Developing an Idea

I’ve never been short of ideas for stories. I really don’t understand the concept of writer’s block. I suffer from the opposite: there just isn’t enough time in the year for me to write all that I want to write.

I’m currently working on a brand new story, the first one I’ll be publishing that’s not about Simon and Beth (how I miss them). This is far from a new idea, though. These characters and this concept has been with me for quite a long time. Say about 25 years.

I’m a daydreamer. I always have been and I always will be. And it’s my daydreaming habit that got me through really boring lessons at school. I did well at school, although thinking about it now I’m not quite sure how, I did spend a lot of time daydreaming.

This one particular daydream I remember vividly in science class. Obviously I have no idea now what science lesson it was nor what we were supposed to be doing; all I know is that I really didn’t want to be there. So I started to fantasize about how I could get out of the lesson. But the writer in me wasn’t thinking about being excused to go to the toilet, I was thinking big, dramatic, about to change your life forever sort of stuff.

Loads of thrilling ideas raced through my head. Like suddenly a man would rush through the door and tell me I’m the chosen one. (For anyone who’s read the Bird trilogy that might make some sense). Then I thought what if I suddenly started to develop magical powers (again, sound familiar?). But a daydream that really caught my imagination was that I suddenly pass out and when I wake up I don’t know where I am nor what I’m doing there.

This idea excited me. What a fabulous concept. The teacher would have to send me home if that happened!

But it’s a times like this, when a gem of an idea inspires my brain, that I then can’t switch it off. I start to ask myself questions like why can’t I remember anything? What’s happened to me? What’s going to happen to me? How will I get my memories back? What does it mean to my life? What does it mean to the world around me?

Before I knew it, I had a story that I couldn’t wait to write, and that’s exactly what I did (when I got home, of course. I just want to clarify that I didn’t start writing it in science class).

I called it “Brain Implants” and it was about fifteen pages long. I was very proud of it at the time, but it was no novel. It was quite a standalone story about a girl who passes out suddenly, can’t remember anything, and how she goes about piecing her life back together again. However, it was an idea that never stopped niggling at the back of my mind.

Since then, dozens of different experiences, dreams and people that I’ve interacted with have slotted into the storyline. So many times I’ve seen or heard something and I’ve realised what a great addition that would make to “Brain Implants”. And now, twenty five years on, I’ve nearly completed it. It’s now a much deeper story and I’m incredibly pleased with it.

It’s not called Brain Implants anymore, and to give you a little insight, there aren’t any brain implants in it at all since I’ve developed it. Although there is still an implant somewhere, but that’s for me to know and for you to find out.

I’ll keep you posted on when it’s being published. I hope it sounds of interest!