with Sharon Burke
Hi Everyone,
Today I would like to discuss a second interpretation of Virginia Woolf's words “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”.When this quote was discussed at the Sydney Writers' festival some thought the words “a room of her own” referred to the internal world of the fiction writer.
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| Gif courtesy of PicsGifs.com |
A World of Your Imagination.
As writers of fiction, we have strong imaginations. We aim to create a world of believable characters and describe their experiences so effectively that our readers develop an immediate and powerful urge to keep turning the page.To do this, we must enter this fictitious world of our creation. So how do romance writers create a world of their imaginations? |
| image courtesy of Pixabay |
Visualisation.
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| image courtesy of Pixabay |
What if?
“Who is she? Why did she run? Does she know the man? Who is he? Is he the hero? Did she leave him? If so, why?”
A full synopsis?
Forward planner, or plan as you go?
Other writers plan more thoroughly. Some keep extensive files of inspirational material – photos, ideas jotted down, pictures, articles, scenes sketched out. Some write very detailed synopses and use these as a basis for their writing. Others work with a writing partner brainstorming and “bouncing ideas off one another”.
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| Gif courtesy of Giphy.com |
What about you?
I love to love: My husband and I celebrated 30 years of marriage yesterday. What a joy it is to spend your life with someone you love.
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| image courtesy of Pixabay |
I love to laugh: I wish I could master the art of the one-liner. Some people seem to be able to say the one thing at exactly the right time to make us laugh just when we need to.
I love to learn: I love researching – for my writing, for this blog, to satisfy curiosity, sometimes just for fun.
Hi ladies! Another wonderful blog post and congratulations, Sharon, on your 30 year anniversary. That's lovely.
ReplyDeleteAs for my interior writing world... hmm. A very messy room I suspect! But for those ideas that have gone beyond an idea to the "I think this might have legs" stage I keep "book bibles". These contain the initial premise, character sketches, photos, magazine and newspaper articles, family trees, stuff about the setting, scene fragments... basically all sorts of stuff that might have any relevance to the story. As more scene ideas develop I write them down in the bible. I might write a synopsis and stick that in too, or sometimes it'll just be a premise or log line. Then as I begin to write, I add plot notes or brainstorm future scenes.
I guess you could call my book bibles my room. Whatever the label, they're precious things and I get very fearful about losing them!
Thanks so much for dropping by Cathryn, and thank you for the detailed description of your book bibles. They sound like a really good way of keeping track of many creative projects developing at once.
DeleteHi Sharon. Thank you for exploring the other side of this wonderful quote. Congratulations on your Anniversary too. 30 years is quite a milestone. I think I have squatters in my internal room at the moment, just lazing about and making a mess. Usually though, I get an idea and I write down everything that is in my head whether it makes sense or not. I like the idea of having a bible like Cathryn and I usually start off with good intentions of using only one book/notepad but end up with notes all through my handbag and stuck on my monitor etc. I do an outline normally before I start and then wing it from there but recently had to do a full synopsis of a book that I had yet to start and it was a real challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your internal writing room with us Cassandra. I tend to record lots of ideas on post it notes and would also like to try book bibles. A full synopsis before starting a book sounds like an incredibky difficult task.
DeleteHi Sharon. Thanks for this thought-provoking post. Hmm, what is my interior writing world like? Fairly orderly. Once I have an idea for a story I spend a lot of time thinking about and getting to know my characters, and also researching the setting. I'm a plotter so I always figure out the GMC for each MC and do a story outline before I start to write. That outline often changes as my characters begin to turn into real people for me and start determining for themselves what will happen next, though *grin*.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your interior writing world with us, Marilyn. You sound really well organised. It's interesting how things change as your characters develop.
DeleteHi Sharon. It's interesting how each writer's interior writing world differs. I'm a lot like Cassandra in that I start with one notepad when a story idea occurs but the notepad soon gives way to loose bits of paper floating around. Which, of course, I have to transfer to the notepad if I am to make sense of everything! I tend to see my stories in separate, visual scenes that are not in chronological order but are scattered from beginning to end. (Rather than a plotter or pantster, I'm a 'scener'). I like to get into the heads of the hero and heroine and learn their secrets. Once I know them, it's easier to then see what will happen in the story. Oftentimes, I think one thing will happen, only to learn something else does but it always turns out it happens that way for a reason. I do love Cathryn Hein's story bibles. They would be a great help in really seeing the story develop.
ReplyDeleteHi Enisa, thank you for sharing your interior writing world in such detail. It sounds like you have really strong skills in visualisation. I tend to visualise pictures rather than whole scenes. I love Cathryn Hein's story bibles concept too.
ReplyDeleteMoney and a room of one's own. I like the sound of that...especially the money bit! Sadly though, it's kinda true...if I didn't have to work (to make money) then I could spend my days writing.
ReplyDeleteMy interior writing world is much less cluttered than my external writing world! It all makes sense in my head and even when I get it down on paper it seems to keep it's linear order.
Hi Dee, thank you for your comments. Like you, I'd have more time for writing if I didn't work to pay the bills. Your writing world sounds really interesting. As a fiction writing newbie, mine is like a house with many rooms I am still exploring and several doors I still need to open.
DeleteCONGRATS ON 30 YEARS!! 30 years together...that's a love story I'd like to read!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dee.
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