Trouble coming up with a cookie?

[Sonsie MeadowsParticipant]

I have no idea… I don’t want to give too much away of my protagonist’s past because it gradually is revealed through the series. I wasn’t able to attend yesterday’s session since I was at work, but am about to start viewing the replay to see if it sparks anything. I hope so, else this whole six weeks will be a struggle.

[Valerie LaroucheParticipant]

I have no idea either! Just like you, I don’t wanna reveal too much of my MC’s backstory because it will be revealed throughout the series. Same with my recurring characters…
I have a vague idea of something that might be fun to do BUT my MC wouldn’t show up in this cookie because it’s not about her… So new readers who read the cookie but not the book would be disappointed to find out that the book is not about the same character they read about in the cookie!
So I thought “maybe I can do a cookie about this other character that my beta-readers and editor liked” and the MC could appear in this cookie, but I have no idea what to write about him that wouldn’t reveal too much about the MC’s past (he’s family).
ARGH! It’s maddening!

[duncankatlynParticipant]

I struggled with this as well. I wrote a psychological thriller and everyone is a suspect and everyone has secrets. I didn’t want to “hide” this from my readers since that would be doing a disservice, so I’ve decided to create a short story around the protagonists mother (who is a prominent character in the main book), but it’s from an outsiders perspective. The “cold” reader will get a thrillery short story which will hopefully lead them to wanting to know more about the mother in the main book, and the “warm” reader will get an easter egg since after reading the book they will know more about what is happening in the cookie than their “cold” counterparts, but still be able to enjoy the extra story.

[Sonsie MeadowsParticipant]

Sounds like you have solved it! After watching Wednesday’s session yesterday, I now have a glimmer. I am going to attend today’s session and see if I get a chance to run it by Tammi.

[Sonsie MeadowsParticipant]

I attended the session on Friday, and it did help. I now have abroad idea of my cookie, but haven’t plotted it yet. My first two books were “pantser”. I am trying for my third to do some plotting but it sure doesn’t come naturally to me when writing. Odd because my career was in IT (Information Technology) where planning is paramount, and I did it well.

Hope you all now have a cookie idea for yourselves!

[Author]

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