Strange ideas

Posted by Simon on 11th, December 2009 at 16:58:22

I'm in the "ideas phase" for new books.

This is one of my favourite parts of the writing process.  It's fairly simple and goes like this - sit down with pad of paper and pen and think of bizarre, strange, quirky, cryptic, original, odd, twisted, insane, double crossing and entertaining plots, combined with a few similarly interesting characters to go in them.

Occasionally, I have to admit, the thinking is assisted by sitting in a pub with a couple of beers.  For inspirational purposes only, naturally.

So, if you see me in a bar, apparently staring into space and lost in the world of dreams, fear not.  It's normal for subject.  Or this subject, at least.

What I particularly like about the ideas phase is that in its initial stages they tend to be really whacky, before finally calming down to something approaching a feasible plot.  I've had a few odd ones over the last couple of days, including one based on ballroom dancing.  I think that was in part inspired by a dream I had when I was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

And not terribly successfully, either.  A sense of rhythm has always been noticeably absent in my life.

Anyway, what this was all about was that I think the outlines of a new plot are emerging and I'm very much enjoying shaping them up.  Call it an Xmas present to myself! 

I've also managed to come up with a few other thoughts for more strands, plots or sub plots.  So, that was the point of this little ramble of a blog - there's plenty of life left in the tvdetective series yet!

Off to do some more "thinking" now. (Yes, you've rumbled me, it is Friday night so you know what that means).

Right, final point for the moment - don't forget I'm doing a couple of signings in bookshops in the run up to Xmas, so if you'd like a book dedicated to someone for a present, do come along.  There are details on the news and events page - www.thetvdetective.com/news.html

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