Search Beyond Lies is a work of fiction that is inspired by real events and real people. There are people who lived through the tragedy as a participant in the search and rescue, others were affected either directly or indirectly through a loved one, the news, or as a prayer warrior. Still others first heard of the events during this book’s release and afterward. There were enough requests and questions where I felt it was time to write this Fact or Fiction Series.
As we explore what is behind Search Beyond Lies, we’ll delve a little deeper into the creative process in developing the characters, story, and the “Aha” moment.
the characters
Fictional characters are created from the author’s experiences with real people. Authors people watch, live and work with people, and develop an understanding of which actions trigger certain reactions. The author “sees” the characters and their characters’ lives as the story develops. Often the author studies personality types and may develop their characters based on certain personality types.
An author may hang a picture of how they visualize their character to help keep him or her focused and in the character’s head. The picture may be:
- Physical or electronic.
- An actor, a friend of theirs or family member.
- Designed after a particular person, whether as a villain if someone has been giving the author a hard time, or the hero/heroine.
Regardless, often a real person inspires some portion of the character.
the place
Although the place can be a real place with the real named location, often authors create their own fictional location that may be inspired by a real location.
As a lawyer, I’m inclined to create a fictional location, that may or may not be inspired by a real place, especially when writing a suspense thriller. The exception may be if nothing “bad” happens there.
the story
Some authors are plotters, others are “pantsers” (they write by the seat of their pants), and some have worked a hybrid.
Plotters outline their entire story before they begin writing. They know the end ahead of time.
Pantsers live the story as they write. They have no idea how it will end until they get to THE END. The hybrid form is used by some pantsers, like me, where traditional outlining doesn’t work for our creative process, but as a practicing attorney without a lot of time on my hands, I want to avoid wasting it.
The problem with writing by the seat of your pants is that when you reach the end, prior scenes may no longer fit the story and you would have wasted a lot of time on detail and dialogue that no longer works.
When you write the brief scene summaries telling the story, you discover the end as you write, without wasting time creating the detail and dialogue that cannot be used. It’s the best of both worlds!
In Part 2, we’ll explore one of the key places where Search Beyond Lies begins–Mount Beacon. Is it a real place? Is there anything specific that piqued your curiosity?
Find Search Beyond Lies at Amazon.
(c) 2022 Karen VDH Fischer
That was very interesting and informative and I truly enjoyed Learning about the different techniques you used to write in their differences.
I agree with you On using the hybrid method.
I never realized how much time and thought are involved in developing the characters and the story line for a book. It was interesting to learn about the different techniques and styles writers use. Looking forward to the next portion of her Fact and Fiction series.