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Although….anyone who thinks a writer’s retreat is relaxing either has never been to one – or isn’t taking advantage of it. The body may be in a chair, or a bed, or on a bench by the lake, but the mind is in furious high gear. One of our morning exercises was to come up with the elevator pitch for a new book idea…something we’ve never worked on before…in five minutes…go.

Although I get new ideas all the time – they do lurk around every corner – I always write them down and do a basic 250-word plot outline. Ideas don’t just hang out in my head unwritten. So this truly challenged me. So quick…

brainstorm….
adventure romantic suspense character the name tess kept popping up but i don’t like tess stop distracting me plot plot hiking diving combo how do i oh wait revenge a …

scribble…
“A Time to Kill meets Shoot to Kill”

brainstorm…
keep going what else strong female committed murder major secret escape escape mountains water but ….

scribble…
woman running from past secret (murder?) takes dive trip to caribbean to escape but is followed by male bent on revenge …

brainstorm…
think think think is he her love interest or villain who is the hero into the mountains of the island to escape trapped storm?

scribble…
she flees the water to the mountains of the island to escape the revenge and is trapped with the villain but

TIME!

And like that, your brain is spinning wildly in a direction completely new and unexpected, yet you have to yank it back from the brink to continue with the workshop. In the meantime, that last cuppa tea is making itself seriously known and you sit up straighter, stretching, making more notes…

It’s going to storm here later. No hiking this afternoon. A good day to write.

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