Monday 13 June 2016

From Little Things Big Things Grow

with guest blogger Amy Andrews.


Authors colour the world of their books with many seemingly inconsequential things. Tiny things that usually never have any impact on the story at all but can go on to have huge significance.

For example, red glass vases. In Holding Out For A Hero, I gave the heroine, Ella, a couple of vases that belonged to her estranged mother, the only things Ella had taken from the house after her mother's death. When I first wrote them they were merely a prop to decorate Ella's room. They could have been anything else - a lamp or a painting. But they quickly became a memento from the happier times in Ella's childhood, a connection to her mother. Then as the story evolved further, they became so much more, they were the catalyst for the wedge that is driven between Ella and Jake.

I didn't know any of this when I first wrote the vases into the story. It was just a little detail, not the linchpin of the big black moment. But things like that often aren't planned - well, they're not for me anyway. They evolve as the story evolves and can often take on a life of their own. I like to think that my muse knew all along, laying little breadcrumbs for me, waiting for me to finally make the connection.





It was the same with my rural/small town romance Some Girls Do which, btw, is perma-FREE!!

Amazon Aus:

Amazon US:




https://au.pinterest.com/pin/446067538074297818/

I found this image on Pinterest when I was searching (read procrastinating) another book.

I was really impressed with the handkerchief bustle. I'd not seen something like this before and I liked the gypsy feel of it. But I moved on through the rabbit hole that is Pinterest not really giving it much thought until I was half way through writing Some Girls Do and I knew I needed a handkerchief bustle.

You see, my heroine, Lacey, is a bit of a brat. She's young and reckless and wilful and all the things some reviewers have called her. But I don't apologise for that. She's grieving. Yes, she's making a hash of it but grief's like that sometimes. Messy and erratic. Anyway, all Lacey wants is to go home to Jumbuck Springs and be with her tribe - her brothers and the town she loves. But she knows she has to prove herself when she gets there. She knows she has one chance to show she's all grown up.

I didn't know when I made her a fashion design student that it would be the way Lacey was going to prove herself. It was just a tiny decision I made because I wanted her to be a bit arty and have to leave Jumbuck Springs to pursue it. I didn't know when I threw in an old school friend that was getting married as a secondary character that Lacey was going to save her wedding day. But when the scene came to me - when the skirt of the weddings dress is lying in hacked pieces at Lacey's feet - that handkerchief bustle I'd seen once many months before came back to me.

With less than 24 hours to the wedding, Lacey turns the savaged pieces into a handkerchief bustle, causes an absolute sensation in the district and a flurry of orders from other brides-to-be. A business is born and Lacey's place in Jumbuck Springs is secure.

None of these little decisions I made along the way seemed to be of any consequence until that scene. A little procrastination time on Pinterest seemed of little consequence until that scene. But all along my muse had been laying breadcrumbs because that scene is a turning point in Lacey's character and that damn bustle started it all even though it meant nothing at the time.

So what have I learned? Do not take minutiae for granted because from little things, big things can grow. Always trust that my muse will deliver. And Pinterest is the bomb.

Do you notice the minutiae in a novel only when it becomes significant? Are you a Pinterest tragic like me? If so, what are your favourite boards there?

I love to love: travel. I've just come back from exploring the Mediterranean where I totally confirmed something I've always suspected - I was a Roman goddess in a previous life!




I love to laugh: at myself! I don't think anyone should take themselves too seriously.

I love to learn: other people's stories. If you see me following you around Woolies with my shopping trolley I'm trying to figure out your story!


14 comments:

  1. Hi Amy! I really enjoyed your post. It brought home to me just how big a role the muse plays, making us writers (without our prior knowledge) include things in our writing that later become pivotal to the story. Discovering the role of that minutiae is one of the things I truly love about writing.
    As for Pinterest, what a magical world to lose yourself in! A procrastinator's dream. :)

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    1. Thank goodness for the muse, Marilyn, even if she can be a right pain in the neck from time to time :-)

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  2. Hi Amy. Thanks for a great post. I had a quirk of one of my characters that I planned on using only once but then became a thing he did when he was nervous or unsure. It really brought him to life just from a simple tug of his waistcoat. So I totally believe in small things making a big impact in a story.

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    1. Yes, yes, yes Cassandra!! That's exactly what I mean. Small things can have such a big impact!

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  3. Loved your post Amy. It was interesting to see where your handkerchief bustle began it's journey onto the page. I haven't really thought about these little seeds sewn into my stories, but you can bet I will from now on. I loved Lacey's story, and you know I am a huge fan and I gobble up all your books, so I am fascinated to see where you go from here now that you have been overseas and have new research material.

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    1. Thanks so much, Savannah!
      You can take to the bank that I'll be writing a cruise book sooner rather than later :-)

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  4. Great post, Amy! This is something I've never really thought about in detail but now I consider it, having little things turn into important things happens a lot with me too. Love both the books you referenced here. They were fab reads so it was very cool to get this insight into how certain scenes came about.

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    1. I think it happens to all writers, Cathryn, I just think we're often blissfully unaware of it :-)

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  5. Hi Amy. Thanks for a terrific post. I'm with you totally about the little things appearing in the story for a reason that impacts on the story as a whole. It's fascinating how the muse works and that moment when you realise why the little thing is there is like, 'Wow!' Your examples from the books you referenced really showed how this can be. Thank you.

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    1. Oh I freaking LOVE that moment, Enisa! I love the sudden rush of - hell, yeh, look at me go, this is perfect and I rock! :-) It's too easy to worry about how much I suck so a moment of positive affirmation is always appreciated!

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  6. The small things really make a difference in a book. In music, if you hear a 'ground bass', it often repeats at strategic moments. In comedy, the leprechaun might dance across the stage in silly moments as a running gag (or a goat, or anything, really). In romance, it could be the...vase. The watch. The bag. The handkerchief bustle. I love things like that, they bring a book alive. Thanks, Amy!

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  7. You're right, Malvia, they do bring a book alive. Well put!

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  8. Dear Amy, thank you for a great blog. I agree with you about the role of the muse in writing. A story idea or a potential article will "bubble along" in my subconscious long before words are written. An object or incident can later take on meaning I was unaware of when I first conceived it.

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    1. Hi Sharon - doncha just love the bubbling cauldron of creativity we have going on up there?

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