I love the word dilemma. It has such a poetic ring to it. In
the sense I'm thinking of it, dilemma means "a
position where each of two alternative courses (or all of the feasible courses)
is eminently undesirable". That definition is from my 1972 edition of
Webster's Dictionary (New Edition).
DIGRESSION ALERT
There are a lot of words that can't be found in my trusty 1972 New Edition,
like internet.
I'm about to start the next book in my thriller series and I
have a dilemma: who is the villain and what is the crisis? What nefarious plot
is hatching? Why should I (and the reader) care? I have to come up with a
theme/plot that will be fresh to the reader's eye. The dilemma arises because every
option I think of seems boring at first glance. You don't want boring when you
are writing or reading a book.
There are many options for a thriller. Meteors, a new ice
age, volcanoes, nuclear bombs, earthquakes, plague, zombies, evil terrorists, global
warming, world conspiracies, Nazis, a stolen secret that creates big problems
for the forces of light. Not to mention assassinations, traitors in high places,
military misadventures. They've all been done. I've done some of them.
It wouldn't be a dilemma if I didn't care, but I do. If a
writer doesn't care, he/she probably isn't going to write a very good book,
much less a successful one. There are, of course, exceptions. Many awful books
have made gazillions of bucks for their authors. You may have come across a
few, particularly in the last year or two. Bad books that sell well seem to be proliferating.
For many writers, especially new ones, there is a temptation
to copy whatever is popular. Romance is big? Write a romance novel. Zombies are
huge? Attack the White House or some other significant icon with hoards of 'em.
That is a serious mistake, if you care. Authenticity demands that you write
about what interests and excites you, not about what happens to be the latest
big trend. Besides, by the time your book is done there will be another latest
big trend.
OPINION ALERT
Write what you love or you will go down in flames.
I could write a novel about terrorist zombies attacking the
Pentagon while the heroine (the Secretary of Defense) falls in love with the
Zombie leader, who is desperately seeking a cure that is being withheld by a
military conspiracy. Maybe that would be big, sell a lot of books...hmmm...
A WRITER SECRET
The writer's mind is often filled with voices suggesting ridiculous
plot situations. This is called "Inspiration".
ANOTHER WRITER SECRET
The best way to stimulate inspiration is to write something.
I began today in a dilemma (if it's possible to be in a dilemma-and if it is possible, what does it look like,
inside a dilemma? I imagine it's rather like a bad motel), the dilemma being
who will the villain be and what will he/she do to provoke the engagement of my
heroes? Not to mention the fact that a thriller should rightly begin in media res, i.e., with action, stuff
happening, things blowing up, threats. I have this nit-picky need to be
believable. That contributes to the dilemma.
Since I couldn't come up with anything, I decided to doodle
around in the garage with a motorcycle I'm working on and then write this blog
piece in an effort to get the inspiration flowing. I'm still waiting. But I
feel better, because I wrote something. That's one of the reasons to write, it
makes you feel good when you do it. If it doesn't, consider a different career
path.
If you like the zombie idea, feel free to use it. If you make
millions, I want 10%.
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