Novel Kicks Writing Room: The Question That Won’t Leave You Alone

Welcome back to the Novel Kicks Writing Room. 

Today, our focus is all about the ‘question that won’t leave you alone’.

My hope with this exercise is that you’ll discover book worthy ideas by exploring questions and mysteries that genuinely intrigue you.

First of all, we are going to do a bit of a brain dump by answering the following questions. Don’t edit, just write down questions that fascinate or trouble you. It’s a chance to ask the who, what, why, where and when questions. 

Try and write about ten questions. Anything and everything is welcome. Just whatever comes to mind.

Examples include –

What if someone woke up with someone else’s memories?

Why do people stay in situations that hurt them?

What happens to childhood best friends who lose touch?

Is it ever right to lie to protect someone?

What are ordinary people doing during extraordinary events?

What if plants could communicate?

Next, circle the three questions that you find most compelling. Once you’ve done that, pick the one that intrigues or pulls you to it the most. 

Whilst you consider which one to pick, keep these questions in mind –

Why does this question matter to you personally?

What character might be obsessed with answering it?

What world or setting would make this question urgent?

What would happen if the character got the answer they wanted? If they didn’t?

What’s the cost of pursuing the question?

Still focusing on your one question, add… 

A plan for one specific setting or scene.

One secondary character.

One thing at stake (emotional, physical or otherwise).

Once you’ve done all of these, you’ll potentially/hopefully  have a book premise.

Now you have this, do the following – 

Write one scene of it.

Research one thing your book would need to explore. For example, does it have a legal element? What’s the information and process surrounding this?

An optional task – create a playlist of songs that set the scene for your book. You can do this even for an historical piece.

Have fun.

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.