A tumble down stairs last week left me with a broken rib and a fractured wrist. The rib is painful and the wrist awkward — I have to wear a splint for six weeks.
The splint makes typing difficult and the rib complains when I sit at the computer, so I’m spending most of my time planning (something I rarely do) and thinking about the next novel after the current one.
The Devil’s Diamond is still only about half way there, but I don’t want to get too far into the ‘what comes next’ weeds with that. As a discovery writer I prefer to let the characters carry me along. However, characters can sometimes be contrary if they are ignored for too long and inclined to lead me up the garden path. So there may be missteps all round.
Where to find a story
Ideas about character and plotting led me to think about where stories come from. I make no secret of the fact that I enjoy using other writers’ plots to get me into a new story. Alias Lord John, my last complete novel, was based on one of my favourite books, Daphne Du Maurier’s The Scapegoat. While Du Maurier’s story is set in France and her main character is a depressed English academic, in my story the setting is Regency London and the MC, Tristan Rigal, is an adventurer just returned from the Continent and looking out for his best chance.
This is of course a tried and true method for coming up with great stories and I can guarantee that although the framework is similar, these adaptations will never turn out the same as the original.
To take the technique a little further, it’s fun to use two plots and combine them into one story. For example my upcoming novel The Devil’s Diamond might be described as My Fair Lady meets The Moonstone. Well why not? Tried and true tropes never fail to delight audiences hungry for stories they know and love.
Alias Lord John is available from Amazon as a stand alone, or part of the Love And Inheritance Collection.