Inspiration For Sycamore Circle
I often get asked about how I get ideas for a new book. That’s something that’s never easy to pinpoint, mainly because most of my book’s subjects and themes come from a variety of places. Sometimes an article in a magazine or a newspaper sparks my interest, or someone I’m talking to might mention something that happened to them. Then, every so often, I’m able to use a personal experience in my novel.
A mixture of all three things melded together for Sycamore Circle, the second novel in my Rumors in Ross County series. The first thing that caught my interest was a conversation I had with an Uber driver about his time spent in prison. To be honest, I’m not even sure how that came up! Somehow, while he was driving me through city traffic, he started telling me about rediscovering his faith while in prison. This man’s honesty inspired me so much that I kept thinking about him weeks after I got home. And my dwelling on that is probably why an article in the newspaper about an ex-con describing how difficult it had been to go to the grocery store after being in prison for fifteen years caught my eye.
The last thing that happened was when I was asked to attend a training session for adult literacy. The class was inspiring and the guest speakers even more so. By the time I left, I knew I wanted to one day have an adult literacy tutor as a hero or a heroine.
These three things happened months apart from each other, but one day they all began to take shape. That’s how I came to create the Rumors of Ross County world. I based some ex-cons on a born-again Christian Uber driver and gave them a job of mentoring men fresh out of prison. For Sycamore Circle, I was finally able to have my literacy volunteer.
I keep spiral notebooks for every one of my series. In them, I write notes from research, tape pictures of models to base the characters’ looks on, and even staple newspaper, magazines and other articles printed out from my computer. I love having all of this handy while I’m writing. I know most people simply keep different tabs open on their computer but I enjoy having things on paper so I can carry them around.
Once I have a general idea and the characters, I form a basic plot and outline. I start with devising four main plot points and figure out about when each will take place. When I first started writing, I attended an author’s workshop and she said this worked best for her. I always think simple is best, so I used her method and it’s worked for me. I love shaking up characters’ lives over and over again, upping the stakes a bit each time I introduce a new plot point.
In addition, I am a fan of adding multiple storylines in a book. I let these happen organically instead of through research and plotting guides. Usually after I write the first hundred pages of a novel, I read the pages again, this time looking for a way to either add more depth to the hero’s and heroine’s characters or to pick up the pacing. For Sycamore Circle, this step involved changing the heroine’s daughter’s age from five to sixteen and then eventually giving both her daughter and a boy her daughter meets their own points of view. I felt this added a lot to the novel because it gave the heroine more scenes to discuss her conflicted feelings about the book’s hero. It also upped the tension when the heroine worries that her stalker is going to come to her house.
Finally, when I’m almost done with a book, I go back and fill in a grid for each chapter in the book. In this grid, I fill in points of view, scenes, dates, times, and note the length of each chapter. Though sometimes everything looks good, sometimes I’ll realize that I need to add another scene with certain character’s point of view, or I’ll need to divide a long chapter in half in order to keep the pacing strong.
If I’ve learned anything after writing a hundred books, it’s that there’s no one way to write a book. I’ve often wished I didn’t have to continually go over chapters but it’s a necessity for me. I think every writer approaches both their upcoming project and their finished manuscript differently and that’s okay. I love that there are so many ways to brainstorm, plot, and prepare a novel for publication. In the end, I think that’s why I still find so much joy in writing. For me, each novel becomes a story filled with people I feel like I know so well, they could be my neighbors. That’s why writing The End always feels bittersweet. I’m glad to have completed the book’s journey-but sad to tell the characters goodbye.
Well, until another conversation spurs the beginning of a whole new story.
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Follow her on Twitter @ShelleySGray
Find out more about her on her website https://shelleyshepardgray.com/
Sycamore Circle (Rumors in Ross County, 2), Shelley Shepard Gray
New York Times bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray returns with the second novel in her “tantalizing” (Publishers Weekly) Rumors in Ross County series. In Ross County, love can stay the course, but first you have to know who to trust.
There’s a lot going on in Joy Howard’s life. She’s got an ex-husband who starts acting like he doesn’t want to be an ex anymore, a sixteen-year-old daughter in need of a guiding hand and a lot of rides to dance practice, more orders for paintings than she has time to paint, and a roster of tutoring clients who sometimes need far more than she can give.
What she doesn’t have is time for a new relationship.
Samuel “Bo” Beauman is a lot of things. He’s a counselor for transitioning ex-cons, a good friend to many, a construction worker, a brother and son, and even a part-time model for a high-end sportswear catalog. He’s also a man searching for redemption.
One thing he isn’t is a man in need of a girlfriend.
But none of that seems to matter when Bo hears Joy’s kind voice in a crowded coffee shop. He instantly knows she’s someone he wants to know better. The two of them hit it off―much to the dismay of practically everyone they know―but Bo doesn’t care what other people think. He feels at peace whenever he’s with Joy, and he won’t let her go without a fight.
When Joy starts getting mysterious texts and phone calls from unknown numbers, she tries to ignore it. But instead of going away, the messages escalate and Joy realizes she can’t handle it alone. But she is juggling a jealous ex-husband, a handful of students with little to lose, and a brand-new boyfriend who spent several years behind bars. Who can she trust?
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Category: On Writing
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