Ramblings on writing #1

It's almost 11am and my two youngest boys are still in bed. It's a training day at school today so they have the pleasure of my company, and we're off to see my mum.

It's back to the writing for me tomorrow, and I'm keen to get started on something new. I took a break from the long form writing for a while and wrote a couple of short stories before the holiday. It was a different discipline and I think you need to give yourself time to develop new ideas. I'm coming to realise how important the story is, and how those ideas need to be strong. Perhaps a great novel is nothing more than a good story well told.

Iceland was a truly inspirational place and it is has given me not one, but two ideas. One is an adaptation of something I had already developed, the other is something very new. It's interesting where the inspiration comes from. I saw some breathtaking sites, and heard some dramatic sagas when we were away, but it was actually something small and fairly mundane that planted the seed which has since grown into an exciting scenario.

That's how I begin, with a scenario and a couple of characters. Nothing more. Occasionally, I have a killer opening line, but that changes every week as I write. For those of you who are aspiring writers out there, for what it's worth my advice would be to move beyond the story board approach. You really don't need to have the whole story mapped out before you begin. That approach becomes a barrier and obstacles are the last thing you need. You will come across many of those in the process and you need to try and remove and overcome these not create more.

Your goal is to write, so just start with an idea and let it flow. Your imagination will do the rest. You won't like everything that comes out. That's fine. Don't be too hard on yourself. Just keep doing it. You will write several versions, you will amend, adapt, move in other directions. That is part of the fun of the process. It is a creative journey of discovery. Once you've finished then park it for a while. Come back with a fresh pair of eyes a few weeks later. Patience and resilience are important.

Good editing is vital. Make sure you are happy with what you've written before anyone else sees it, but rest assured it will change further. Let go of your ego. Write for yourself and enjoy it. If you think of all those eyes that might see it at the end you will cripple yourself with fear and self-doubt. The most important thing I tell myself every day is 'No-one need ever read this.' That sounds perverse in a way, but it is liberating.

Above all, create your own world, tell it with passion, and be true to yourself. Find your own voice. A good story well told, that is all.