Inciting Incidents

In a writer’s forum not long ago, an author said that their approach to writing is simply creating ‘what if’ scenarios.

I suddenly realized thatI have exactly the same approach. 

For my first book, I wondered – what if your hopes and dreams are completely scuttled because of an incident beyond your control?  How do you get back on course? Or do you just give up?

For my second book, I wondered – what if you overhear a conversation that gives you an opportunity to change the course of your life? What happens if you seize the moment?

For the third book, I wondered – what if you walk into a room and see someone who could be your identical twin? It turns everything you knew about yourself into everything you didn’t know about yourself.

For the fourth book, I wondered – what if a family member’s reckless, narcissistic behavior changes the future you carefully planned for yourself? Do you make the difficult decision to cut ties with your family?

My next book will be – what if you suddenly inherit a fortune and discover tragedy and a deep, unsavory past? 

There are so many possibilities with ‘what if’ scenarios, and it is so much fun to create an inciting incident.