The First Kiss

Starting a new story is like getting a first kiss. If it zings right away, you want to keep going! If not, well, it depends on the other factors too, but it’s probably not going to be a story you want to spend all your time with.  LOL!

What attracts you to someone is different every time. My first boyfriend was one of my best friends since the second grade – his personality drew me in. When I met my husband – I hate to sound superficial, but his good looks drew me in first! After that, I was bemused by his brooding personality. Over the years, one thing after another about John keeps me coming back for more. That’s what the right story needs to do for me, too.

What draws you to a new story could be any of a number of things – a character, a situation, a place. I’m usually first interested in a character. Then I think of the perfect place for her and I get really excited. Then I realize what kind of situation would really make me laugh and I just have to put her in it! This is what happened last month when I was brainstorming a new book idea.

I thought of my friend Jill who does everything she can to be in the right place at the right time so God can orchestrate an introduction to Mr. Right. I exaggerated some things to make it funny, brainstormed with friends to find the right situations to put my Jill character in, and kept thinking of new and funny ways to bring a story out of it. I tried to figure out how Character Jill would act and react in various situations, how her family would influence her, and I gave her some dating guidelines that would keep her from taking Mr. Right seriously enough to date him. Anything that would add conflict and humor was added to my mental list of possibilities for the story.

But it’s not always a character specifically that gets me going. I once wondered how a girl during World War 2 would know if she should give up waiting for her boyfriend to come home, assume he was dead like everyone said, and marry the other guy. I wondered what would happen if Cinderella gave dating advice. I wondered what life would be like if I had my own personal superhero. All of those ideas eventually became books or book proposals.

So what part is the most important – character, plot, setting, or something else? The answer is – yes. Character Jill is based on one of my best friends so I already love her – and I couldn’t write about her if I didn’t love her. For all the stories written about people dating and finding the love of their lives, the plot I’m developing is so funny to me and so “on” with our 21st century world that I chuckle every time I think about it. And Character Jill couldn’t have the adventures I’ve chosen for her anywhere but in LA, so I only need to decide if she’ll live in Burbank or Santa Monica (two places I’ve lived and feel confident writing about).

All the factors have to come together to create synergy, more interesting together than they appear separately. When they do, if there’s that first kiss zing, I’m ready to commit. Like Stephanie, I do have a problem sometimes with thinking of all the things that could happen. But I’ve found that usually stems from one of two problems: I have too much story and ideas, and I need to separate out bits for other books, or I don’t have a combination of character, plot and setting that really zing for me.

If I’m psyched about the story, there will be an “ah-ha” moment that signals the end of brainstorming – my commitment to seeing the story through. Could there be a better way to tell the story than the way I’ve chosen? Sure. But I’ll make myself insane trying to “make it better.” I did that once before and ended up with a book I hated. Two years later I was washing dishes and suddenly I knew what that ruined story really should have been about. I’d listened to too many people tell me what I “should” do in the current market, and I lost my passion for the story as I kept changing it. Nothing is going to make your story better if you lose the passion, the first kiss zing.