My WIP Shadows: The Inspiration

One of my friends recently asked me what the inspiration was for my current WIP, Shadows. Today I am going to try to piece that story together as best I can. First, some background on this story for those aren't familiar with it.

Genre: Futuristic. Not quite dystopian, not quite sci-fi, not quite romance. I used to classify it as suspense, but the pacing isn't really right for that (but maybe it will be after edits).

Word Count: 75,247

Synopsis: Lila Osweil lives in a city full of shadows, but she has never bothered to learn what they hide. All she can focus on is how to escape her abusive father and run away into the arms of her childhood sweetheart Jacob. When Jacob tells her of the government's offer to give  her freedom if she becomes an agent for them, Lila accepts. But frightening visions that begin after her father nearly has Jacob killed haunt her, and as she begins her training, everything and everyone she knows begins to twist around her until Lila can no longer determine what is real and what isn't.

When I was first asked what inspired this novel, I really couldn't think of anything. The following story is my attempt at explaining how my brain comes up with ideas.


It was the spring of my junior year and I was sitting in economics class, rather bored by what my teacher was talking about because it wasn't curriculum and I didn't need to take notes on it because it was only for "edification". (Just a note, this teacher was my favorite teacher, but even he couldn't make economics interesting). I turned to the back of my notebook and starting writing a random thing. I had always wanted to start a book right in the middle of the action with a dramatic sentence. That turned into the now beginning of Shadows:

      "I scream, and scream as they drag Jacob away."

I think I only wrote a little more than a paragraph that day. I wrote around 3 more pages, but then it just sat in my notebook until I decided to take the idea and turn it into my NaNoWriMo project. I wanted a book that was full of twists and turns, secrets and shadows, confusion and terror. Okay, that was a bit dramatic and far-fetched, but it's doing pretty good I think.

Shadows has actually turned into a novel whose protagonist is the most like me that I've ever written. Her greatest struggle is one that I myself have struggled with so much. The things she experiences mirror my own scars. It contains probably my most beloved male character. And it contains a message that I try my best to follow and encourage others in.

So this book that arose out of boredom and a desire to be dramatic has turned into a story that I am super excited to finish (seriously, the plot twists are gonna be EPIC.......I hope).

Hopefully you enjoyed a look into the background of my WIP.!

~Clarissa