Title, character, situation, plot AND... Anybody want to play WAR?

Today I'm delighted to welcome author Tommy B. Smith whose novel offers a curious invitation... Anybody want to play War? So, of course, I had to ask the author...

“Which comes first, title, characters, situation, or plot?”

And here is his answer... Over to you Tommy!

I seldom devise a story’s title prior to writing the story. Occasionally an interesting title may serve as a writing prompt, but by the story’s end, more often that not, I find the original title would no longer suit the story’s course.

As to which comes first in regard to title, characters, situation, or plot, to be vague, the answer would depend on the type of story.

In the case of my latest novel, Anybody Want to Play WAR? I did not originally confine the story to a specific category, though I understood it must eventually claim one.

I have employed different approaches for different stories. In the world of writing, we have informal terms such as plotting and pantsing, which indicate tales well-plotted in advance, sometimes even outlined, and stories spun out at the moment’s whim, or “flying by the seat of one’s pants,” respectively. We also have plot-driven stories and character-driven stories, which exist at different ends of the spectrum, though the elements of each often bleed into the other.

To clarify of my own experiences, a book such as Poisonous, my slasher horror novella of several years ago, developed by way of plotting, and most have considered it a plot-driven story. In contrast, this newest book became more of an exploration of characters and setting, being “pantsed” to some degree and resulting in a character-driven story. They are simply different monsters.

Situation is an interesting starting point. Here we might take into account the setting and characters, plunging them into a crucial moment where our story arises from the initial conflict.

The city of St. Charles has suffered a heavy toll. In the wake of a natural disaster, our story of Anybody Want to Play WAR? begins in the early 1980s.

Its people struggle to lift themselves, rebuild, and carry on. Somewhere in the middle of this, Bryce and his family, and others such as Wheels and Paloma and even Tabby Reinhart, must adapt.

This situation initiated the course of events, its characters became its story, whose plot resulted, and the title came last of all.

It stemmed from an interesting place somewhere between Bryce Gallo’s past and my own. Remembering the children on the playgrounds building up their forts, slinging rocks at each other in some semblance of war games. Considerations of actual war, Bryce having an uncle who returned from the Vietnam War. It’s an unusual title, posed as a question, but it’s the title that suits this story.

And if the title is a question, what’s the answer?

Anybody Want to Play WAR?

It’s an invitation if there ever was one. Let’s play. 

Thank you Tommy--That answers my question perfectly, and I shall quote you when members of our local writing group pose the same question. Meanwhile I'm eager to read (or follow you invitation and play).

About the author: Tommy B. Smith is a writer of dark fiction, author of The Mourner’s Cradle, Poisonous, and the short story collection Pieces of Chaos, as well as works appearing in numerous magazines and anthologies throughout the years. His presence currently infests Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife and cats. More information can be found on his website at http://www.tommybsmith.com.

Author Links:


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTommyBSmith/


Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/penofchaos

_______________________________

Book Synopsis for Anybody Want to Play WAR?:   Brutal injuries can leave scars.
As the teenaged survivor of a savage dog’s rampage, it’s a lesson Bryce Gallo will never forget.
Struggling to cope with his damaged appearance, along with a newfound fear of dogs and mounting anxieties at home and school, he flees his suburban home into the moonlit streets of St. Charles.
Along the roads of suburbia and through the shadowed heart of the city, he encounters Wheels, a maintenance worker for a series of apartment buildings; Paloma, known to some by the moniker of Lady Luck; and a woman in a dark house who is, as far as Bryce can fathom, like no one else he has met before.
His new life is not without obstacles or enemies, he learns. The future is a battlefield. Fire and smoke loom on the horizon, and his dangerous course may see the lives of his family and friends forever changed.

Book Links for Anybody Want to Play WAR?


Kindle Version:  https://www.amazon.com/Anybody-Want-Play-Tommy-Smith-ebook/dp/B07Y45ZYG2/


Amazon Print Version:  https://www.amazon.com/Anybody-Want-Play-Tommy-Smith/dp/1948042843/


Barnes and Noble Link:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anybody-want-to-play-war-tommy-b-smith/1133901518?ean=9781948042840

Tour Schedule and Activities
1/6       MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape      http://mylifemybooksmyescape.wordpress.com       Author Interview
1/7       The Seventh Star Blog             http://www.theseventhstarblog.com             Guest Post
1/8       Jazzy Book Reviews     https://bookreviewsbyjasmine.blogspot.com/           Author Interview
1/9       The Literary Underworld        http://www.literaryunderworld.com         Guest Post
1/10     Carol Preflatish, Mystery Author        http://carolpre.blogspot.com    Guest Post
1/11     Armed With a Book     http://www.armedwithabook.com     Guest Post
1/12     Sheila's Guests and Reviews   http://www.sheiladeeth.blogspot.com           Guest Post
1/13     Willow's Thoughts and Book Obsessions       http://wssthoughtsandbookobsessions.blogspot.com/            Review
1/13     Meghan's House of Books      https://mhyden.blog/      Review and Interview