I decided that coming up with story ideas is a bit like building up muscles. Not that I know a lot about building muscles, but after some research (not too much, it was quite tiring) I’ve concluded that the main factor in muscle building is exercise. Essentially, to build your muscles you need to use them, and the more you use them, the harder you work them, the stronger they become.
Likewise with stories.
When I first started trying to write stories, it was hard work. I struggled to come up with worthwhile ideas. My plots were lame and essentially re-hashes of other people’s plots. My characters were basically myself, my family and my friends. There wasn’t much there that I’d want to read, let alone write. And even these poor attempts were difficult to come up with.
But I persisted. I kept at at. And slowly I found that it became easier. Ideas started to spring up, plots became both more intricate and more authentic. Characters started to take on a life of their own, and to seem a little more like real people. Even traces of originality started to creep in.
Eventually I found myself writing stories that I liked. And, with a bit more exercise of my mind-muscle (and some good critical input) I started writing things that other people liked.
To date I’ve written and published twelve novels or short story collections, and I have another one due out in a few weeks. The response from readers has been generally positive. My creative muscle is well developed.
The problem is, a well developed muscle likes to keep working. It wants to do what it’s been trained to do. It demands exercise. And now I can’t turn it off. Story ideas just keep coming.
Recently I started to wonder just how many different novels I had on the go, just started, or outlined. So I sat down with a coffee and some chocolate biscuits (because diet is almost as important as exercise in muscle development, or so I’ve read) and started to list them.
The results were a little bit frightening. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
- Empire #3. Title TBD. Already started, a chapter or so in, plus a few other bits and notes, background, etc. Arton (narrator in The Hidden Libraries, Empire #2) infiltrates the fortress of Zyx Trethir, Grand Duke Brodon’s stronghold. There he discovers unexpected allies - and a greater danger to the Empire than he had suspected.
- Local #5. Local History? (Not sure about that title). Sharkey Ward, ex-RN sailor and currently owner and total staff of ‘The New Dreadnought’ (who appears in ‘Local Legend’ and ‘Local Killer’ is the main character. The story starts with a shooting inside his café.
- Local #6. Local Eye? This is Sam’s story - he’s mentioned in ‘Local Artist’, and has big parts in ‘Local Legend’ and ‘Local Killer’, so he’s due for his own book. He’s living with / engaged to / married to Alison. Working as a photographer, running a sort of on-line photo magazine called ‘Local Eye’ when photos of crimes / victims ? start to show up on his site. Police are interested. Is something from his past coming back at him?
- Plunder (Pirate fantasy). One chapter and notes. Centred around a form of ‘magic’ that alters probabilities, and an ancient race that became so powerful that Reality itself was threatened. (Which leads to the question of ‘What is reality?’ - but I’m not sure I’ll go there!). Possibly the ‘ancient race’ were humans who had used their power to reshape themselves?
- Salvage Team Five. SF. Nothing written yet. In a star system with one human- colonised planet, the wreckage of a titanic battle between two alien races, thousands of years in the past, is being sought by rival Salvage companies. There are artefacts, rare metals, and the possibility of advanced technology - and weaponry. Greed and politics are well mixed in - but so is the truth about the alien races and their conflict.
- Some Mysteries. Fantasy, starting in this world. A woman is murdered, DNA identifies her as the daughter of an ex-CSI, who has been searching for her and her mother since they disappeared several years ago. But this woman is in her twenties, and the daughter could not be more than 14. And why was she killed with a bronze weapon? A page or so written.
- Max’s Talking Head. Humerous fantasy. Max is a re-animated skull, who knows the whereabouts of a considerable treasure. A distant future where ancient artifacts (i.e. objects from our time) hold enormous power, accessible only by Mages - who guard their secrets very carefully.
- The Politics of God - SF. On a distant world, a corrupted Church rules in the name of the Saint. Not belonging to any tradition from Earth, these are self-made and self- proclaimed saints. More sinister than holy! Dari, a novitiate in the Church, is studying at St Chadains (Which turns out to be an enormous landing craft from a starship), but he is in danger of upsetting some powerful people in the Church.
Some written, some background notes. Also a planned sequel, The Logic of Love. - A Legacy of Dragons. Fantasy, sequel to the Rimsey stories. The dragons are all dead and gone, as are their servants, the Dragon Priests. But the weapons used to defeat them - firepowder - and the forces created to employ those weapons are still in existence, and they might prove to be as much a danger as the dragons themselves. Rimsey is now a Duchess and a mother. But she’s still a Dragonslayer at heart - and she’s not about to let all her hard work be undone.
- Dragon Hunters. Fantasy. Several generations (200 years?) after Rimsey, both she and the dragons she fought are legends, and some people are denying that the stories about her are true. A young man who claims descent from her is struggling to protect her name, but without much success. He’s offered the chance to take part in an expedition to a far away group of islands where, it is rumoured, dragons still exist. If he can find out the truth about dragons, he might be able to restore Rimsey’s reputation. It’s supposed to be a scientific expedition, but some of those taken part have other motives, for dragons have always been seen by some as a route to power. What’s more, one of Rimsey’s greatest detractors is also on the expedition! (Nothing yet written).
Plus various short stories and novellas. And a completed novel of High Fantasy, Ahalanan - but it’s all handwritten, so it needs decoding and re-writing.
At about a year per book, at least ten years work! Probably more. I’m 66 this year. So I’m going to have to live till I’m at least 76. Better make that 80. And that’s providing I don’t come up with any more ideas, which I can’t guarantee. That story-writing muscle is still as active as ever, even though a lot of my other muscles are slowing down.
Beware of becoming a writer. It's a slippery slope to eternity: no way back and no way to stop.