...That's What She Said

The instructions for today's post were: Share your lightbulb moment with us. What inspired you to write your WIP? How did you formulate your idea? Is any of your "fiction" taken out of your real life?

Well... a couple of years ago, I stumbled upon a short story science fiction contest that ran yearly. The contest resulted in four quarterly winners who competed for the yearly award of cash and publication. I read the previous four winners and thought to myself, "Why am I not doing this?" And it's not that I thought I could do any better, but I distinctly remember thinking that there was nothing outrageously groundbreaking or new in these tales... no, they won because they had relatable characters and good story structure. The fact that I didn't have to think of a completely original idea or plot to write science fiction inspired me to want to do it myself.  Sadly, I spent the next two years only thinking about my potential story, never finding the motivation to actually begin writing it. Instead, I blogged about my life on occasion and periodically worked on bits and pieces of my memoir style WIP. It wasn't until I'd found myself bored with Facebook late one night (a little over a month ago or so) that I started exploring the blog community for the first time. Until that point, I'd only kept track of my own blog and the three or four belonging to close personal friends. By clicking around, I realized there were networks, support groups and blog fests... all just waiting for an aspiring writer like myself to participate in. It was Cherie Reich's Second Annual Flash Fiction contest that caught my eye. The only rules were that your piece had to be 300 words or less and begin with the words "Lightning flashed".  <Insert lightbulb moment here.> The next day, my story was officially born. In the days that followed, I got so much positive feedback that I was inspired to keep the story going. I may only be at 5,000 words, but I'm further along than I've ever been. Now my main questions revolve around what to do with it once it's finished...

As far as where the actual story idea came from, that's a tough one. Obviously I've read and watched a lot of sci-fi, so the landscape of a dystopian future stemmed from my interest of those types of stories. The idea of a woman who learned how to manipulate her memory most likely came from a close friend of mine who passed away several years ago. He used to tell me stories about how he had mastered lucid dreaming and was working on astral projection. Unlocking powers of the mind has always seemed like the type of science fiction that isn't too far off from our reality today. I think he would have really liked my story.

The part of myself that I see in Winter is her introverted, independent and isolated nature, fused heavily with sarcasm and ideals that focus on justice and fairness. The fact that she is fighting against being creativity stifled also represents the real life obstacles I often face when trying to balance my time between family, earning a living and pursuing my writing. That last part is something I think we all can related to... which makes me hopeful that Winter, despite her tendency to be a loner, will be relatable to others as well.