A Wonderful Addiction!

by

in

girl-204326_1280Writing a novel is a form of insanity. The novelist sits alone for hours on end playing with imaginary friends. When a person goes to a medical professional complaining of voices in their head, they are diagnosed and medicated. But for the writer there is no cure from the addiction that is writing fiction.

Yes, I’m a novelist and I spend the vast majority of my time ingirl-564148_1280 imaginary places with imaginary people, some of whom I consider friends and others not so much. No, it is not reality, but during the period of writing the story, the more real it is to me, the more believable I can make it for the readers. When I’m in what I call ‘the zone’, I am completely unaware of the reality that is the material world of flesh, blood and other matter. In ‘the zone’ I’m completely immersed in my imagination. And, strangely, in ‘the zone’ is when I feel most alive. And this is why writing novels, for me anyway, is addictive.

elitismstyle_chimpanzee-2Some authors carefully plot each movement the characters make before fleshing out the scene with the narrative and dialogue. That is what I would refer to as a plot driven story. Many thriller writers employ this method. Although I like writing a thriller, my stories are character driven, which means the characters are making the decisions as to how the story unfolds. I simply write what I see happening. Yes, I have a say in what happens. I’m the one that sets the stage, but it is the characters that people the stage who write the story, because it is their interactions that dictate what happens next. I watch it all as if I’m watching a movie in my head, a movie I can rewind as much as I like. For me, this process makes writing effortless.

When I explain this, people invariably say to me, “But you create thewomen-878869_1280 characters to play specific roles?” My answer is always that I create the main protagonists initially, but the characters I create very quickly evolve into their own selves. And they do change from the character I had initially intended them to be. Other characters walk into the story as and when they are needed. I meet these characters for the first time in very much the same way I meet strangers in real life. These characters walk into the story complete and speak for themselves and I get to know them through their interactions with others and their dialogue, just as the reader will get to know them.

But of course there’s still a lot of work to do. Every author has to be disciplined. There are no short cuts to finishing a book. Real life permitting, I sit at my desk every morning and target getting so many thousand words down on paper, metaphorically speaking, as everything is done electronically these days. I’ll usually have scribbled down notes during the night as I see the scenes written the day before from different perspectives that reveal new potentials I feel I need to add to the scenes. So I start at around seven in the morning by combing through the previous day’s work and invariably I add material and delete material and sometimes I need to go back further to add a new thread much earlier on to offer motive to something that happened. By the time I’ve finished combing through I will be back in ‘the zone’ and with the characters up and running again, it’s time to capture the next scenes and when something happens to pull me out of ‘the zone’, such as a tap on my shoulder by a lover urging me to finish because she wants some attention too, I’ll be surprised by the time. Often it is ten at night…

The Drama Merchant below is published by Wales Press. 

32 responses to “A Wonderful Addiction!”

  1. tinhoc10bvn avatar

    I have found the instruction interesting in the article. You are no question a wise person

  2. alpha femme keto genix canada avatar

    Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long
    comment but after I clicked submit my comment
    didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again.
    Anyways, just wanted to say excellent blog!

  3. skin cell Pro avatar

    Great info. Lucky me I discovered your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
    I have saved as a favorite for later!

  4. Elvis Essman avatar

    “Hi! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up for your excellent info you’ve got right here on this post. I will be returning to your site for more soon.”

  5. Nancy avatar

    My brother recommended I would possibly like this website.
    He used to be totally right. This put up actually made my
    day. You cann’t believe simply how so much time I had
    spent for this information! Thank you!

  6. Patricia avatar

    I think the admin of this site is genuinely
    working hard in support of his web site, as here every material is quality based material.

  7. Madalynn avatar

    Hi there, just wanted to tell you, I liked this post.

    It was practical. Keep on posting!

  8. Roy avatar

    Having read this I thought it was extremely
    informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this short article together.
    I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading and posting comments.
    But so what, it was still worth it!

  9. Samanthasmit avatar

    Hi there, I check your blogs like every week. Your humoristic style
    is witty, keep it up!

  10. Nataliesmit avatar

    Greetings from Florida! I’m bored to death at work so I decided
    to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I love the info you provide here and can’t wait to take
    a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my phone ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, great site!

  11. Jacob avatar

    It’s awesome in favor of me to have a web site, which is good
    for my experience. thanks admin

  12. Addison avatar

    It’s going to be end of mine day, however before ending I am reading this wonderful post to
    increase my knowledge.

  13. Hannah avatar

    It is not my first time to visit this web page, i am browsing this web site
    dailly and take good facts from here all the time.

  14. ปั้มไลค์ avatar

    Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.

  15. Mortgage Advisory avatar

    I think this is a real great blog post.Much thanks again. Much obliged.

  16. Gracie avatar

    I really like looking through an article that will make men and women think.
    Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!

  17. http://www.gracedentalclinic.in avatar

    Thanks for sharing, this is a fantastic post.Really thank you! Fantastic.

  18. best vibrators avatar

    Thanks a lot for the article.Really thank you! Really Cool.

  19. rabbit bullet vibrator avatar

    Really appreciate you sharing this article.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.

  20. firmskyn dildo avatar

    Thank you for your blog post.Much thanks again. Really Cool.

  21. clit massagers avatar

    Really informative blog. Really Great.

  22. blog article avatar

    Very informative post.Much thanks again. Awesome.

  23. WANZ 966 avatar

    Major thanks for the article. Cool.

  24. Slotxo avatar

    I appreciate you sharing this post.Much thanks again. Really Great.

  25. ดูหนังออนไลน์ avatar

    Very neat blog.Really looking forward to read more. Cool.

  26. ดูหนังออนไลน์ avatar

    A round of applause for your blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.

  27. n95 mask price avatar

    Major thanks for the blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.

  28. หนังออนไลน์ avatar

    Really enjoyed this blog article. Keep writing.

  29. car detailing near me mobile avatar

    Looking forward to reading more. Great article.Thanks Again. Fantastic.

  30. Engineering Medical MBA admissions Hazaribagh avatar

    Say, you got a nice blog.Really thank you! Really Great.

  31. agen sbobet avatar

    Thanks again for the article post.Much thanks again. Much obliged.

  32. tiktok takipçi avatar

    Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Really thank you! Want more.

Leave a Reply