Romance versus Thriller

People have asked me, "How can a writer create stories in two such different genres as romance and mystery thrillers?"

I realize most (but not all) writers write stories in a single genre, but for whatever the reasons, I enjoy writing in both genres equally well. I often get great thriller ideas while writing a love story. I happened to be writing a thriller novel a short while back and I suddenly got this great idea for a love story, which turned out to be my book, Memories of Lake Wabaskang. The idea I had intrigued me so much at the time I stopped writing the thriller, placed it on the back burner temporarily, and began writing the love story instead. That story, Memories of Lake Wabaskang, was published prior to the book I was originally writing at the time, but it was eventually also published. That is simply how my mind works.

While speaking as an invited guest to a class at an elementary school one day for their annual Career Day, one of the students asked me how I start a new book. The question caused me to think because I generally do not start a book at the beginning and chronologically continue to the end. I told the student that while it probably made the most sense to start a book at the beginning, I often started somewhere in the middle or even at the end of a story and work my plot lines backward. I told the class that I have actually completed a book by writing the beginning of the story last. Until that student asked me that question I had never really given it much thought. Now I realize that I rarely start at the very beginning of a story, although once in a blue moon I do. I am not sure just how other writers construct their stories, but I believe I will ask the question in some of my writing groups and of my various contacts.

I was also asked how I keep my characters straight in a story. That was also an interesting question for me to respond to at the same class. My method is to list my characters as I invent them just ahead of the story I am writing. I list their names, the relationship with the main character, their physical description, perhaps their age, anything else that sets them apart, plus various other aspects or characteristics of that person I will need to remember later. At the end of my stories, I generally list the people under the heading of, Cast of Characters. This is a simple way that I keep the characters in my stories straight in my mind and in my story. I am certain all writers have their own methodology for keeping their characters straight, but this is the one I use. My memory is not good enough to remember them otherwise.

Where do my ideas come from? That was another question a student asked me. The answer to that one is complex, because I don't have a simple response to it. My ideas come from almost anywhere and at anytime. Sometimes I write from personal experience while at other times I write purely from an idea that pops into my head. I am a prolific reader, so I often get an idea from reading another author's story where I write about an idea that was left unexplored by that person. What I never do is copy an explored idea or any part of another author's script. That would be cheating and it is illegal.

So as you can see, writing is very complex in that rarely any author ever does it the same as somebody else. I say that if you have an idea for the start of a story, sit down at your computer and begin writing to see where it leads you. I recommend writing a family story to get in the proper mood. That is how I started, and I can guarantee you that all families have interesting characters and traits that are fun to explore.

Happy writing to you.