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Story Ideas and Author Spotlight

Tracy Wainwright • Oct 20, 2023

Help me welcome guest author and blogger, Tracy Wainwright, as she shares about where she gets her story ideas.


One of the most frequent questions I get as an author is where my ideas for books come from. As with most of my life, not much is consistent. Sometimes a conversation with a friend or an employer can elicit an idea. Sometimes I see a scene running through my head or hear a conversation happening and build a story and characters around that scene or convo. With In an Instant, the idea began with wondering what would happen if someone disappeared out of thin air with no real leads. How would that affect her family? What would they do? How would the police know where to start looking? The next question was how the situation would go if during the investigation secrets about that person were revealed. All those imaginative wonderings turned into In an Instant, where a young woman disappears on her way to work and the sharp investigator discovers secrets that rock her husband's world once again.

 

Truly, a story idea can come from almost anywhere. The things to think about are:

- Is there enough of a story to make a book? Sometimes a scene leads to an entire plot and some subplots crop up along the way. These are necessary to write a book that engages readers and holds their interest throughout.

- Do you have quality characters? A great scene or story can be ruined with a boring or 2D character. Unique characters are fun, but someone who's average but does extraordinary things can also work. The key is to know your characters inside and out - their hopes, dreams, fears, family, disappointments, etc.

- Does the story work? I've abandoned a story idea or two along the way because they didn't work well. Especially with a mystery or suspense, the sequence of events and the motivation and action of the characters need to follow some line of logic. 

 

So, whether a memory, a news story, a flash of an idea, or a conversation sparks the idea for a story, the process of creating a well-written, thought-out book looks very much the same. I would never want to limit where story ideas come from!

 

Question for readers: Do you have a story idea? Or have you written a book of your own? I'd love to hear what sparked that idea! Leave a comment below.


About Tracy:

I love books! Reading them, writing them, editing them. I'm so grateful to get to work in this field and create fun, exciting, and sometimes educational books, as well as help other authors bring their writing and publishing dreams to fruition. I've self-published a dozen books in a variety of genres, have 1 book published with Prism Book group, and am contracted for a 9-book series with Pelican Book Group. I also enjoy speaking for both writers groups and women's groups. When I'm not reading, writing, or speaking, I'm taking care of or enjoying time with my perfect-for-me husband and four wonderful children.


Connecting online: 

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Tracy-Wainwright-ebook/dp/B07V49P939
 https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTracyWainwright

https://twitter.com/TracyWrites4Him

https://www.instagram.com/tracywrites4him/

https://www.tracywainwright.com

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