Where do stories come from?
Before the writing starts, you know, the whole getting the words on the page and working towards a first draft thing, there’s usually a question that I want to play around with.
More often than not, that question starts with two words:
What If?
This question will drive the plot, the characters, the pace, literally everything about the surface level of the story will spring from this question.
Sometimes there’s also a theme I want to explore. A bigger, more esoteric or emotional question or issue. Another layer underneath. This theme might drive the character’s motivations, their decisions, their blindspots and their egos.
When the two come together the combination can be powerful.
And fun.
So I collect these ideas in a notebook whenever they come to me. Some will make sense at the time and some don’t. But I keep collecting them because this is my treasure trove.
When it comes time to start a new book, I’ll dive in and see if there’s one on the list that grabs me by the throat and says, “Pick Me!”
Each story will inevitably take on a life of its own when I start planning and writing it, but none of them would ever get started without these first inklings.
Below are the original notes—straight and unedited from my collection—for the books I’ve written so far.
Long before sales, cover designs, a blurb, or even words on a computer screen, these starting points sat patiently in my collection of notes, waiting for me to open the door and walk inside …
(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)
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FALSE GODS
WHAT IF: What if a parent contacts Rafferty because their daughter is missing? What if it looks like she’s run off to join a cult? What if it turns out that she’s being held in the cult against her will? What if it all goes tits up at the end, Waco style?
THEME: The things we subconsciously or unconsciously allow to influence our lives.
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WRIGHT & WRONG
WHAT IF: What if Rafferty gets hired by the parents of a kid who was part of a gang that did a high-school shooting? What if the other boys in the gang committed suicide during the shooting leaving the one kid behind to take the fall? What if the kid that is now the focus of the cops and public outrage didn’t do it (or had a much more minor role than it appears)? What if Rafferty can’t get this kid off before he is sent to the electric chair?
THEME: What believe and why.
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DOWN THE BARREL (Originally titled LONDON CALLING)
WHAT IF: London Baines wants to be a superstar, he just doesn’t want to work for it. A rich daddy, and everything he needs and wants laid on, and it’s still not enough. Pre-empting the Hiltons and the Kardashians by a couple of decades, London wants to be adored and idolised by people everywhere. But it’s not as exciting as he hoped once he becomes the target of a killer and Rafferty gets called in. Then it’s no fun for anyone.
But what if there is a twist in the tail and it turns out that London is behind the whole thing, even going so far as to murder his own parents? (Shades of the Menendez brothers)
THEME: Fathers and sons and their complicated relationships.