Topic: In designing your plots what do you rely on most: personal experience, imagination, or research?
Thank you Robin for another great topic!
I'm unable to select only one choice. I must conclude that
I add all three choices into the my plotting when I am writing.
Obviously, when I am am writing an historical novel, short-story, or article my plot line will be heaving in the area of research. However, odds are I've also visited the area, visited a museum, etc. so I can claim personal experience. Where does the imagination fit in?
My characters' personalities and how he/she would react in a situation would be a product of my imagination.
The same could be said of writing a sci-fi or fantasy. Science fact is Science fact. However, the facts can be stretched or discarded (to a degree) in a fictitious universe or in a time-travel novel. As for fantasy. You must state the 'new' truth as to why you vampire can stand in sunlight and not dissolve. Or as in the case of my zombie novel,
Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow, Why my zombie (Meredith), a former vegan, only consumes chicken, etc., instead of human brains.
As for my romantic fiction/suspense/Gothic novels, my stories rely heavily on my imagination. My characters may have traits of people I have known (remember, not everyone has a positive influence in your life), or traits that work well with my plot-line. I strive to make all of my characters to be living, breathing people with faults, challenges, and successes. I have also discovered that true facts are not always believable in a novel. Even if it is true, if it seems like a 'convenient plot-device' toss it out and start over.
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