# If you were to write a book....



## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

This is a question for NON-authors. (Or maybe future authors.)

Someone mentioned at the DC meetup yesterday that there was a book inside just waiting to be written... and might be, someday.... so now I'm curious.

I suspect that many, if not most, avid readers feel that way. "Gee, I could write a book... if only I had time / didn't have to work elsewhere for a living / knew how to type faster / had a proofreader for my bad spelling / weren't so lazy", etc.

So, if you have _not actually written a book_, but sometimes dream of doing so -- what would it be about? Don't give away the whole plot, just an idea. A bodice-ripper romance? High-tech SF? Personal recollections about historical events? A how-to book to show off your expertise? Steamy erotica? A fast-paced thriller? An illustrated children's book?

(Yes, it goes without saying that your dream book would be an instant best-seller. And available for Kindle. )


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

Mine would be a book about growing up in a dysfunctional family...I have so many real stories about crazy relatives (literally and figuratively) and often say there is no way a reader would think any of it could be true....but with 7 siblings do I have stories to tell. When you throw in the stories from my husband's dysfunctional family it would be a best seller for sure and of course on Kindle.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I'd probably write either sci-fi or fantasy; or more likely something that straddles both and is not quite either, _a la_ Roger Zelazny.


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## Sariy (Jan 18, 2009)

The Non-Idiot's Guide to Montgomery, AL



(edit)  It would be very short.  "Unless forced by government or gun point don't go"


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## RavenclawPrefect (May 4, 2009)

I would like to write an epic fantasy. I have written novella length fanfiction with someone else but it would be different to totally create a world. Fanfiction...I was playing in someone else's sandbox (but it was still fun)


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

I've been trying to write a book since I was 12, but never took the time to finish. Several times I came close...ended up hating it and burned all the paper and deleted the files. (which I later regreted). I have several in mind now, but just too distracted to take the time.

on topic- i'd most likely write dark urban fantasy. (Where the real world meets the supernatural and vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and other legendary creatures exist in the modern, urban setting ... )

Since Twilight became overly popular i've been relucant to do a vampire novel, because everytime my classmates hear/read/talk about anything vampire they automatic refer to Twilight.


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## Tippy (Dec 8, 2008)

I grew up in a very rural area.  There are many heart warming stories about the community of people who live in this isolated area.  There are also some very dark stories.  (It was the best of times -- it was the worst of times. . .)  I would like to write about the stories of true crimes that happened where I lived.  This would span several generations -- and include photos!


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

It's hard to say because I, like so many others of you, love a variety of genres, and would probably be able to write in several of them. 

Many of my friends have said that they think the Stephanie Plum books remind them a lot of books that I could have written (and should have, according to them), and I consider these comments to be very complimentary. I've been really busy with life over the last 35 years, but am soon (hmmm...today, in fact) retiring and going back to teaching half-time. There's no telling what I'll find to occupy the time that I haven't had for myself. (OK, Megan, tops on the list is de-cluttering my house!  )


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## Tip10 (Apr 16, 2009)

Having grown up in a military family (career Navy Chaplain) I'd like to write a parallel historical account.
One side would be about how basically a non-descript, non-hero citizen serviceman survives during a time of conflict paralleled by how his family lived their life during the same time.

Basically it comes from having a best friend in High school who's dad was shot down over Viet Nam in 1966 and who came home when the POW's were released in 1973.  My friend was  about 9 when his dad went down and about 17 when he came home. The changes in his Dad, the family and society in general led to us having some really interesting conversations.

As a side, note one of the most moving things I've ever done was peel a POW bracelet off of my wrist and hand it to the man who name was on it.


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## mzbull (May 27, 2009)

I'd write my memoir... but I'm afraid any readers would think it is fiction.  If I wrote it as fiction, they would say it's too unbelievable. Nobody's life is really that soapy.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Tip10 said:


> As a side, note one of the most moving things I've ever done was peel a POW bracelet off of my wrist and hand it to the man who name was on it.


Tip10, I think you'll have to go for a long time to find an event that would be comparable to that one. Your premise for a book sounds very interesting.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

My book would be a collection of vignettes about the patients I have dealt with in a psychiatric hospital. 

I have a journal where I keep the stories, just have to get typing.


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## vsch (Mar 5, 2009)

I have written some short stories...romance with some drama thrown in.  I havent let anyone read them, however. Actually deleted them from my computer and have a special place for my thumb drive where I keep them.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

I've taught for 29 years, and would love to write a book, but I'm sure no one would believe many of the stories that I'd have to tell. I've also told our retired family physician (old-time small town doctor) that he should write a book, but I'm sure his stories would seem unbelievable, as well.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

I love biblical history, and I dream of writing a book about John the apostle, written not chronologically, but as a series of flashbacks as the last living apostle approaches the end of his life in Ephesus.


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

I am a factual person and love books based on real events. The best book I have read so far is Blood Covenant. It is based on true events about a guy who was in the Mob and got out and is still alive. Orgainzed crime amazes me and how they operate. That is the type of book I would write if I could find the right story to tell.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

cheerio said:


> I am a factual person and love books based on real events. The best book I have read so far is Blood Covenant. It is based on true events about a guy who was in the Mob and got out and is still alive. Orgainzed crime amazes me and how they operate. That is the type of book I would write if I could find the right story to tell.


