The Genisis of My Story

Writing Process

I was caring for my father who was fading away into dementia land when I began my book. It actually started as a short story about being a caretaker. The short story was set aside when I realized that the subject was larger than a short story and would be better served by making it a novel.

Whle considering the novel aspect, I picked up a copy of, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. This proved to be incredibly fortuitous. It lit a fuse, so to speak and resulted in the adoption of Steinbeck's model for his book to structure my own story.

Once in the novel writing frame of mind, I sought to create an interesting story, not just an account of how difficult it is to deal with a condition such as dementia. I wanted people to understand what it took to do this job, but I also wanted to create elements in the tale that would be interesting and as current as dementia and Alzheimer's.

Whle weighing different I ideas, I read several articles on information and information security. Information and keeping personal information secure has become very important. But how could I apply this to my story? What about additional characters? How many should I have and what part should they play in the progress of the story? How about a villain?

A main character besides the WWII veteran with dementia had already been chosen. I used my dad for this character. I crafted the second main character to be similar to myself. This made the characters easier to portray. I used mostly family members for several characters and then made up a villian and his assistant.

To make the story believeable, I would sit in my recliner and meditate on each of the characters. The meditation might be a piece of their history that would never be written down, but was important to make them more than cardboard cut-outs. Other times, I would be going through a scene in my head previous to creating it on paper.

Once I had a history for Robert, the oldest son and main caretaker, the villian appeared intersecting with Robert and his history. From there it was a small jump to adding in information integrity. As the novel and its characters were fleshed out, other ideas for minor characters appeared.

When I began writing, I didn't have an ending in sight. However, the story itself and the reading of Steinbeck's, Grapes of Wrath, determined the ending.

My book came about through reading another book and reading about and experience of the issues included in the story. Several of my characters were people I knew and the storyline was highly influenced by events I experienced. While the book is a novel, it contains real life experiences to help bring the story to life.