The Five Times I Met Myself

By James L. Rubart

The Power of “What If?”

As with many authors, I’m often asked where my story ideas come from. From all different places is the answer. But what I think they’re really asking is, “How do you come up with concepts that feel unique?”

The answer to that question is I use the power of “What if?” Once I can get my story idea to the point where it fits into a compelling, one sentence “what if?” question, I know I have an idea I can run with.

A few examples from the movies

·       What if a bus explodes if it goes under 55 mph?

·       What if a man can’t lie?

·       What if a shark terrorizes a tourist town?

·       What if a boy could see dead people?

·       What if we could clone dinosaurs?

Most of you know the movies: Speed, Liar Liar, Jaws, The Sixth Sense, Jurassic Park

A few examples from my novels

·       What if you could walk into the rooms of your soul? (Rooms)

·       What if you could find God’s Book of Days on earth that showed you your future? (Book of Days)

·       What if you were given a chair made by Jesus Christ? (The Chair)

·       What if could talk to your 23-year-old self? (The Five Times I Met Myself)

Once I come up with an idea, I test it with friends and family. If I can’t come up with a “What if?” question that intrigues them, then I need to head back to the drawing board and keep brainstorming.

A Specific Example

For my novel, The Chair, I was reading an article by Chuck Colson that mentioned a Jewish historian who said some of the plows Jesus made as carpenter were used all the way into the second century. I thought, “What if Jesus made something that lasted until today? What if it was a chair? What if it was the chair he sat in after he appeared to the disciples? What if it had supernatural healing powers? And the story was born.

The Marketing component of “What if?”

Not only can asking, “What if?” help you with your story ideas, it can help with your marketing. Whether your target market is an agent, an editor, or readers, you need to be able to convey the power of your story FAST. With a strong what if question, you can do exactly that.

Get in the Habit

Once you get in the habit of asking, “What if?” you won’t be able to stop. When you read or watch the news, watch TV, movies, talk to friends ... always be asking, “What if?” Let your imagination run free and you’ll be stunned with the creative, powerful ideas your mind will be flooded with.

Now, hmmm. What if everyone reading this blog post were to buy a copy of my latest novel?

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James L. Rubart has a B.A. in broadcast journalism, and for more than 20 years he has also owned and operated his own marketing company. Ever since he was a little boy, Rubart dreamed of writing novels but didn’t begin his journey as an author until 2002. Since then, he has become a bestselling and Christy award-winning author of seven novels, including Rooms, Soul’s Gate and his most recent, The Five Times I Met Myself. Rubart is also a professional speaker. Rubart says he feels like a 28-year-old trapped in an older man’s body and still thinks he’s young enough to water ski like a madman and dirt bike with his two grown sons. Rubart has spent his whole life in the Pacific Northwest and now lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in eastern Washington. For more information about The Five Times I Met Myself and James L. Rubart, visit www.jameslrubart.com. You can also follow him on Facebook (JamesLRubart) or Twitter (@jameslrubart). 

Attention Deficient Disorder Writer? That’s Me

By James L. Rubart

Are you a plotter or an SOTP (Seat of the Pants) writer?

Me? I think I’ve taken the pants, ripped them to shreds and tossed them in the air like confetti with no idea where the pieces will land.

Why? Here’s how I write my novels:

1. Come up with a premise that intrigues me. (For example for my most recent novel, Soul’s Gate, I asked, “What if you could send your spirit into other people’s souls to fight for their healing and freedom?)

2. Start writing. Anything that pops into my mind is fine.

3. Shift direction like a cheetah chasing a gazelle. If a new idea appears in the middle of writing a description or smattering of dialogue, drop said scene and start writing the new scene.

4. Repeat step three over and over again.

Do you see the problem? I never finish a scene or a snatch of dialogue or a description because I can’t focus on it long enough to get ‘er finished.

I end up with bits and pieces of unfinished prose strewn all over my Word document with no chronological order, no coherent thread, and no idea where the novel is headed.

When I write I see a moving playing in my head and I simply write down what I see. The problem is my movies cut from one unfinished scene to the next without warning.

How I Bring Order to My Chaotic Method

When I reached 60,000 words in my third novel, The Chair, I hit a wall. Why? I realized I had no idea what the story was about. I had my premise (What if you were given a chair made by Christ that had supernatural healing powers?) but I didn’t know what the heart of the story was. And my random bits and pieces of scenes were all out of order.

So I stopped. I grabbed a handful of 3 x 5 note cards, wrote a headline describing each scene (or start of a scene) and pasted them to the wall of my writing room. It was a puzzle I had to put in the right order. I arranged and rearranged the cards till they started making sense. I tore up cards, rewrote them, and added additional cards as more scenes came to mind.

Finally, I moved all the scenes around in my laptop until they matched the cards on my wall. (I have serious doubts I’d be published if I lived in the age of typewriters.) It worked for ROOMS, BOOK of Days, SOUL’S GATE, and MEMORY’S DOOR (summer ’13) and I’m guessing it will work for more novels to come.

What you Already Know But It’s Worth Repeating

Part of me wishes I could start from the beginning of a story and write straight through.

But that’s not me. It’s not the way I’m wired and it would stifle my creativity. I’ve given myself permission to have ADD when I write.

And I’d encourage you to give yourself permission to write how you write. Whatever method that is, it’s okay. Plotters can be passionate about the pros of outlining. Seaters often believe writing off the cuff will bring surprises you can’t get any other way. Both are right and neither are right.

Allow yourself to be you.

And if you don’t mind, could you hand me another stack of 3 x 5 cards?

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James L. Rubart is the best-selling, award-winning author of four novels. Publishers Weekly says this about his latest release, SOUL’S GATE: “ Readers with high blood pressure or heart conditions be warned: this is a seriously heart-thumping and satisfying read that goes to the edge, jumps off, and “builds wings on the way down.” During the day, he runs Barefoot Marketing, which helps authors make more coin of the realm. He lives with his amazing wife and two sons in the Pacific Northwest and loves to dirt bike, hike, and golf, takes photos, and still thinks he is young enough to water ski like a madman. More at

www.jameslrubart.com