Door to Door: Speeding Up Your Delivery
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Most of us know somebody who’s done deliveries, right? It could be:
- your neighbor who moonlights for Uber, delivering travelers to the airport.
- Or your college-age nephew who’s lined up a pizza delivery gig.
- Or you, who’ve found the best ways to get various friends & family members to/from various events.
Just about ALL those door-to-door people like improving their efficiency.
- Faster pickups mean better driver ratings.
- More pizzas mean more tips.
- A smoother schedule gives you extra time to enjoy reading and/or writing.
And nobody’s gonna quibble about efficiency being a Bad Thing when the Uber driver knows a shortcut past the traffic jam, or the pizza guy arrives with the deep-dish pepperoni still piping hot. But when it comes to creating a book, efficiency sounds a bit...well, suspicious.
After all, truly creative people are more concerned with the quality of their work than with how many pages they can crank out in 48 hours.
And rightfully so.
So thinking of Efficiency as a way to get things done FASTER might sound like a Bad Thing. But what about a different perspective? Suppose Efficiency is
A way to get things done BETTER.
Okay, that’s worth looking at.
Think of all the steps involved in writing a story. Forget the proofreading and paginating and querying; right now we’re only looking at the creative part. Which usually starts with...
Yep. Creating an idea.
Some people have absolutely no trouble coming up with ideas. They’re veritable fountains of potential plots and compelling characters and scintillating settings, and their only problem is choosing which of their two billion ideas to write first.
Writers who find thinking up ideas harder will often envy their prolific friends, while those prolific writers will often envy the friends who aren’t distracted by Bright Shiny Things and can get through an entire story--beginning to end--without being diverted into tons of other exciting possibilities.
That’s why just about every writer can use some efficiency improvement, when it comes to EITHER creating ideas OR sticking with an idea long enough to finish the book.
What gets in our way?
Finding the right concept is problematic for writers who don’t have oodles of ideas bursting from their brain, same as for those who do. Luckily, though, anyone can spend ten minutes jotting down random answers to questions like “What’d be a cool opening? Who’d make a great character? What would I like to explore?”
It only gets hard when thinking, “Whoa, after jotting down the idea I’ve gotta write the book!”
So don’t think of it that way. Think of this as a practice exercise, which it actually IS when we look at creating a book. Coming up with some random ideas is even easier when there’s a limit: if your answer is limited to 15 words max, you don’t need to worry about broader ramifications. Like:
- “Wait, is such a thing even possible?”
- “It’d need to be a whole series, not a single story.”
- “Would Chris be offended that I used our shared experience?”
- “Somebody’s probably already written this.”
When you’re working with only up to 15 words, you don’t need to worry about such concerns. This is Just. For. Practice. And that takes a lot of the pressure off.
All right, you’ve got an idea or two or five. Now what?
Now it’s time for the next step in improving your efficiency, which <ahem> is NOT sitting down to write.
- “But I have to write for the story to take shape in my brain!”
- “It's the only way I can develop a feeling for these characters.”
- “How can I get to know them before I start writing about ‘em?”
Same as you’d get to know someone you’re thinking about asking to join your decorating committee. Or your cookie-swap brigade. Or your critique group.
You don’t need to issue the invitation right off the bat. You can take some time to observe this person in action. See how they react to things. Find out what matters to them.
And the same is true for your characters.
What matters most.
For a character to be worth writing about, you need to have a handle on their motivation. Motivation is what drives them through the plot (not to mention their entire life), influencing what they do and say and think and feel. Which makes it the next aspect of improving your efficiency--knowing their motivation BEFORE writing Chapter One.
There are steps for that, too, but none of those steps matters without the first idea of “hmm, I think I’d like to see a story about ___.”
And filling in such a blank is all kinds of fun!
You can make it extra entertaining or challenging or non-threatening by answering for a book you already know you’d never do. Say, a romantasy in ancient Egypt when you’re contracted for three more Western thrillers. Or a kids’ story when your favorite kind of book is women’s fiction. Feel free to pick ANY idea, for ANY kind of story, and use that for your answer to this:
Prize-drawing question:
What's some 15-words-or-less idea for a book you’d enjoy reading or writing?
Someone who answers will win free registration to Plotting Via Motivation, my March 2-27 email class on that very thing. On Wednesday evening I’ll have random-org draw a name and post it at the end of the comments, so check back shortly because class will start on Monday!
