Happy Friday, friends, and if you’re reading this blog, I do mean happy. Allow me to introduce my friend Bowen Gillings whose tagline reads “writing to bring the world more fun.” Bowen’s A Night to Remember was an all-nighter for me. After reading it, this author is on my auto-buy. Read on, and I believe he may be on yours. ~ Donnell
Novel Ideas for Novels or . . . “That’s What I Get for Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight”
By: Bowen Gillings
Author Bowen Gillings
Novel ideas—I mean ideas for novels, not new and unique ideas. Though, I guess they could be one and the same and in fact should be if you are writing a novel, which I did and am, don’t think I stopped at one…what was I saying? Oh, yes, rabbit holes. No, that wasn’t it.
Novel ideas. Ideas that blossom into novels come from many places. Some ideas are “important.” Current or historic events, social trends, injustice, poor sanitary standards at meat packing plants—the sort of topics that end up in Oprah’s Book Club or hold Pulitzer contention.
Wonderful novels have been created that way.
Not mine.
My ideas—and I like to think the ideas authors like Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore, and Janet Evanovich grab hold of—come from places in the mind not often shared at fashionable dinner parties. Of course, I’ve never really been to a fashionable dinner party, but that’s not the point.
My story ideas are what some prominent, board-certified psychoanalysts might call, “weird.” They’re inspired by fleeting moments and intoxicated conversations (maybe sober, but let’s be honest). They spring from ponderings and wonderings. What if Dirty Harry Callahan were a cop in the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender? What if there really was a secret clan of lizard people running the Denver International Airport? If I replace “road” with “Mafia Don,” then that chicken crossing joke has a whole mess of potential.
Allow me to illustrate further. At a monthly improvisational writing session, a prompt was given: That’s what I get for bringing a knife to a gun fight. My mind rarely takes a straight path if a series of divergent detours present themselves. Thus, “knife” and “gun” were not weapons, but idioms for opposing concepts. The prompt offered a fish-out-of-water scenario. I went down the rabbit hole (ah, there it is) and in about thirty seconds arrived at: Man walks into a lesbian bar. Not far enough down. I dug some more.
How can this be even more engaging and awkward?
Okay, better.
He’s trying to save this young woman, but he’s a figure of ridicule. Not just because he’s a man, but because he’s…dressed as a circus clown!
Now we have something.
This weird idea of a man-clown walking into a lesbian bar in 1985 (knife in a gun fight) blossomed over the span of ten minutes at that improvisational writing session. It got laughs when I read the first few paragraphs aloud. I had the seed of a story.
Where am I going with all this? At the time this seed arrived I was deep into writing an epic fantasy. I immediately set that aside, however, to cultivate my new clown idea. Well, I nurtured that seed into a short story called Three Ring Circus, which got published in Allegory e-zine and won bronze in the Zebulon Writing Contest. That short story grew into a novel-length manuscript. That manuscript placed in the Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards and earned a contract offer from a small press.
I turned that contract down. Whole other story.
My point, dear blog reader, is writers must welcome inspiration wherever they find it, and be willing to follow where inspiration leads. True, inspiration may sometimes lead you in circles akin to a yapping Yorkie spinning a tornado after its own tail. But sometimes inspiration guides you down a most rewarding rabbit hole to a story you didn’t know was in you.
So, whether you are motivated to tell an “important” tale, or whether you get hit with the idea to write about a used car salesman thwarting an attempt on the life of a genius pet toy designer, follow your inspiration. What’s the worst that could happen? You eliminate something bad from the story gene pool? If so, you are now and always free to be inspired, yet again.
A heroic used car salesman? Not a bad idea.
About First Family: Paradise is out of reach, but the suburbs aren’t bad.
Dad kicked them out of Eden, so Adam and Eve got a place in the suburbs. Here Adam is swamped naming everything in Creation while Eve fixes his blunders and pines for a vacation. Meanwhile, their two grown, live-in sons have a case of sibling rivalry that would make a therapist’s career. When Dad drops a line saying he’s coming for a visit, it opens up a world of possibility for Adam and Eve, and a can of worms for their boys.
