10x10 Writer's Brain

Through strange events, the mountains (ok, foothills) that I’ve lived within sight of… disappeared. I’ve always lived close to hills, first in the bay area. Now, I’m about 1.5 hours away from the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, and their shadow graces my everyday life. Until the day that they, well, didn’t. 

Writing is mostly a game of the question: What if? I started playing it with my situation and decided to give you a peek into how a writer looks at the situation, in particular a fantasy writer. Ok, maybe it’s just me :)

1.  What could make the mountains disappear? Natural disaster, bomb, magic. I’m choosing magic.
2. What would the cost be to the magician? Magic always has a price when it’s written right.
3. Why did the magician do it? Personal gain? War? To show that he can? To support his liege lord?
4. What would the physical (earthly) ramifications be? Earthquakes, of course. And dust clouds for miles. But what of the water? The Rivers and lakes?
5.  What happens to the people that lived there? Do they survive?
6. What do they think happened?
7.   What are the psychological ramifications of the mountains disappearing? Because it was very disconcerting to find that where once there was the sheltering grace of the mountains, now there was an ugly brown smudge of sky. While the smoke finally cleared for us, and the mountains came back—what would it be like for them to never come back?
8. Where does the mountain go to? Does it just vanish never to return again? Or shift somewhere else? What would take more energy?
9. What if the magician brought down the wrong mountain?
10.  And then what happens? Because his boss… oh, he’s gonna be in big trouble!

Ta for now, my lovelies. It’s time for me to get back to writing! I’ve got a fantastic idea!

You can find me at http://wynwords.wordpress.com/ where I blog books, writing and parenting.

You can catch my debut story, Dragon's Champion ,at Mocha Memoirs Press.