What Inspires Me: Or How to End Up Immortalized in a Novel

People think I'm shy.  I don't think I am.  I think I'm observing.  I pick up as much information as I possibly can because I put it all into a big bowl, shake it up, then dump it out when I write.  I didn't actually intend for my first heroine to remind my sister of this one friend I had in high school.  She just came out that way.  I wasn't looking to recreate my friend's apartment building as the apartment building of the main character's friend in my second book, but it's what I saw in my head and it worked really well for the outdoor scenes I planned.  That pain I felt after my Dad died?  Yeah, that ended up in the pain a character felt for another loss.  It's all there, bleeding on the page; what I think about you, my life, and the world at large.

So, basically, if you do something stupid, funny, or interesting, you may end up immortalized.

Also, I was challenged on Facebook to put 7 sentences from page 7 of my current work.  I don't do those memes on Facebook ever for a variety of reasons, but for kicks, here they are.

“H.P. Lovecraft.”

“Nobody dances sober,” we both began in unison, then grinned widely as we finished together, “unless they happen to be insane!”  We laughed for a moment before he spoke again.  “Have you ever heard of us?”

I shook my head. “I’d like to hear more bands, but since I’m stuck at Titus most weekends my options are limited.”

“Are you a waitress?”

One reason I didn't want to participate is that the person who challenged me had a long description. Those can be lifted from a work and still sound good. Me? My strength is dialogue. Descriptions are a way to make the reader sense physical aspects of my works, but long paragraphs of description don't suit me. Posting a few lines of dialogue seem pointless. I didn't begin with the first sentence on page seven. Instead I skimmed until I found seven sentences that sort of went together.

Another reason is that page seven isn't the beginning and it isn't where the most interesting bits are. A good writer grabs you on page one. A great writer has you unable to put the book down by page ten. Not every word of pages one through ten can be attention grabbers or you'd be sick of the book by page ten. I feel like page seven isn't much of a statement of my work.

Here's one of my favorite conversations near the beginning of this one

“What is it with women and chest hair?”

“You either have too much or not enough,” Peter said.

“Can we talk about something other than chest hair?” Cynthia asked with disdain.

The guys all looked at each other, then sipped at their drinks or picked at some food.  Finally I looked to Peter.  “Well, are we talking about a monkey chest?”

“I only have a little hair,” Peter replied.

Cynthia clicked her tongue.  After a second I leaned toward Peter.  “I think we’re going to have to see it.”

Without coaxing, Peter jerked his shirt up to his neck revealing all including a nipple ring and a dragon tattoo on his pectoral.  All the guys looked, but Cynthia turned away.  “It’s like a soul patch,” I remarked, looking at the triangle of straight black hair.  I stared a moment longer.  “Wow.  You have the most perfect man nipples I’ve ever seen.”

Wolf and Sir Gay laughed. Peter smiled. “Behold my man-nipple!” he said so loudly that the other patrons looked our direction.

That last line is lifted directly from someone I know who used to show off his nipples at every opportunity. It was hilarious every time.

The rest of that was from other conversations I've had about chest hair or my own imagination.  One never knows what will be and what will not be until one writes it down.  And then edits it.  Like a good actor, you could end up on the cutting room floor.

Writing is fun!