Tonight I had a moment of inspiration with one of my two new characters, Doug. It was inspired by an odd event, though, namely a line from a Nicki Minaj song.
Unlike other odd moments of inspiration, I can give a clear trace of this one. I will do so now, for your entertainment. The following train of thought was sparked when I heard the line “My name is Onika, you can call me Nicki” in a song.
There are a lot of things Nicki can be short for.
Nicki is an interesting name.
Would I name a child Nicki?
No, I know too many Nickis and some of them are not nice.
Would I name a character Nicki?
Maybe. Do I need a new female character?
Doug could use a woman in his life.
She could be Doug’s girlfriend!
But Doug is single in the novel.
She could be Doug’s ex-girlfriend!
Heartbreak! This is a great piece of back story for him.
So Doug’s heart was broken by Nicki.
She could be his ex-wife!
Doug is divorced! That makes sense with what I know so far.
This is the exact line of thought (which happened quite rapidly, between one stoplight and the next) that led from a Nicki Minaj song on the radio to my decision (discovery?) that Doug is divorced. 🙂