The writer is a person who is a misunderstood artist who is moody and, well, Charles Bukowski comes to mind. Although I do love Charles [RIP] and his books, the truth is most writers don’t live on skid row and aren’t miserable. As for moodiness, I’ll leave that one alone!
Regardless, it is often suggested that a writer can only really write a masterpiece after they have suffered for their art. Apparently, one must be nearly suicidal, an alcoholic/drug addict and so on to really find that perfect story. This really isn’t true give the fact most current hot writers are alive today and at least moderately healthy! So, where are they coming up with their storylines given this lack of sacrifice? There are a host of source, but one method anyone can use is to look back in time.
They old cliché is the past repeats itself. Whether this is true or not is a question I’ll leave to you, but it is very true for novel ideas. I am not suggesting you swipe the plot of some ancient story although [cough, cough] more than a few writers seem to have. Instead, you can look to historical moments in time and base your novel on the events that occurred at that time. Let’s look at an example in real life.
I’m not a military man by any stretch of the imagination. I have, however, been watching a show on the History Channel called Battles BC. In it, historic battles are recounted including the strategies used, the outcome and so on. What is interesting is the writers of the show will often note how the strategy employed has been used in modern war and by whom. The first Gulf War, for instance, was guided by Norman Schwarzkopf who used some of the military strategies developed by Hannibal in his wars against the Roman Empire.
The point of this is you can look to historical situations and use them as a starting point for your novel. A classic example of this is the writing of popular novelist Dan Brown. While reviled by many, there is little debating the fact he has used choice bits of historically accurate information to create novels that sell like mad. Most writers don’t write to sell, but there must be something about these novels that is enticing enough for readers to flock to them like mad.
History is the greatest of novel outlines. Start reading up on the history of civilization and you will have more ideas for novels than you can shake a laptop at. Alternatively, you can work at the post office and live a brutal life like Bukowski. Whatever works for you!
