. And don’t tell me I’m the only one with them! Either that, or I have a pocket dimension in my basement.

I have to thank Jamie for her post Monday - I don’t wanna. It reminded me that it’s normal to not do anything once in a while. In fact, I would argue that if you don’t stop and stare out the window regularly, you will never, ever have any fresh ideas again.

What does everyone else think? Can you command your mind to be creative? Or do you have to trick it like I do?

The Russian Coat

The Russian coat is packed a plastic bag, still on the floor of my office because I have no idea what to do with it.  For one thing, it has a history.  Back in my older son’s senior year of high school, the class, in conjunction with a course in Russian literature, travelled to Russia during spring break.  My son left wearing a blue ski jacket when he boarded the plane.  When he arrived back at the airport a week later, he had this thick woolen brass buttoned military coat: the Russian coat.

That coat went with him to university in Chicago, it and he enduring four years of minus zero degree winter weather (and how glad I was he had it) and then it came back home and into the hands of my younger son who wore it for the last two years of high school and beyond.  At that point, my older son was working overseas, we were on the cusp of moving to CT, and as we were cleaning things out, I thought maybe it was time to donate the Russian coat.

My eldest was adamant that we shouldn’t. The Russian coat had a story, it was his story, his history;  it  was part of his growing up. We had strict orders not to donate the Russian coat.  By that time, it was in pretty bad shape:  it needed a really good going over, repair, and a major cleaning.  Was it worth all that if it was just going to be packed away and nobody was planning to wear it ever again?

As I’ve written previously, my mother was born in Russia; my grandparents emigrated here in the 1930’s so I’m not without some sentiment on this matter.  I feel that pull to keep some connection to a history that’s in my blood if not in my consciousness.

But maybe there’s a different story about the Russian coat that I, the granddaughter and daughter of those immigrants and romance author, have yet to excavate from its tattered remains. I mean, this could be my Doctor Zhivago moment if I’m ever bold enough to grab it.

Until I’m certain of it, though, I’m feeling, fatalistically, that the Russian coat just might be with us forever.  So it sits, a victim of inertia, bundled up, on the floor of my office and I nudge it every once and while, and wonder what to do with it. I try to imagine that moment my son actually came into possession of it, and wonder whether actually having the object is necessary if you’ll always have the memory.  I wonder if this is how we all get stuck with the objects of our memories that we just can’t bear to relinquish.  And if the reason we hold onto objects is to hold on to our history in order to assure that our children and grandchildren know and remember that we were here.

How many things have tethered you because of memories?  Are they inspiration or clutter? Are you someone who can easily let go of objects?  Or do you hold onto things forever?  Is your house as cluttered as mine? What would you have done with the Russian coat?

Thea Devine is nearly finished with Beyond The Night, the sequel to The Darkest Heart, to be released April 2013.  She’s pleased to announce the reissue of His Little Black Book in October.

Ideas — From Where?

Ideas — from where?

Thea Devine here, exasperated once again as a cousin of mine said for the umptieth time, I can’t figure out where you come up with this stuff.  Which is arguably the most frequent question an author is asked:  where do we get ideas?

Well, I have to believe we’re all wired in some way the same way.  So that when I’m  (you’re) at a wedding, I’m (you’re) thinking about murder and kidnapping, or when you’re in the post office, and hear someone say, “they say he started the fire,” my (your) ears prick up, and we’re already thinking, what fire, where, why would he, how did he, was he young, old, was it an accident, or deliberate, what about his family, his friends, was he bullied, goaded, or predisposed?

What is an idea anyway?  It could be one line of dialogue, a premise, a theme, or a full blown plot that invades your imagination and makes your fingers itch.  We all watch the news, read the papers, are plugged into tabloid tv.  But really, the stuff of fiction is usually in the smaller events.  On last night’s local news — a story about six small skeletal bones that were found in a pond.  Whose?  How long were they there?  Who went missing?  Did anybody know?  Was it a cold case? Then what?  Who becomes obsessed by the six small skeletal bones — and why?  And who wants to stop that person from investigating?

Also in the news:  the statue that was beheaded.  It doesn’t have to be religious, although it was. What was someone trying to say by chopping off the head of a plaster statue?  Was there something inside?  Was there a clue to something missing?  Someone’s body part?  A hidden treasure?  Or was it prank, done on a dare — and yet … maybe there’s a legend about the statue.  Maybe someone wants to find out if it was true. But why?

Even more enticing — the reclusive heiress who just died in NY at age 104.  Never married, fabulously wealthy, numerous homes, including three apartments needing major updating in the same building, now up for sale.  And viewing the properties has not been allowed. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  What fascinating clues to the heiress’s life might be hidden in those apartments?  Or revelations?  What mysteries would an interested buyer discover?  Or, if more than one party is bidding on an apartment — why?   What about the heirs?  How distant are they?  How greedy are they?  Who really has a stake in heiress’s death?

Then again, you have only to be nosy, while you’re waiting in the post office,  to discover the woman in front of you, pondering the Stop & Shop circular, is planning three — count them, THREE — Christmas dinner parties.   Well, in my world (wouldn’t it happen in yours?), someone must surely die at one of them, and the hostess is the prime suspect. How many people were invited to each dinner?  Who had it in for the deceased, really?  Or was it a random murder for some other reason?   In the real world however, two or three other women and I “helped” this lady plan her dinners and we all hoped we’d be invited (we weren’t).

Now granted, these are just  jumping off points that hopefully spur plots and enough curiosity to create characters and weave a story.  Sometimes they don’t.  You can’t write every story you think of or want to (really?  I can’t??).

So I write everything down.  Names, words, moments, possible titles, themes, premises, ideas.  Here are some things I jotted down in one of several notebooks:

A Certain Sunday; because she lied;  in love with two brothers — how does choose?;  two rich sisters vying for shock value — one fails, one succeeds and not the ones you think;  when he killed the bird, he killed himself and he killed the song (Jos. Campbell);  he couldn’t have her so he watched over her like a hawk;  had he returned to exact revenge or seek redemption?;   A Place I’ve Never Been  walking the line between danger and death; memories come at a price; destroy someone strong so someone will replace him who is weak and easily defeated; eager to leave, terrified to go.

I haven’t acted on any of these thoughts or ideas yet.  But it doesn’t matter.  They’re there, ready to be accessed when I need them. One of them will be the missing element of a story I’m writing.  One of them will set me off in a new and exciting direction I hadn’t thought about .  One of them (don’t know which one yet) is the key to a best seller.

Where do you get ideas?   Where don’t you?

So where do you get ideas? Do you hate people asking you?  Do you drive your husband crazy when you stop in the middle of a conversation to write things down?  (Can you tell that I do?)

Thea Devine is the USA-Today best selling author whose books defined erotic historical romance.  The Darkest Heart was a June 2011 release from Gallery Books.  She is currently working on a sequel.