About the Author: Bowen Gillings is an award-winning author whose debut novella A Night to Remember reached #9 on Amazon.com’s Top 100 for its subgenre. His work is featured in Fresh Starts anthology, Allegory e-zine, and the Spring 2023 anthology release Journeys into Possibility. He is an active member and former president of Pikes Peak Writers and a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and The League of Utah Writers. Bowen is an Army veteran, loves travel, cooking, martial-arts, and a fine adult beverage. He lives in Colorado with his wife and daughter. Learn more on his Amazon.com author page and at storiesbybowen.com. His latest work, First Family, is now available on ebook.
Bowen, thank you for being my blog guest today on Help From My Family. I had tears streaming down my face as I read your pitch in A Night to Remember. But heck, if you remember in Open Critique, I was darned impressed with that fantasy you’ve mothballed. Hmmm. I don’t recall saying darned in my Amazon review. Treading carefully on my rewrite 🙂 Looking forward to following your career, reading First Family.
Thank you for inviting me to the party, Donnell. And thank you for the kind and embarrassing praise.
I “met” Bowen when we were both authors in the Fresh Starts anthology, and I have to say his story was a refreshing change and one of my favorites. Thanks for a peek into the workings of your mind, Bowen.
Thank you, Terry. I dug yours, too.
Bowen, thanks for the article. I enjoyed it, especially the Mafia Don reference. Those twists trigger inspiration and offer new meaning to originality in fiction.
You’re welcome. Jokes, song lyrics, and even political speeches are fun to mess with and get creative.
Love this post!!! What a *cough cough* inspiration 😔
You should get that checked.
I once saw a human interest story about a woman who creates paintings using dryer lint. That became the inspiration for Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, the third book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. First Family sounds like a riot and a book I definitely need to check out!
Lois, this is probably why I enjoy your books so much. I am too much of a realist. You’re a realist, too, but you put unique and zany spins on your books 🙂
All my tales are laced with humor. Quirky, would be a good, if weird, word to label them.
Fun and inspiring post. His comments remind me of how my debut novel came to life from a prompt. Thanks!
George, I once wrote an entire book based on a prompt. Very cool, that The Mona Lisa Sisters came from a prompt!
Great post, Bowen. It was very entertaining. I see what Donnell meant about your wit and being able to think outside the box. And having once been stranded in the Denver Airport for 8 hours, I can attest that it quite possibly is run by a secret bunch of lizard people. Good luck and thanks for giving me a laugh on this bleak day.
Ha, Mike, I’ve read your work, you definitely think outside of the box. but wait… are you saying DIA isn’t run by a bunch of lizard people???? 🙂
DIA used to have a talking gargoyle, too. Don’t know if it remains or has been shuffled off through the stargate to realms below plumbing and electric.
Bowen, very witty and entertaining post. I’ll remember your theories while trying to come up with novel ideas that match both definitions of the word! Thank you!
I am happy to be of service.
Bowen, Intriguing post. Outside the box? I say it’s super creative. More like outside the universe.
I do try.
Donnell and Bowen, This is a fun post. It’s also timely as I’m stuck in the middle of my WIP with a foggy direction. Bowen has given me permission to explore the unimaginable. Thanks!
Ha, Thonie, can’t wait to see what you come up with 🙂
Hi Bowen,
Thanks for the inspiration insights. Some years ago – OK, many years ago, I was busy freewriting for a Writers’ Digest course. A friend called, and when my wife told her what I was doing, she said, Tell Skip to write a murder mystery about a kumquat. The challenge accepted, the inspiration became a story about kumquats and murders. It remains, appropriately, in a folder at the nether regions of a file cabinet But the writing bug had bitten, inflicting a wound that hasn’t healed.
Bailey Herrington
A kumquat. I love it. Certainly don’t see that in books these days. Maybe a kumquat farmer, salesman, or an alien who comes to earth who can only survive on kumquats 🙂
Great blog post, Donnell! Great interview, Bowen!
My daughter up north has been doing improv for about a year and she said I should join her the next time I’m in town. She’s with a great group and told me I could get some interesting ideas for stories if I’m ever stuck.
I’ve never been to an improvisational writing session, but Bowen makes me want to go searching for one.
Jennifer, I love improv. I have a group where I send a finish this sentence and incorporate five random words. Random makes you think outside the box. Bowen has proved how effective 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Love improvs. They are fun even if they don’t develop into a story. They get the juices running. Great blog Bowen/Donnell.