What to Write

One of the most difficult parts with starting a new writing project no matter the type is deciding just what to write. NaNoWriMo officially begins in about a day and a half, so I figured today I would write about deciding what to write about. Deep, I know.

Ideas can come from anywhere. Existing works can be a great influence, but accusations of plagiarism can be a frightening concept. The trick with using an existing work as your muse is to treat it as a diving board; an entry way into the pool of possible ideas. What can you do to make the story yours? To take control? It is not even necessary to focus too heavily on making sure your story is different; typically, the more time you spend focusing on making your story different, the more the similarities are highlighted. Go with the flow, and let the story carry you along. To extend the diving board metaphor above, let the ripples carry you forward, but change how you dive in.

This year, my muse came from the radio. Specifically, a single word I heard on the radio while driving to work a few weeks ago. I couldn't tell you if I heard it in a song or on a commercial, but the words "home fire" really stuck out. I believe, though I am not certain, that it was part of a phrase, "Keep the home fires burning." and immediately I started thinking of a story to fit that phrase. The first question I had was: Why? Why do you need to keep the home fire burning? What would happen if the home fire went out? Why is it called a home fire? Is it different from a regular fire? Slowly, I started to figure out the answers.

First of all, what is the difference? Why do you need to specify that it is a home fire? The reason for this distinction, is that the home fire is the portal back home. If the home fire is extinguished, so is the connection to your home. Without the guiding light of that special flame, you are destined to roam, lost, forever. In order for this to make sense, though, the home fire also had to play a role in leaving the home. If you imagine an island, you cannot escape the island without a boat, but you also cannot reach the island without a boat. That left me with the concept that people had to choose to go somewhere, knowing full well that their return relied on the mythical home fire.

In order to make such a decision, the people would need a strong driving force. If they had another option, a safer option, why would they not take it? I saw two options: the destination was so beautiful or wondrous that people just had to see it, or that they had to go there in order to survive, in order for their families to survive. Both possibilities held promise, but ultimately I decided to go with the latter. Forcing people into the situation, rather than having them go by choice, seemed to offer a clearer path for the progression of the story. Ultimately, I decided that the home fire would serve as a portal to a mine, a hellish underworld that held gems and minerals needed on the surface. In order to feed their families, one man from each house would work in the mines every day, bringing up gems and rocks to feed his family. The catch being that every man knew if his lantern of home fire were to be extinguished, he would be stuck in the mines forever. You cannot create new home fire, and you cannot use a fire from somebody else, only the flame that brought you in can take you out.

Obviously, the conflict would involve the main character's fire going out, but what would that mean for him? If a typical man were trapped in a hellish mine, knowing that he had nothing to lose, completely void of hope, what would he do? I'm sure some people would go insane; fight and try to take out as many people as possible. Others would opt for flight; convince themselves that there has to be some escape. Others still would probably just give up and accept the inevitable. But then what would the other miners do? How would they handle seeing their former comrade put into this situation? Ultimately, I decided that the other miners, under instruction from their government, would turn on and kill any miner who loses his way back home. Not all miners agree with this, but they know it is kill or be killed. If you are caught disobeying, you will be the next one executed.

There is a reason the government encourages death, but that will be saved for the story itself.

And there you have it. From a word on the radio, to a brief and basic outline of a potential novel. See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?