What Goes on in This Writer's Head ~ by Fiona J. Roberts

The Idea
     At the beginning, everything is extremely vague for me. It starts with a word, a concept, or perhaps just a feeling. Inspiration comes from a newspaper story, something I’ve seen on television, or from the ether. I’m particularly creative whilst on my morning walk. There is something about strolling and letting my mind wander, that allows the creative juices to flow.
     I usually tell my husband my idea. He sits patiently as I describe some bizarre scenario that ends with… and then there’s a murder. He will then smile and say “That’s my girl. A murder.”
     My first book, EBB AND FLOW, came from a story that I had

honed over several years. I thought that I would write one book, but the floodgates had been opened. Since then, the concepts have come thick and fast. After reading a book about a serial killer, I wondered why they were always men in their twenties. From that thought, the lovely ladies Eve, Penny and Dorothea, who became my middle-aged vigilante killers, were born.
     My latest project, which is still in progress, and entitled EDEN'S TALE, began with a crazy thought about vestigial tales. Yes, so far, so random.

The Characters
     Who will populate my story? When you meet someone in real life, you gradually get to know them. A similar thing happens when I write. Choosing a name is important, but difficult, because it begins to develop their persona. Getting the name right allows me to picture what they look like. Once that step is done, I begin to wonder what they are like. What is their major flaw? What are their foibles? It is only when I am writing that they truly become fully formed. I’ve not necessarily planned for them to be, say, stubborn or sly, but these traits become apparent as I write their dialogue.
     In JUST DES(S)ERTS, Eve became a firebrand, Penny was soft,

and often a little confused, and Dorothea was, as far as being a serial killer goes, the voice of reason. Their back stories helped shape them and propel the story in the right direction.
     My latest character, Eden, is a girl with a dark side. I’m really enjoying swinging between sweet Eden and dangerous Eden.

The Story

     When I open a Word Doc., my preferred medium, and type the title, I usually have no idea what will come next. Eden is born with a vestigial tail, I know that much, but where can I go from there? What effect does that have on her? How does that fact launch us into a story?
     Okay, what if the tail, which was removed when she was a baby, begins to grow back when she is a teenager? Now that is interesting! I’ll run with that for a while and see what happens. Next, I’ll need some more people brought into the action. A best friend and a boyfriend, for a start, and they will need names.
     So, now I’m typing furiously. A sort of stream of consciousness thing. New characters are required and a better idea of what will happen is developing with each sentence. When I get to about 20,000 words, I pause. At this stage, some serious thought is required.
     A novel is typically around 70,000 words. Some are shorter, many are longer. What can happen in my story which will keep the reader interested throughout? I like a tale with a bit of a supernatural edge, but it still has to make sense. Sub plots are fine as long as they sit within the main story and aren’t merely distractions. I would rather write a shorter book that is all relevant, than one padded out with superfluous detail.
     The main story is now sketched out in my head. How it will all end is clear and a rough idea of the path to the denouement is there. Excellent, I can pick up where I left off and carry on with the narrative. Except there are many places along the route where the plot can change. An essential new character can demand to be included. One of the protagonists might suddenly do something unexpected. 

     In one of my other novels, a man decided to acquire a dog. Not sure where the thought came from, but it turned out to be a great addition. I type a sentence, the brain picks it up and runs with it, and I’m off in another direction.
     Then there is the great idea conundrum. Just when I think it is all going so smoothly, I come up with a plot twist or a better ending (or a man buys a dog.) The result is that I have to go back and change a lot of the action to accommodate the new story.
     The writing is at an end, but the work isn’t. I approach the task of editing with resignation. Picking up spelling mistakes and obvious punctuation errors as I go along, doesn’t mean that I have caught everything. This is the time to read through and do a multitude of amendments.
     The main things I look for are: what needs to be added, what needs to be clarified, and what can be discarded. I admit, there have been times when I have read back a sentence and can’t imagine what I was trying to say.
     It's never too late to change what doesn’t work or insert a better idea. It’s a lot of work, but if you want the best story, it is a sacrifice well made. The work is done and you sit back with a sense of accomplishment. But…
     I know other writers work in a myriad of ways. I am, what is known in the trade, as a pantser. In other words, I fly by the seat of my pants. Others are plotters. The story and the chapters are all planned out in advance. The characters are all named and have a bio. Only when these things have been done, will they start to write.
     I am more certain that my brain works in the same way as my fellow writers after the project has finished. The sense of accomplishment, that I mentioned before, is only a fleeting visitor. Next comes the doubt. Then I am on a roller coaster ride of, if it’s a good story, I’m a terrible writer. I love it, I hate it, why do I even bother? At some point there is what I can only describe as acceptance. I have done all that I can and it is time to release it on the world. I don’t know if this is an act of bravura, arrogance, or hope.
     When EBB AND FLOW was published, my first thought was,

