Newbie's Corner: A Room of One's Own Part 2: The World of the Fiction Writer

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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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.

Some have strong skills in visualisation. Emma Darcy describes intriguing characters and scenes, “I visualised a woman in a red dress bursting into a high-level boardroom meeting of a prestigious company located in New York”.

image courtesy of Pixabay

What if?

Vanessa Grant describes taking the spark of an idea and developing questions arising from this.

“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?

Heidi Rice speaks of having an idea for the opening scene, one for the hero and one for the heroine then working intuitively without a full synopsis.

Forward planner, or plan as you go?

Many writers seem to have a powerful idea, do some planning then largely work intuitively entering the world of the viewpoint character, following them, feeling their joy, love and pain and describing it for the reader. They seem to fully immerse themselves in this world of imagination and describe it for the reader.

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”.

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com

What about you?

What is your interior writing world like? How do you start? How do you know what will happen next? When do you discover how internal and external conflicts will be resolved?




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.

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.