Where Do Your Ideas Come From? by Jeff Abbott:

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The question I get most from readers: where do your ideas come from?

So that's what I'll talk about this week.

Let's begin: what if an ordinary man got to have an adventure with a Jason Bourne/Jack Bauer kind of hero?

It is perhaps odd for a novelist to admit that any book idea could be fueled by film or television, but I think it's silly to pretend to ignore the pervasive influence the cinematic arts have on us all-including writers. (And yes, I know Jason Bourne comes from the Ludlum novels, but I for one prefer the recent film versions.)

This was the first grain of the idea that grew into my new thriller, Collision. Where most novels have one protagonist, I would have two: a typical businessman, a road warrior type with Bluetooth headset that we see crowding every airport terminal, a man devoted to his work, cocooned in his safe and comfortable life; and a disgraced spy, a highly trained operative who can kill you a dozen different ways. The drama, I thought, would come from the conflict of the two men: their resentment at being forced together into danger, their differing approaches to solving their problems and overcoming a dangerous conspiracy that threatens far more than their lives, but our national security.

But as I wrote the book, I realized the drama, and the suspense, was coming from a deeper conflict.

These two men are opposite sides of a coin.

Ben Forsberg, my "ordinary" hero, is a man whose life was derailed by tragedy, the pointless murder of his wife. He's buried himself in the false solace of work as a consultant to goverment contractors and his life is not so much safe as it is frozen. He's never found the courage he needs to jumpstart his life and move past his grief. Pilgrim, the rogue government operative, has always done the dirty work his country needed-even at the price of losing his family, his legitimate career, and his suburban life. He wants nothing more than to live in Ben's ordinary world-even though the people that he works for may kill him if he tries to leave their employ. Worse, a man like Pilgrim, so used to violence and trusting no one, will not face an easy adjustment to an everyday life.

When I forced these two opposites together, the book's plot, action, and emotion revved forward like a rocket. Pilgrim must learn how to trust his life to an ordinary man like Ben; and Ben must break out of his self-imposed shell and fight for what he wants. They have to become a team, despite their lack of trust or their completely different ways of fighting the dangers that threaten to overwhelm them. Both men have to change who they are at heart-all while dodging hired killers, guns, and a powerful conspiracy reaching deep into the government.

And we all know how people-just like you and me-resist change, especially at the most basic level of our lives. We all do. It's what makes characters in an extraordinary situation relatable to the reader.

To me, this is the necessary seed of a good thriller-the conflict between the characters. It provides the spine of the plot, the growth of the action, the drama that turns the pages still at three A.M.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about the second seed that grew into Collision.

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