How To Choose The Story To Write: A Dialogue With My Muse

The Dialogue: How to Choose The Story To Write

I sit on my ugly yellow sofa, staring at my laptop, choosing the story to write next.

My muse marches in reading from a sheet of parchment.

MUSE: Hear ye! Hear ye! We have a new idea for a story.

ME: What is it?

MUSE: It’s the story of an ex-cop who finds himself caught up in an international conspiracy. He’s apprehended and sent to live out the rest of his days freezing his ass off in a black site above the Arctic Circle.

ME: …

MUSE: It opens with our hero being led into his cell. Up until this point he’s looked down on everyone accused of being a criminal, which makes things pretty awkward when he realizes he’s going to be locked in a closet-sized cell with a man who….

ME: Hold on. This story isn’t really…. me.

MUSE: What’re you talking about?

ME: I don’t really like stories where the characters spend most of their time confined somewhere and I really don’t like stories about people freezing.

MUSE: You love Yellowjackets.

ME: There are exceptions, but I don’t want to spend hundreds of hours working on a story about people freezing in cells over the Arctic Circle.

MUSE: But it’s not really about freezing in ice cells. It’s about friendship and freedom. Our hero discovers he and his new cell mate are both culinary experts and they bond over….

ME: And I really don’t like stories about food.

MUSE: You loved Hannibal.

ME: I’m not dignifying that with a response.

MUSE (Taps their foot, considering this.): But this is a really good story.

ME: I’m sure it is. I’m just not the one to tell it.

MUSE: But it’s really good. It ends with a daring escape. Our hero reaches civilization with four of his newfound friends. The final scene is of him knocking on his own front door and reuniting with his wife.

ME: And then what happens?

MUSE: What do you mean “what happens?” They live happily ever after.

ME: But the guy’s still a fugitive. And you’d think there’d be some conflict if he showed up on his wife’s doorstep with a bunch of people who just escaped from a black site.

MUSE: They’ll figure it out.

ME (Starts pacing.): And since they’re on the run, they’ll probably arrive in the middle of the night. So there’s a knock on the door. His kid wakes up, scared because the last time this happened it was when the police showed up to take away his dad.

MUSE: What’re you talking about? This isn’t the story.

ME: So the kid hides at the top of the stairs, listening, realizing it’s his dad. His folks are arguing because his father survived a frozen hell to get home. His mother wants to take him in but also knows this could put the family in even more danger. Our hero runs downstairs….

MUSE: The kid isn’t the hero it’s the former cop.

ME: And the son has to decide whether he wants to go on the run with his father or stay home. That’s it! That’s a great story, thank you! (Sits down and starts typing).

MUSE: Wait, what just happened?

Scene.

In Short: How to Choose The Story To Write

This might sound like weird advice but when you’re choosing the story to write next, ask yourself, “Do I actually want to write this?”

“Do I want to spend hundreds of hours (or in the case of novels, years) bringing this story into the world?”

It’s not a bad idea to make a list of what tropes, elements and themes you really don’t care for. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of stories about food or where characters are cold or trapped somewhere (psychoanalyze me if you want). No offense to people writing/reading these stories, they’re just not for me. And if I don’t want to read stories that contain these elements, why would I want to write one?

I would also make a list of all the story elements you enjoy reading and try to include those in your stories.

Best Comic I Read In August

The best comic I read in August 2024 was Sansha & Blanco, a limited comic series by Ray Chou and Vincenzo Ferriero and featuring art by Vinsensius Suriansoo, with letters by Cristian Docolomansky. This comic, from Mythworks (a publisher I’m keeping my eyes on) is for all dog lovers, following the titular pups on their adventures. The artwork is amazing. They do a great job visualizing the scents that fill the dogs’ world. Definitely pick it up.

Life stuff

My illustrator, April Martin, has been hard at work creating some fantastic illustrations for my comic The Secret Lives of Demon Hunters. She is amazingly talented and has been a blast to work with. The roughs she’s sent me have been impressive and I can’t wait to share some finalized illustrations in the future. She wrote a fantastic blog that touches on the process of working on the comic.

Also, my short story RAGE AND REDEPTION will finally be appearing in Graveside Press’ Soul Anthology on October 18.

This little story took quite a while to see publication. What didn’t help was I started off with the twist and loved it so much I built a story around it. However it took a while to create fully realized characters, plot and setting. I’ve found it much easier to start with characters and then create the twists. That being said, I was so caught up by this twist I just couldn’t say no to it. I hope you enjoy the story.

In terms of reading, I am re-reading The Failures by Benjamin Liar and am finishing up The Taming of the Shrew by you know who. I’ve also read Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath (definitely check out if you’re interested in cute things that are also very disturbing) and I’ve FINALLY caught up with Brian K Vaughn’s Saga, which everyone on the planet should be reading.

And finally, for absolutely no reason, here’s a photo of my cat.