What happened in real life that you can use in your novel? I was reading an article about passion at work, and found some great material that fits in my story which has as a theme work-life balance and an international group of colleagues. So the German word, Leidenschaft which means the ability to endure adversity is a good one, as is the Polish word cierpienie which is used to describe someone who has a calling, as in they suffer for it. The idea isnt that it gives pleasure, but that you have no choice but to endure it.

Yes, it's a little easier since I don't write fantasy, but I was also listening to rain that was dripping more than falling, and thinking how that could help set the mood.

So anything from real-life that is finding its way into your novel?

anxiety attacks and panic attacks. This is very heavy stuff for me...and when i write it in my novel, i write it how i experience and go through it...and even though my MC has only had one attack so far...i felt it deep in my soul and it made me tear up because she went through her attack the same way i went through my last one...and you know what they say! Write what you know!

I just witnessed a pretty bad car crash on the the way home from Sunday's write in. Now I'm thinking how to use that in my novel.

I had one thought a while back while crossing rail road tracks that it would be a good way to assassinate someone by parking their car on the tracks. My second thought was, "Why would I think that?!" My third thought was, "I could use this!" So it became a thing in one of my stories. The army attempts a coup on the company president, and the president thinks he's traveling with an army group still loyal to him. Psych! He's not. (He gets away, though. His personal guard saves the day.)

Two days ago we saw a pickup truck on the highway pulling a white trailer that was on fire.

Not sure how to use that, though.

Just add "in a Walmart parking lot" and anything will fly.

On a little more somber note. I have just written the scene where my main character has his last conversation with his dying father. Having just lost my Dad in July I was able to infuse a great deal of emotional energy into my writing. Hopefully that generated a powerful scene. Even if it didn't I found the writing a cathartic channeling of my one grief.

Well, my mom ended up in the hospital, so I had my main character be in a hospital. I had originally planed a different opening scene and chapter, but I think this hospital scene will work better. I can play with the timeline, and it adds mystery, that the reader can relate to.