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Stripey comes back – all is well in la la land

Aside Athousandbitsofpaper24 Comments

I asked out loud

and into the room

But no one was waiting to answer my question

I asked again

but I whispered within

and this time the reply came swiftly

do what you want and as you think fit

there are no wrong answers

just trying

and learning

and with each cycle turning

you learn a little more

be brave

make mistakes

and keep growing….

 

*the trouble with writing is there is no one that will make you sit down and do it except yourself. There is no one to motivate you – except yourself and if you give up – there is no one to be disappointed – except yourself – oh and my husband who thinks he is going to retire on the millions that my books make. But no pressure.

It is the same thing with anything in life – we have to be self motivated to achieve anything and to the self employed, the entrepreneur and every creative type whether they be artist or writer etc – we share a commonality of being both our own fire and water.

Today after an entire month of telling myself I would begin again – I began again and knocked out 4000 words. Not just shite words either – the story has taken a  new angle which has inspired me no end. I can feel the energy and enthusiasm picking up. Like a sailing ship previously becalmed, my storytelling was suddenly given a gust of wind to take off on – I’m away. Or rather – my main character is back.

I have done some writing here and there on the book over the last month but haven’t been able to find the right angle in which to begin again authentically. So there has been a lot of furious typing out of my head (which never gets things right) and then delete, delete, delete. Very frustrating.

You see this WIP  “book” began as a prize winning short story which I loved and am elaborating on. A short story however is already naturally complete, this is how we bring them to a conclusion in the first place.  To find the way to take it authentically further requires quite a bit more work than I had originally envisioned because I write whilst the character is in my head. It’s easy when you have someone telling you their story.

When they’re gone though – you have to make it up yourself and it sounds contrived. Which is to say – hollow. This character had told her story and left. I had to coax her back and get her to tell me some more. Which sounds mad – I understand that (and so I shall continue with none of us under any illusions as to my sanity as a writer “)

But the good news is – Stripey is back from her far away holidays (which is a story in itself believe me!) and has been having a chat. I don’t think I have introduced her to you before here on the blog.

This is Stripey as seen through the wonderfully talented hands of my illustrator friend Frances.

I’ll let you know a bit more about her down the track because the thing is – Stripey is a character that will be loved by both adults and children. She is a unique little thing with an authentic character arc and the things she has to say are interesting and compelling.

She is locked into a date with my Uk editor in April hence my great relief when Stripey finally turned up this morning. I was beginning to worry.

Lovely to be back writing in la la land.

As much as I love my poetry, it is amazing when I can drop into the space of another characters world – which is why I’ve always loved reading. Sorry about the length of this post. If you’re still reading (and I can certainly forgive you if you are not!) Have a lovely day.

Stripey is back – it was just news too exciting not to share!

 

 

 

 

24 thoughts on “Stripey comes back – all is well in la la land”

  5. Such a wonderful thing to be back on track with your writing! I love when you talk in the beginning about us being our own fire and our own water. So much truth to that. We are the only ones holding ourselves accountable!
    I can’t wait to learn more about stripey! Sounds like a character I will love!

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  6. As much as I love my poetry, it is amazing when I can drop into the space of another characters world – which is why I’ve always loved reading <— Love the way you say this!

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  8. You certainly are right that as writers is only you and you to motivate yourself. Yet I actually found some good motivation after reading this post. Waiting to read more about Stripey, good name by the way.

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