Oh, I read that one! It's probably one of the last DTBs I read before getting my Kindle. That was a great story, but I felt he dragged the end out a bit. Maybe you should look into ghost writing


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

I would write a western mystery. I keep attempting it, but it doesn't start out like I want it.

Another would be a western shoot 'em up.

Another would be pirates. Argh!

Another, pre- and post-Earth Armegedon...lots of war and soldiers, rifles, bloodshed.

I have too much to do right now to even attempt writing at the moment. Eye'll right a book, someday.

-Sailor


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

Went through my journals and found the journal my friends and I shared...It was more like a composition book, which just drew comics featuring ourselves and some other close friends from high school. My BFF and I considering scanning the comics and posting them online or doing something with them. We basically tease every other clique in school esp ourselves. BFF and I may just continue the journal/stickfigure comics...just move them online because many of our other friends that particiated in its creation go to school all over the SouthWest...a couple in NYC. Things are still undecided.

Comics include:
-book crossovers (BFF and I take over Phantom of the Opera.)
-Ideas for prom (involving fireworks and a BBQ)
-Road trips (things that did, didn't, or nearly happened on our random adventures in the desert)
-Our Zombie plans (what we would do if a zombie virus takes over the world...our cross over into various zombie movies)
-Hiking trip (where my friends realized that hiking isn't simply an easy walk through nature)


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I would use my Maternal Grandparents story. She was from a very upperclass Irish family and he was a Cherokee Indian orphaned at the age of 5. He worked for my Grandmother's family. They married in 1915 and had 12 children. The whole journey would make a wonderful plot for a book.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

oh, some kind of a mystery I expect since I read those mostly.

patrisha


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

I'd probably write a kids' fantasy book . At work we are always saying that one of us should write a funny book about teaching experiences.


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## evpseeker (May 29, 2009)

Great topic!!

Many of my friends have actually asked me to write a book about all of the crazy situations I seem to find myself in and the crazy,fruit loopy ppl I seem to meet anytime I leave my house. If there is a person within a 50 mile radius of me that should be locked up and medicated, you can bet your arse *I* will run into them.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I would write an American version of Kite Runner, but without the terrible parts (my observed and lived experiences were not THAT bad).


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

It would be a mystery for me... and/or possibly a collection of short stories based on memories of summers growing up in East Texas in the 60s.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

My Mom and I are working on a series of children's stories. None published, but a few are ready or almost ready.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

I read ths thread and you all have moved me to tears. You're all so beautiful, minds so fertile and wonderful, imaginations so ripe and pure. The world of humanity reaches from our hearts to touch others as we take our unique journeys, and if we are so blessed, we get to share our dearest ambitions — a source of joyful tears.

Thank you,

Ed Patterson


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

This afternoon I took a brief nap and in my dream I was reading something,  only about two paragraphs long, but it was beautifully written and moving.  It was the beginning of something longer which was still unwritten, and left for me to finish.  I can still clearly see the image of the text in my mind, reddish-pink ink on cream paper in neat handwriting (not mine).

I was just barely aware that it was a dream, and tried so hard to look carefully and remember all the words so that I could write them down when I woke up, because I had this idea that if I could capture those words, then I could continue by myself in that same vein.  I was torn between memorizing each word and getting a big-picture snapshot while losing some of the detail, because I knew that I didn't have much time before waking up....

....of course when I woke up, the words were gone, and it was such a depressing moment.

Such a weird dream.  I wanted to ask whether anyone has had similar thoughts, and this thread seemed like the right spot to tuck it in as an aside.



(And now I see that Dori recommended elsewhere that I take a nap to help me remember something. A fun coincidence, since I very rarely nap.)


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Susan, getting into the Zone when you write is similar to the experience you had, only a waking dream. Foster it. You'll not regret it.

Edward C. Patterson


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

I should print out your post and pin it up over my desk for the next time I'm tempted.


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## kevindorsey (Mar 4, 2009)

I'd probably either right an adventure title, or a crazy research driven conspiracy book.


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> ....of course when I woke up, the words were gone, and it was such a depressing moment.
> 
> Such a weird dream. I wanted to ask whether anyone has had similar thoughts, and this thread seemed like the right spot to tuck it in as an aside.


Susan, are you a reincarnation

One of the great losses to literature was Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan,' a epic poem envisioned in a dream, with less than sixty lines transcribed before the poet was interrupted by a visitor and forgot the rest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_from_Porlock

CK


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> Susan, are you a reincarnation
> 
> One of the great losses to literature was Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan,' a epic poem envisioned in a dream, with less than sixty lines transcribed before the poet was interrupted by a visitor and forgot the rest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_from_Porlock
> 
> CK


Oh my! I can assure you that no opium was involved in my case, though.... and unfortunately I didn't even get a single line out of it.

I should just take more naps, that's all.


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## Kind (Jan 28, 2009)

Mine would be tips on picking up the ladies for all those guys that are too shy.


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