Brainstorming by June Sproat

This past week I had the pleasure of dining with fellow Acme Author Margot Justes. Not only did we have a wonderful meal, but we had a great gab session. Writing is a very solitary occupation so when we get to chat it’s great.

I was stuck on my historical. I knew the basic plot. I had the hero’s conflict/problem, the heroine’s conflict/problem, the overall story plot, but how was I going to make it all work?

Yep, that’s right. I had a great idea; I started to expand on it and bam – brick wall! So I met with Margot, who’d read what I’d written so far and didn’t think it was awful. (Thanks again for that, Margot.) Here’s how the conversation went:

Margot: “So what’s the problem?”
Me: “I have no idea how the hero finds out the secrets.”
Margot: “Oh, yeah, so what are you going to do?”
Me: “I have no idea! That’s why we’re here.”
Margot: “Right. Do you want some bread?”

Okay, it wasn’t exactly like that, but we did talk about the book for about an hour and you know what? We figured it out. Between the two of us, tossing ideas back and forth, we figured how my hero learned the secrets from his family’s past. We also discovered two new characters that would assist with the plot. By the time I got home the characters that are living in my head were chattering so much I couldn’t sleep!! Now I just have to find the time to get it all down on paper.

We chatted about Margot’s next book too; A Hotel in Bath which I was allowed to read and it is fabulous. She also let me in on the third book in the series – she is so good at romantic suspense. I am so fortunate to have a friend like Margot. I couldn’t do it without you.

Brainstorming – it’s a great thing.

Thanks Margot and everyone else -- thanks for reading

Best
~June

www.junesproat.com