* * * * * *
About Laurie:
After winning Romantic Times’ “Best Special Edition of the Year” over Nora Roberts, Laurie Schnebly Campbell discovered she loved teaching every bit as much as writing...if not more. Since then she’s taught in-person and online workshops including the upcoming Plotting Via Motivation, and keeps a special section of her bookshelves for people who’ve developed that particular novel in her classes. With 60+ titles there so far, she’s always hoping for more.
Feature picture by Unsplash
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96 comments on “Door to Door: Speeding Up Your Delivery”
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A ballerina, practicing late, finds she has a new partner - a ghostly one.
Heather, thanks for a great start to the list of ideas — that’s definitely the kind to set a reader’s / writer’s mind spinning! Er, like a ballerina. 🙂
Oooooo, that's a great idea!
Nice!
Heroine's car breaks down at 'magic' lover's waterfall, rescued by hero.
Tracey, I like how the waterfall being 'magic' opens up so many possibilities -- you could take this in a whole lot of intriguing directions!
What a great blog post! But now I want pizza!! 🙂 Here’s my idea: A chef enters an international food competition against her childhood crush.
Brenda, I've gotta admit I started craving pizza as soon as I saw the photo! And how appropriate that it inspired you with a food-competition idea. <3
The memoir of a cat who comforts patients at a hospice facility.
Daphne, wow, a story like that would enchant cat lovers of ALL genres...and maybe even encourage readers to think of hospice work as more rewarding!
I love it!
I'd read that.
“an astral cowboy gets wrangled by a black hole hurling him to some unknown galaxy”
One of the problems I’ve had writing my World Beyond the Song is all the ‘other’ story ideas it spawns. Everything from space whales to cowboys to tardigrades and mechanical parrots that fly through black holes … and so on … forever.
The specific idea above arrived with Laurie’s challenge, and if it sounds familiar, think of Drawin the astral cowboy as Dorothy; Talison, the trusted tardigrade mount as Toto, and the unknown galaxy of Zod as … well, you get the idea.
Oh, what fun! Thanks, Laurie. (I think … LOL)
Jennifer, it's gonna be all kinds of fun seeing what story you decide to work on next -- I love that there's only a week to go before we can start!
FBI agent takes over mother's cleaning business after she dies and discovers it's a front.
Natalie, what a great setup -- how can anyone NOT want to read about an FBI agent with a potentially crooked mother? I wish there were more!
Oooooo, that's a great idea.
Thanks, Diana! 🙂
Hi Laurie. I remember doing the PVM class and it was such a blast. Here's an idea from the top of my hat:
A clueless Uber driver gets roped in by a gang of bank robbers.
Adite, trust you to find an opening that'd work beautifully for a book OR a movie -- I'm already envisioning who might play these parts!
Ooh, reading the comments of this one is going to be dangerous for me because now I'll want to read all of these books.
I'd love a classic murder mystery at a high school reunion. There's just so much potential for deep relationship background.
Amanda, that's a great idea! Having just had a high school reunion a few months ago I'm already wondering who'd be the victim, who'd be the suspect/s...this is fun. 🙂
A woman traces her grandmother’s journey from the London Blitz to a Canadian war bride.
Linda, what a wonderfully thought-provoking concept -- there are so MANY routes a story like that could travel; I can see it working in a whole lot of genres!
A great idea. I can just imagine all of the conflicts she's confronted with. Oooooo.
Young woman inherits a house with far more doors than the walls should hold...
Michael, that’s a cool premise — you could develop it into a fantasy, mystery, thriller, romance, horror, inspirational, YA, SF, literary fiction, you name it!
Hi, Laurie. This is a fun question. I'd love to read or write about, "a small-town cozy mystery where the main characters have some off-breed type of magic."
Steph, that’s a perfect starting point because you can take it in so many directions…whatever the characters’ motivations are will make the story unique no matter how many times you begin with such a premise!
I've been thinking about this all morning.
She moves into a cursed house, where a eternal battle between two men rages.
🙂
Sally, here’s another great example of a concept that’ll come out in potentially endless ways depending on what’s driving the characters…and the unlimited possible settings are the frosting on the cake. 🙂
Absolutely! Add New Orleans to the mix and it gets even better.
Thanks! Looking to see if I can add your class to my busy calendar next month!
Ooh, New Orleans is a winner...I remember a friend saying probably 25 years ago "I'll read ANY book set in Louisiana," and still use her line when talking about the value of settings! 🙂
This could be a fun rom-com:
An ailurophobic man inherits an estate home to dozens of cats and their sexy veterinarian.
