I’m currently working out a new short story (or perhaps novel) idea that involves research. I thought that when I stopped acting I would no longer have to research projects/characters.

Little did I know.

Now when I have an idea for a fiction piece I figure out the background before I figure out the plot. I have to see the world the characters live in long before I see the plot. “This is the world these people live in, what’s the conflict?” That’s how it starts. All fiction (film/TV/play/novel) is about conflict.

I’m working out how the world these people live in operates, which is a full time job. Then I figure out how that world falls apart. That’s how it works for me.