why am I opening myself up to the public and letting them see my work? What if people hate it? Will I become an object of ridicule? My sister in law was one of the first to read EBB AND FLOW and my question was, is it like a real book? Not exactly neutral, I still needed an opinion. She, I’m relieved to say, loved it and helped calm my nerves.
     Back to EDEN'S TALE. Nothing too surprising has happened thus far. I do, indeed, have an ending which I’m happy with and I have about another 40,000 words to go. Hopefully, you will get to read about Eden and her tail before too long. I can confirm that no one in this book has yet bought a dog, although I can’t be sure that it won’t happen.

Fiona J Roberts lives in Dorset on the south coast of England. After

Fiona J. Roberts

a career in banking, she decided to fill her spare time by writing. The hobby became an obsession and has led to her having two books traditionally published and another which was self-published. Her latest book, Just Des(s)erts, tells the tale of three middle aged ladies who become vigilante serial killers. You can contact Fiona at the links below.

WEBSITE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

Scent as a Writing Prompt ~ Jacquolyn McMurray

On Friday, I attempted to watch a webinar about marketing and promotion.  It was a three-hour class and I was quite certain I wouldn't be able to sit still for that long.  Since it was a replay (I'd missed the live webinar), I decided I should clean my desk as I listened.  I could wipe shelves and easily sort papers into two piles, right? 

Wrong.

Midway into cleaning.

To decide what I wanted to keep and what should go to the discard pile, I needed to read some journal entries, reread various conference notes, label some new file folders, and ...well, you get the picture.  The marketing webinar soon took a back seat to exploring years of notations, ideas, and false starts.

Part of what I read were notebook entries from last December when my local writing group decided to try our hand at teaching new writers how to "Jump Start" their writing.  We began with a couple of writing prompts from Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind, then we wrote using smell as a stimuli. 

Did you know that smell tends to jog memories and stir emotions more than our other senses? 

Photo by Silviu Bocan on Unsplash

I remember the first time I did this writing exercise.  I was in a beginning writer class and the instructor lit a cigar and passed it around the table. One of the older women left the room sobbing. The instructor picked up the woman's pen and notepad and followed her from the room.  When our twenty minute timed writing was done, the red-eyed woman rejoined the group.  We were invited, if we desired, to share a paragraph or two.  The woman volunteered and read about her cigar smoking father who had been killed in World War II. Prompted by the smell of the cigar smoke, she was able to write an agonizing story about the day she found out he was dead. 

In December, my friend set out a variety of aromatic products to choose from. I chose lemon scented furniture polish. 

Somehow, through the magic of letting go and just writing, I discovered some things that I think will help me with my current WIP.

I wrote in poetry format.  Here’s a couple of lines from my wild mind, timed writing.

Dust particles cluster

and hide under couches,

crouch under chairs,

and taunt me when I pass.

Like old hurts,

I allow them to stay, undisturbed

and embrace the lessons they offer.

For me, rereading this was powerful because the heroine of my current WIP has suffered great personal losses and she needs to find her way to a new normal.  Who knew the scent of furniture polish could prompt me to explore her past hurts and how she can come to terms with them? 

Goldberg teaches us to kick out our internal editor, choose a place and time with no distractions, and keep the pen moving. No computers allowed because typing uses a different part of your brain. Twenty minute sprints tend to be quite telling.

I’m sure there are lots of aromas that remind you of something. Sometimes the memories are fleeting thoughts, lost in the next moment. For example, the scent of roses reminds me of my mother. But I have to wonder what I might discover if I smelled roses, shut out everything else, and just wrote with no preconceived plan. 

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

If you're a writer, and you are stuck, try a free write based on a scent and see if a snippet of truth emerges. 

And my desk?  After six hours I finished cleaning and am ready to put those notations to work for my heroine.