The Story Behind the Story, part 3: FROM IDEA TO STORY.

Idea--duly noted and written down.

Nudge--rib cage elbowed yet again, urging the body into action.

And the idea became flesh and dwelt among us...

How do I take an idea, a fleeting phantasm, and dress it in skin and sinew, bones and brains, and give it vibrancy and voice?

Some authors use outlines for the plot:
"Here's the conflict...now, how to heighten it? How to intensify it into a crisis? What does the crisis need in order to resolve it? How will the characters act and interact?"

...and, they create many-page biographies for their main characters:
"Now, this is where this character was born, what parents were like? Personal likes and dislikes? How do they dress, what do they eat, where work, how play and with whom? Relationships? Tastes in food, drink, entertainment, autos? Townie or city or rural?"

Other authors, whose approach to writing resonates with me, suggest, "Take a strong character. Throw them into a situation. Let's see how they cope and what they do to get out of it." As Stephen King says, "I'm the first reader of my stories. I have no idea of what's coming next, and I can hardly wait to see how it'll work out!" [A decent paraphrase, not quite verbatim, from ON WRITING: FOR LOVE OF THE CRAFT.]

So, I took the idea of dogs attending the Nativity. Now, what would make dogs more interesting than they already are? Howzabout these dogs having a perfect understanding of human language? And the ability to talk to other beasts? Sure, talking animals, not the first time that's been done? But, it's still fun, huh? Narnia and Middle Earth don't have a monopoly on the notion--altho I don't expect to see it done better than Lewis and Tolkien!

What do dogs do? Eat, play, interact with humans...duh. Just because they can understand human speech, they're still dogs and they gotta act like dogs or else they have no integrity, they become something less believable if they don't chase their tails, right? What dog travels from point A to point B directly? Of course not, they travel thru X, M, T, and U whilst sniffing, wagging, and panting, and then pause only to go racing in yet another direction. Just because my dogs add on dialog such as, "Hey, lookit over here! C'mon...this smells great!" doesn't take away from their intrinsic dogginess...in fact, come to think of it, I hope it actually adds to their native canine cool!

That's a little peek under the creative hood of story writing and how it works for me. Woof!