Great to hear from you again, Laurie! I totally enjoy your classes. 🙂
Chrissie, while I'd never say "you must immediately drop everything else in your life and start writing this story," you can guess why it's sometimes so tempting! 🙂
Must admit I've never been inspired by a pizza before, but now I'm thinking about it. And the passion it can invoke: The Italian chef was adamant that there would be no pineapple on his pizzas. Never! The next day he was found dead in the kitchen, a pizza cutter stuck in his chest and half a pineapple covering his face... Yikes!
Helen, way to go with taking a single word and RUNNING with it -- talk about a fascinating opening! (Hmm, I wonder if it'll change anyone's opinion about pineapple?) 🙂
And I totally lost track of the 15 word limit, big fail there, hahahaha!
Aw, no worries...you totally got the concept of just coming up with random ideas; and if there WERE a homework assignment for just 15 words I'll bet you wouldn't have any problem condensing it!
Laurie, how about a book about Lynda Carter? She worked all through elementary and high school to perfect her skills. Never partied, never joined activities because she was always working to improve her singing, acting, dancing, accordion playing skills.
I'd like to see a book about why working class people cannot afford to be in Congress. How the system is rigged against the labor market or how essential workers get paid less but were the ones who kept the country running when we were shut down. Sorry can't follow the 15 word format...
Connie, good job on taking this into the field of nonfiction -- ideas like "how Lynda Carter doggedly improved her skills" or "why working people can't afford to be in Congress" work just as well as made-up stories!
An unhappy married woman meets a single father at the park and their kids bond.
Patti, talk about a great setup for a romance OR women's fiction...or, for that matter, even a mystery or inspirational or fantasy. All kinds of possibilities here. 🙂
A grumpy contractor encounters a matchmaking ghost while renovating his high school crush’s Victorian home.
Oh, Carol...YES! I love a good ghost story. 🙂
Thanks!!!
Carol, I can totally see this on the book cover or review headline -- it's everything I expect and love from you, PLUS the ghost adding a whole new flair!
Businessman buying out company owned by father of the college girlfriend who broke his heart.
Lori, wow, yes -- here's a wonderful illustration of how each character's motivation can make such a HUGE difference in how the story plays out!
Hi Laurie, I think I'd like to see a story about: A cautious woman’s stagnant life is upended by her irrepressible grandmother’s ghost.
Janet, talk about a great pair of characters -- who wouldn't want to read about a cautious stagnant woman and a ghostly irrepressible grandma? 🙂
I love these ideas that have ghosts!
Man in love with two women, splits his heart in two to live them both for eternity and avoid having to choose. (This is a modern day take on the Tell-Tale Heart)
Jenn, I like how you started with the "modern day take" idea and found a book worthy of reinterpreting...then what you came up with to DO that!
Fictionalized narrative by an actual survivor of a USA concentration camp
Meg, I bet that’d be a terrific read for a book group who likes discussing big issues — covering an actual event from a fictional perspective can be gripping.
Forensic engineer investigates a scaffolding collapse that killed several people. The inspector committed suicide to avoid disgrace. Or did he?
Laurel, the “Or did he” promises us a fascinating mystery — and the kind of action / adventure where motivation isn’t necessarily a crucial component, because readers mostly wanna know Who Dun It!
Time travel stories are so much fun.
A lady born in 1950 just lost a valued friend. She goes to sleep wishing that she could return to a time in the 1970’s. She opens her eyes and sees that she is in her childhood bedroom. She starts reliving her life over.
Is it a dream or did she really travel to the past?
Rene, you’ve got a great closing line there — just those words are enough to spark all KINDS of possible stories, and it’d be fun to see how different characters and different settings affect each one!
I love time travel!
While falling asleep, a woman astral projects to a murder scene. Who will believe her?
Lynn, what an intriguing premise! It’s the kind that could work in any setting, from a fantasy in 3026 Jupiter to an ancient Assyrian kingdom to modern-day Chicago, and each story would be fascinating. 🙂
Oh No, Not Another Book
Kim, often the most versatile ideas are the shortest — this immediately raises the question of what character’s head were in, and why are they thinking that, and we’re off to the races!
It's been a few years since I took your Plotting Via Motivation class. It was a great experience and I still refer to my notes from time to time. 🙂
Diana, I’m so glad there’s notes are still coming in handy — I wish I could remember what premise you brought in to start with, but I’ll bet it was every bit as cool as the ones we’re seeing here!
