No one knows how an inspiration happens, but when it does, it can lead to something truly wonderful to behold.
The thing is, when an inspiration leads to a novel, how should it take shape? Where do you begin? Where do you go from the initial thought?
Well, you need to take a look at the snippet you wrote when the inspiration happened.
The Snippet
The snippet was inspired from my reading of the Steel Cowboy Comic. I read and reviewed three volumes, and can’t wait to get my hand on the fourth. Well, I can’t wait to get a digital copy that is.
In case you missed the blog post where I posted the snippet, here it is again.
There were rumbles in the distance as the cowboy rolled out his bed for the night under the purple sky. The stars shown as diamonds and the moon was but a sliver. He put another piece of wood on the fire and took stock of what he had left.
-Maddy
He was two weeks into his three-week journey through the Desert of Woes and he was hoping he had enough fuel to last until he got to the Darkstorm Kingdom. He checked his silver pistols and made sure the runes were still intact.
He grimaced at the thought of the money he had spent to make the pistols fire in this land he was pulled into. He missed the Arizona desert back home and wondered if there was a way he would ever get back. This land of magic and mysticism was not for him. He didn’t like it.
He rubbed the runes to see if they would smudge and chuckled at himself.
*they’re engraved you idjit.*
Still, he looked at them and wondered if anything like this was possible back home. The rumble happened again, closer this time.
He propped up on the cane the merchant had given him, shaking his head as he turned to face the rumble. The enhanced leg he had saved up to replace the one he lost was nothing but scrap on this world. He had to choose between his pistols and his leg, he chose his pistols.
He was now regretting his decision as he hobbled his way to the edge of his camp and looked out to see a brilliant flash of azure and emerald light with a louder rumble coming closer.
*Shit, why couldn’t this have happened back home? I ain’t good with magic crap.*
The Challenge
As you can see, the protagonist is from another time and place. The challenge this poses is how to outline it and form the plot.
Do I just focus on him trying to get back to his dimension, or do I also include his friends family and team searching for him and trying to find what happened?
There would be a LOT of back and forth that will have to be skillfully transitioned so as not to be confusing or jarring. I have hopped from character to character in a book and short stories but not between two worlds/dimensions.
There is also that fact I never named him. So, I would have to do that. I have a general idea, and I will be putting it on Dabble to help me. I will also post snips of the prep in future blog posts.
Be on the lookout for that.
Until next time,
Anissa “Maddy” Walker
House of Geek 