Where Do Stories Come From?

Dan Walsh is the award-winning and bestselling author of 14 novels, including The Unfinished Gift, The Discovery and When Night Comes. He has won 3 Carol Awards and 2 Selah Awards. Three of his books were finalists for Inspirational Book of the Year. Dan is a member of ACFW and Word Weavers. He lives with his wife, Cindi, in the Daytona Beach area where they love to take walks and spend time with their grandkids. Click here to connect with Dan or check out his books.

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"Where do you get your stories?"  

I've been asked this question more times than I can count since my first novel came out in 2009. I suspect when people ask me this they aren't really expecting me to have a definitive answer. "Oh, they come from ______ . " Usually they have just read one or more of my novels, really enjoyed how the stories affected them, and they're saying this as more of a compliment.

But it is an interesting question, isn't it? Where do our stories come from?

When I've been asked this question during interviews or at book club events, I usually mention something about the creativity of God or the gift of creativity God gives to people. I suppose the same question could be asked of songwriters. "Where do you get your songs?" I suppose it's from the same place that stories come from (wherever that is).

I remember hearing an interview by Billy Joel on where he got the inspiration for his hit song, River of Dreams (In the middle of the night...I go walking in my sleep...). I dare anyone to hear this song and not start tapping your feet or be singing along by the end (Click Here to see it on YouTube; almost 10 million views). He said he got it in a dream and woke up with the song almost fully formed in his head. He took a shower, expecting it to vanish, but instead he began singing it. It wound up becoming the cover song for one of his albums and reached #3 in the Billboard's Top 100 song chart in 1993.

I've written 14 novels so far, finishing up my 15th, and have about another 5-6 stories roughed out in my to-be-written-someday file. A couple of them did come to me, almost fully formed, in a dream (at least the basic storyline, not 300 pages worth). But that's not certainly the norm. In fact, when I started thinking about what inspired each one, it's like they all have their own story.

For example, one of my bestselling and most-reviewed novels is Remembering Christmas. The idea for the book just popped into my head one day during a casual conversation with my wife at Cracker Barrel. We were discussing the various jobs she had when we were first married, before our kids came into the picture. She reminded me of one job I had completely forgotten about. It was this little Christian bookstore called the Book Nook in the basement of an old church in downtown Daytona Beach.

We left the Cracker Barrel and drove across the street to Barnes & Noble, to browse and get a cup of coffee. As I'm walking through the aisles of Barnes & Noble this great idea for a book comes to me, almost fully formed, including a surprise ending.

The inspiration for my most recent suspense novel, When Night Comes, came to me in a completely different way. Back in the 70s, I used to work for GE in a department that made high-tech training simulators for the Army and Air Force. These things were very sophisticated and cost millions of dollars each to build and millions more to maintain. Around that time, I saw a documentary about a sleep disorder doctor who was trying to develop a drug to help people with chronic nightmares.

Somehow these two things collided together in my mind to form this sinister plot. I realized it had the potential to be a great thriller-type story, and I wondered what it would be like to create a credible Christian as the main character, sort of the victim of this sinister plot, and see how he would handle the events that occurred as the story unfolds. And of course, how much better if I mixed a little romance into the equation?

Well that's enough about me and my stories. How about you? Tell us, where do you get your stories?

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Treading Lightly in the Character’s Heart ~ by Sarah Sundin

Sarah Sundin is the author of five historical novels set during World War II, including her latest release, On Distant Shores (Revell, August 2013). In 2011, Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. When she isn’t ferrying kids to tennis and karate, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist and teaches Sunday school and women’s Bible studies. You can find her at http://www.sarahsundin.com or on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest


What’s more exciting—and frightening—for a novelist than the blank page, the new document, a new set of characters?

In a recent blog post on the Books & Such Literary Agency blog, my agent, Rachel Kent, asked about the processes we go through when we start a new novel.

For me, there’s a certain hesitation. Not because I don’t know what to write. I’m an outline writer, and the whole story is plotted by the time I start my rough draft. My first chapter is sketched on a scene list, with key actions, dialogue, and emotions all listed.

But when I open that new document, I pause.

The hesitation comes from the reverence of entering the core of my character’s heart. For years I’ve gotten to know her. I’ve filled out character charts and given her a personality test and recorded important stories from her past. I know full well how she talks and thinks and reacts. If this is the second or third book in a series, I’ve already shown her as a side character. I know her.

Yet I only know her from the outside, like a dear friend. This knowledge comes from observation, from what she’s told me, and from asking probing questions to understand why she does what she does. But it’s still external knowledge.

Something about the actual writing changes the relationship, internalizes it. Now it feels real.

Starting the first chapter, I stand at the threshold to her heart. I don’t have the right to be there. After all, I’m going to record her story and spew it out for complete strangers to read. I ask her politely if I may enter. She eyes me warily. Can she trust me to record her thoughts and emotions with compassion and understanding? Can I trust her to reveal every bit of herself, the pretty and the ugly?

For the first few pages we both tread lightly. I look out from her eyes for the first time, perceive the

world as she does, and sense the depth of her thoughts and attitudes. It feels awkward and uncomfortable to me. And she acts awkward too, perhaps acting nice for company and tidying up the clutter.