LOL!! I know I'd never write a cowboys and aliens story! On the flip side, I'm thinking of writing a story about a woman who coerces a man into marrying her. That one kept me up awhile last night.
Gina, wow, I JUST missed your post while racing into Pilates class -- but I love your certainty about cowboys and aliens, even if that totally COULD work for the woman coercing the man into marriage. I suspect, though, you've already got a different world in mind... 🙂
I think it wouod be fun to write a spy/espionage novel.
Mine's too general, I know!
Charlotte, it's FINE to start with a general idea like a spy/espionage novel...that gives you a broad canvas about which to ask "hmm, where should this take place?" "Hmm, what kind of person might be in such a setting?" "Hmm, what might happen?" and you're off and running!
Yes! I have all those questions! Lol
There you go; you've already done the whole PVM process for other books so you're well on your way. 🙂
A cozy murder mystery within a community theater setting, opening night.
Fran, that'd make a good bookmark statement, right there -- we immediately get what kind of story this will be. And you already know what comes next in terms of discerning the character's motivations, and resulting actions, and resulting consequences...fun stuff ahead!
Formerly abused city kid sent to live with large, loving family in the rural south.
Lee, I’m sorry I missed this last night! And even if this isn’t the idea you’ll be bringing into class, it sounds like what ad people call “a campaign with LEGS” because it could Meron for a long time, creating still other stories upon stories upon stories….
Taking off for literacy tutoring which tends to run late, but I’ll check back tomorrow morning and look forward to seeing any more story ideas that might turn up!
Laurie, feeling like my imaginary TBR pile is growing by the hour 🙂
Nepo Baby is suddenly cut-off and must navigate the world without money or former friends.
Denise, that’s a good starting point because of how many different motivations she could have — and she very likely won’t KNOW her deepest one until the events she’s unwittingly helped bring about all come to a climax!
Loved this post! Who doesn't want better, faster. Thanks for the wisdom, Laurie. 15 wonder below.
The twin only becomes real when someone who loves her thinks about her.
Moya, what a fascinating concept! You’ve already got me curious about the OTHER twin, and how the protagonist will handle her situation…same with discovering her motivation along the way. 🙂
Second chances in love and in life revolving around a family-owned lakeside community tavern.
Victoria, way to go on identifying the setting first thing — that’s the first major step in moving from a random concept to a more focused story, and you already know how many other steps will arise along the way!
Such a great topic! Sometimes we just need to start. Thanks so much, Laurie. Here’s an idea: two estranged women receive anonymous letters about their best friend who’s been dead for 30 years, forcing a reunion of that neither is ready for but desperately in need of.
It’s not quite there, but it’s a starting point. Thanks to your blog!
Nan, this sounds like the kind of book women’s fiction readers will absolutely LOVE — I know I’d be one of ‘em! And then, hmm, audiobooks and/or screenplays and/0r theatre productions…
I love this idea, Nan!
The word limit in your classes has been both the hardest and the best thing for me, lol.
I debated all morning yesterday on sharing my story idea but it feels a little too embarrassing. 😳
Great article!
Ami, no worries about waiting for class to share your story idea…some people don’t even do it THERE; they just do the assignments on their own without posting. Whatever works for you is absolutely the right way to go’
Thanks to EVERYBODY who posted random ideas…isn’t it a treat seeing creative minds at work?
With 35 people posting, I had random-dot-org draw TWO winners…so congratulations go to #31 (Denise) and #14 (Helen Lawson) for winning free registration to Plotting Via Motivation next month! Just contact me -- Book Laurie @ gmail -- and let me know where to send your email invite to the class.
You can take the idea you posted and see how to develop it into a complete novel OR use some other idea; whichever sounds best. Or if weekday-morning lectures via email from March 2-27 won’t suit your March schedule, just let me know and I’ll draw another name. Thanks!
Laurie, sending out GroupsIO class invitations this week 🙂
Congratulations everyone!! I absolutely loved this class when I took it. So much that I'll be taking it again next year. 🙂
Aw, Jenny, I just now saw this -- but now I have an extra reason to look forward to next year! 🙂
Thank you!
Denise, I just need to get your email address so I can send you the invitation -- could you send that to me at Book Laurie @ yahoo com? Thanks!
I sent an email a couple of days ago.