Authors often complain that it’s hard to answer the question, “Where do you get your ideas?”. An understandable frustration, as I’m sure there isn’t a standard answer from one idea to another. And in fact, most novels contain a multitude of ideas, even some which didn’t make the final cut and ended up in the “Cut text” folder on the author’s computer.
My newest novel, My Husband’s Ex, is a great example of the multi-faceted nature of ideas and also how the final published novel can end up miles away from the original idea.
Here’s what the novel’s about now:
Sadie and her family are settling into their vacation house, a remote hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, when the doorbell rings.
“Hello, stranger,” says the beautiful woman on the doorstep. The woman pushes past Sadie and throws herself into Sadie’s husband Ted’s arms. Sadie has never seen this woman before in her life… who is she? What does she want? And why won’t she leave?
For me, an initial idea is an exciting little nugget that makes my brain feel alive and excited. I wait for the little vibration of interest and then I know I’ve got something. It can be as small as an image of a character standing on a bridge, and then I have the enthusiasm to ask questions: why are they there? What lead them to this moment? What do they want?
In that way, nearly thirteen years ago My Husband’s Ex started as a short scene in my head: a man walks along a busy shopping street when his foot accidentally knocks over a paper cup of coins belonging to a person begging for money. When he reaches down to collect the change and apologise, he freezes in shock: there’s his ex-girlfriend and first love, huddled against the cold.
That little nugget of a scene made my brain fizz with questions: how does the man feel? How did the woman end up there? What happens next? What if he’s married to someone else? What if he invites her home anyway?
I wrote a short story—3,000 words about the aftermath of that encounter: the man realising his marriage wasn’t ideal and being motivated to leave his wife to pursue his ex.
But even after writing the story, it felt like there was more to explore. Could it be a novel? I toyed with it for months but couldn’t quite make it work, even after plotting out the whole book and drafting 40,000 words. Years passed, and I shoved it in the drawer while I found my niche as the writer of psychological thrillers, with three published: Secrets of a Serial Killer, The House Fire, and The Baby Monitor.
Once I was a published author, I realised that if I wanted to pursue this idea, I probably had to mould it into a thriller to fit my author brand. And that’s when my husband stepped in and gave me the key I needed: tell the story from the point of view of the man’s wife! Suddenly there was so much scope for mystery and suspense, due to how many unanswered questions she would have about everything that was happening – and therefore so would the reader.
After writing the first draft, I encountered the scenario that many writers complain about: I had to kill my darlings. The opening scene wasn’t working. It didn’t add anything and the book needed a more engaging and exciting opening. That beloved kernel of an idea—the encounter on the busy street—that had taken up space in my mind for over a decade got cut from the novel and consigned to the aforementioned “Cut text” folder. But it’s for the best, because now the novel opens with a scene much more thrilling and suited to the genre, as evidenced in Bookouture’s blurb:
‘Hello, stranger,’ says the beautiful woman on the doorstep. Pushing past me, she throws herself into my husband’s arms while I stand frozen in shock. I’ve never seen this woman before in my life… but how does she know the man I married?
And that’s how My Husband’s Ex came to be. It’s a totally different story now: different setting (a hunting lodge in the remote Highlands, instead of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh), different main character (Sadie, instead of her husband Ted), and a totally new set of thrills, chills and fears for the reader. Is it a stronger book after going on this huge journey? I think so, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide!
Let me know what you think by finding me on social media:
https://instagram.com/rosiejanewalker/
https://www.facebook.com/rosiewalkerauthor/
Rosie Walker writes psychological thrillers about mysteries, secrets, lies, and strange people. Rosie was born in North Yorkshire and has lived in Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Birmingham, Ohio and Texas, and has yet to live in a house with a secret passageway, hidden basement or a long-forgotten sealed-up room, but still holds out hope. She now lives in Edinburgh with her husband Kevin, their daughter Elsie and their Cypriot rescue dog, Bella. She has a Masters in Creative Writing and a degree in Psychology.
