Authors Electric

You'd think that after writing novels since 1986 a writer would know how to start a new book. And I was confident I did after taking a a sabbatical to work on some Latin translations.  I planned to spend the fall doing what I always do before I start a new novel: taking notes for several months before I started writing. But it felt different this time since I wanted to start a new series with a different cast. But my fears began to grow. Had I learned enough in all those years to take my work to higher ground? Was I too old? Did I lack the right commercial genes? When  I'd filled two Moleskine-style- notebooks with questions and notes toward an outline, though I'd planned to start writing after New Year's, the first week in December my pencil started bucking like a stallion at the gate. And then-- I froze. The Muse said 'Bye!' And for the life of me I couldn't think how to start the book. I knew the importance of the first five pages..then 10, 25, and 50. Bu...

The last month has been an odd one for me. I'm not sure it's writer's block, at least not in the traditional sense, as I've still been writing, but the problem is making progress. Like, I suspect, a lot of writers, when lockdown first started, I thought it would be a boon to productivity - after all, I'm no longer spending an hour or more commuting, time which could be better spent writing. I quickly discovered the opposite - I was writing more slowly. I put a large part of this down to screen fatigue - now I'm working from home, I spend most of the day either staring at a screen or delivering training virtually, using Teams as a platform. By the end of the day, I've been finding the thought of staring at a screen for another couple of hours less than thrilling. Some evenings, I've not bothered at all and resorted to pen and paper. I now have quite a lot of potential material for future stories (assuming I can decipher my own handwriting) and have id...

Orson Welles ' "Lady from Shanghai" Mirror Maze Scene My cursor blinks accusingly from the end of a pathetic little string of words, lost in the white-out of a freshly opened page – a tiny Inuit and his dog team sledding over the ice pack of my frozen inspiration. Time to take a walk, maybe down to the lake. Let the creative unconscious (that capricious weasel) to its job. Maybe I should get that pound of coffee we need, or change that burned-out track light in the hallway. But how can I take a break when I haven't even started? … Mmmm. What's in the refrigerator, and why am I staring into it? How did I get here? Indeed, that is the question. Back at my desk amid its comfortable clutter, I swivel in my high-backed chair to see Oliver, my inamorata's fat orange cat, sprawled on a window sill facing our pair of leafy verdant mulberry trees. A deliriously bright summer afternoon – breezy and pungent from yesterday's thunderstorms – beckons me. Olive...

Oh, it happens, and it’s horrible. It’s like being in a maze when you can’t find the way out, and you keep passing the same point over and over again. Nine times out of ten there will be something wrong with the last section you wrote. There could be any number of issues here, but usually it’s just one, especially if you have an idea of where the plot is going. You need to re-read what you’ve written, as objectively as possible. This means making a note of the timeline – can everyone get to where they’re meant to be in the time you’ve given them to do it? It may mean making a map of the terrain. Are the characters in the right places? But the most likely glitch of all is that someone has behaved out of character. They simply would not have done or said something or other. Have a good hard look at each character, and the motivation for their behaviour. People (or animals, or mythical beasts!) don’t do things for no reason. Some characters seem to come from nowhere. Others ha...

I've been lucky, I seldom suffer from the dreaded 'writers block.' But when I do there are techniques I employ to help get the ideas flowing again. One technique I use is the 'what if ...' game. Basically I choose a story, often a classic fairy tale and ask 'what if ...' To demonstrate what I mean here a three examples: Cinderella: At the end of this story the prince finds Cinderella, she slips on the glass shoe, it fits, they marry and live happy ever after. But what if Cinderella sprains her ankle as she runs away from the palace? Her ankle swells, so when the prince asks her to try on the shoe it doesn't fit. What if it fits one of the sisters? This sister knows where Cinderella has hidden the other shoe and uses it to prove she is the one he is looking for. Who does he marry? Snow White: At the end of this story the prince kisses Snow White, she wakes up, they marry and live happy every after. But what if once she is ma...

Last month I blogged about how I'd started to take photographs to support my blog posts - Picture It . I received a few positive comments (thanks folks) however the one left by  Bill Kirton  really struck a cord: " A great idea, Lynne, and I bet, as readers of the blog looked at each, ideas for stories started nudging into their minds. That's certainly what happened as I read it. Wouldn't it be interesting to post just one of them and have people submit 500-word flash fiction stories inspired by it.  Great displacement activity." So whilst I've been out and about with the dog (we do a lot of  walking)  I've been  taking  photographs of the 'odd' things people have left behind . I guess you know what's coming next. Yep I'm throwing down the  gauntlet . Here are three images I'm hoping will inspire your muse. I'm not expecting you to craft a 500-word flash fiction story (but don't let me stop you if you get that urge) but...

Thankfully I've never suffered writers block but then again I've never been in the position I find myself in now, where I just can't stop the new ideas from coming.   I recently took on a two-month contract for a local language school. I've been employed as a property manager (glorified house keeper) for a student residence with just over 100 rooms. It's not a job I've ever done and have no background in this type of work. I was just in the right place at the right time. Since starting the job I've been more inspired to write than I think I've ever been before. Even the title of this post was inspired by the bunch of house keys sitting next to me as I typed these words (image to the right).  It all started on the 1st July whilst I was packing my travel bag (I'm having to sleep on site at least four nights per week). I'd just completed researching a method of constructing stories called 'accumulative' or a 'chain' s...