Revealed for the first time anywhere in the world the one question I asked that turned me into an author...
...well, not really the first time...
No need for a drum roll, unless you feel the urge to pound on your desk, but I think it is important to all writers to ask this same question, that is if they plan to be serious fiction writers.
They need to ask "What if...?" And let your mind follow the ellipses.
If you have read any of my previous blog posts you will see that this phrase was mentioned a few times. What if God were really a man who decides not to be immortal anymore? What if Jack the Ripper was an extraterrestrial? What if I were a person who thought it was wrong to tattoo your body?
You get the picture, "what if" is the spark to any story, because if you don't ask this question, you won't write the answer to it in the form of a book, story, poem, or play. I remember one day walking down the beach with my dog, bending down and picking up a rock, and tossing it into the ocean. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, I thought, "What if that were God's favorite rock?" That lead to my story The Book of Elijah that was published on the now-defunct Amazon Shorts website (and is currently unavailable).
This is the first line in the story:
"Old Elijah bent down and picked up one stone out of the millions strewn about desert floor. Taking aim at nothing he tossed it as he has tossed thousands of rocks during his fifty-plus years of wilderness living."
Curiosity may have killed a cat or two, but it also has inspired millions upon millions of works of fiction. If you don't feel like answering this question then I think you do not have the spark needed to be an author.
So take a walk around, look at your world, and ask "What if..." then answer the question. Then you will not only have what it takes to be an author, but it will also make your ordinary world seem that much more interesting.