As I begin to write, I feel like an imposter. Is this her voice—or mine—or the most recent character I wrote about?

Something shifts by the end of the first chapter. I’ve treated her with respect, and she decides I’m worthy of her trust. She grants me the right to live inside her head for the next several months.

And perhaps that isn’t wise of her. I’m going to put her through danger and heartbreak and loss and drama. I’m going to put her in situations where her own resources will not be enough. I’m going to challenge her to change and become a better person and turn her life over more completely to the Lord. But I do promise her—always—a happy ending.

How about you? Do you ever hesitate on that first page? Do you sense an awkwardness with your character? Or do you dive in, completely comfortable in your character’s head from the start?

On Distant Shores

Caught between the war raging around them and the battles within, two souls long for peace--and a love that remains true.
Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. A boyfriend back home, a loving family, and a challenging job as a flight nurse. But in July 1943, Georgie's cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. 

Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée. While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they've made?

With her signature attention to detail and her talent for bringing characters together, Sarah Sundin weaves an exciting tale of emotion, action, and romance that will leave you wanting more.

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Reality Slip ~ Jennifer Slattery

Jennifer Slattery is the marketing manager for the literary website, Clash of the Titles. She writes for Christ to the World Ministries, the Christian Pulse, Reflections in Hindsight and Samie Sisters. Find out more about her and her writing here. Then, hop on over to Clash of the Titles to join the fun and help determine Clash’s next literary champion.

Losing Touch With Reality

by: Jennifer Slattery

A few months ago, I stomped out of my office and down the stairs, scowling. My poor, unsuspecting husband looked up at me with his rather innocent baby blues and asked, “What’s wrong.” Standing in front of him, hovering between story-world and reality, I didn’t have an answer. It took a moment for reality to win as I remembered my husband wasn’t Trent, the not-so-heroic hero of my women’s fiction, Breaking Free. Apparently, my slip from reality isn’t unique. As I talked with Clash of the Titles’ authors and staff, I realized we writers have one thing in common—a very loose grip on the real world.

One evening as clash conqueror, Lena Nelson Dooley, ate dinner with her real life hero, she turned to her husband and said, "Jeremiah's going to have a fit when he hears what Maddy's doing."

Her husband gave her a blank stare. "Who's Jeremiah? Do I know him?"

She had an authentic laugh out loud moment. "No, he's the hero of the book I'm writing."

Like so many poor writers’ spouses, he shook his head and muttered, "Writers really think weird."

Now that’s quite likely the understatement of the year. Or am I the only one who holds animated conversations with myself, sends myself emails, and stalks family members, neighbors, and strangers with pen and pad in hand?

It gets really bad when our mental slips occur in public. One day after writing a chapter about a tooth extraction for her historical fiction, The Road to Deer Run, COTT (Clash of the Titles) conqueror, Elaine Cooper, took her mother to the dentist. Upon learning that one of her mother’s teeth needed to be removed, she called the oral surgeon and spoke with the receptionist. When the clerk asked Elaine what her mom needed, Elaine replied, "She needs her tooth drawn."

Dead air ensued.

"She needs what?"

Elaine bit back a chuckle. "She needs her tooth...pulled!"

So what does it take to launch writers into story world? Most often, food.

Having lived in Louisiana for a spell, I feel for COTT staff member, Lisa Lickel’s family. “I’m about to jump into the world of Cajun country, Louisiana, in both 1875 and then 1955, for a kind of family saga,” Lickel says. “So I have to build my later family on the traditions and template of the earlier generation. As I look up recipes, I might cook some of their dishes. I imagine interactions.” Here’s hoping she hasn’t found the recipe for fried armadillo yet.

COTT conqueror, Christine Lindsey’s research sounds a bit a more palatable. “For Shadowed in Silk, my husband and I would often dine in Indian restaurants.”

For Michelle Massaro, COTT Assistant Editor, falling into fantasy world is as easy as closing her eyes. “I've always had a good imagination and strong emphathy for people, so it isn't difficult to do with most characters,” Massaro says. “To switch characters usually just takes me another moment to pause and close my eyes and become them.”

That certainly explains a few odd emails conversations she and I have shared. But hey, I understand. I’ve sent myself similar messages.

For COTT Scheduling manager, Amanda Flower, it takes a bit of blood flow to get her muse flowing. “My muse strikes me most when I'm doing something active like walking or swimming,” Flower says. “My best ideas hit me when I'm not thinking about my story or characters. The timing's not convenient, so I carry pen and paper with me most of the time to jot down notes. While walking, I've also been known to repeat a scene to myself over and over again until I return home. Thank goodness for Bluetooth. People think I'm talking on a cell phone when I'm really talking to myself."

For others, like COTT staff member, Gail Pallotta, unexpected images take over. "Sometimes the muse hits me when I'm least expecting it, and I see a character in my head.”

For COTT Senior Editor, April Gardner, switching gears doesn’t come as easily. “I have to live, eat, and breathe my characters and setting,” Gardner says. “If I take even a day to focus my brain on something else, I’ll surely regret it.”

What about you? Do you find yourself hovering between life and fantasy or does it take some hip-extending, highly-peppered cuisine to trigger your imagination? And I suppose the real question is, how do you return to the real world once you set your keyboard aside?

Or…do you?

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