The Art of Inspiration

I now have a basic outline for my next book and I am sure I could make it an entertaining read, except … except that lurking in the corners of my subconscious is an even better idea.  I know it is there, I can sense it.  The trick is to find some way for it to emerge so I can use it.  In some ways, I find this to be the most enjoyable part of writing – the seeking out of the best story.  As always, I have to let myself just free-associate – surfing on the web helps – and I am beginning to zero in on it.  All it will take is uncovering of some relatively unknown fact about Himmler or Goebbels and it will all slot into place.  I have already discovered a couple of interesting titbits.

Note to potential authors: keep a writing pad and pen beside your bed – inspiration likes to taunt.

Writer's Block

Hand on heart and any other assertion clichés you can care to name, I have never suffered from writer’s block – the blank page holds no fear for me.  The main thing that will give me pause for thought however, is something that is difficult to pin down and may also, perhaps, be difficult to understand for those who are not regularly creative.  What direction to take?

I have decided on my Big Idea – the concept that should attract the reader – and I have roughed out some ways this may be achieved, but who am I going to put in it to drive it along?  My last two novels have had the zest that is the conflict between differing approaches to war by two of the protagonists, but I am drawn to creating someone new.  This will mean different problems … or am I just avoiding the need to devise a fresh dynamic between two excellent characters?

I think all who known me know the answer to that.

 

I am also ducking the issue by taking a hatchet to an earlier novel – after the gap of twenty months or so I can see where it could be tightened up and added to.  (I’m also trying to think of ways to retain some explicit sex scenes that get in the way of the plot.)  It’s a labour of love, but someone’s got to do it.