3500 words today, AND…this post has a deep dive into my mind. You’ve been warned….
Before that, I finished another book today (Beast Mode warmup!!!).
I went ahead and executed on the idea I had about repurposing my Indie Author Confidential (Ideas You Can Steal) content into a separate, permafree book that I’m going to put out into the universe just to see what happens. I decided to go ahead and write a few extra ideas (about 12) and compile them. The book will have 67 ideas + an introduction from me. Book #56 is official.
Anyway, I also came up with another intriguing idea last night that won’t leave me. I won’t share the exact details of the idea, but I will share the concept generically. It won’t leave me, which means that I need to do it.
Often, my ideas have multiple sources and it’s weird how they come together. I don’t often stop to think about HOW my ideas are formed, but this one is pretty fun.
#1: I was reminiscing on old school comic books, and I remembered the Amalgam series by DC and Marvel. They fused their iconic characters together into one. Batman + Wolverine = Dark Claw. Superman + Captain America = Super-Soldier. And so on. I wrote about it in Indie Author Confidential Vol. 5.
#2: A few weeks ago, one of my series suddenly spiked on Amazon. It rose to #1 in its categories and it came out of nowhere, but man, it was nice!!! To this day, I still have no idea what precipitated the sales boost.
#3: In the power hour last week, someone asked me if my ideas are inspired from real life or if I just make them up. I answered that I definitely get inspiration from my personal life.
#4: I had some construction done at my house last week and the contractors tore up my grass pretty bad. They laid down sod so I’ve had to water it every day. Yesterday, the roots started “establishing”, which means they’re digging into my soil, which is a big win.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: A NEW SERIES IDEA
#Idea 1.A: What if I took two of my existing fiction series and mashed them together? Take both protagonists and fuse their personalities and timelines? What if I did the same with the supporting characters, villains, and settings?
#Idea 1.B: What if I used this new “amalgamated” series as a marketing tool for my existing two series? In other words, if it becomes popular, it will automatically increase the sales of my existing series. If any of my existing series become popular in the future, readers will LOVE the amalgamation!
#Idea 1.C: Because both worlds are already written, do I need to write into the dark, or is the story more of a creative exercise? In other words………do I need to OUTLINE THIS SERIES in order to stay true to both worlds while also pushing them in a new and original direction? (For those of you who have been following me for a while, keep reading if your head hasn’t exploded yet).
In theory, readers already know what happens in at least one of the worlds, but not the new one. The new one will always “feel” familiar, but it won’t quite be.
With Writing into the Dark, the key philosophy is that “if you don’t know what will happen, then readers won’t either.” Fusing both worlds together would achieve that goal.
I can use outlining as a STRATEGIC TOOL to deliver maximum fan service. It’s also an example that every writing technique is merely a tool. Y’all know I have strong feelings about writing into the dark, and I haven’t outlined in years. But maybe this is the right time to pull out the tool and use it in an unusual way. All I care about is telling a great story and taking readers on a fun ride. I’m not above using any tool to help me do that.
#Idea 1.D: Maybe I just need to outline the series up to a certain point. And then the “roots” of the series (ie. Reader expectations) will be established, allowing me to write the rest of the series into the dark?
Hmm…very interesting. This is something any of you can do as well if you have two series with similar readerships.
