Developing Your Ideas

How to get a spurt of writing energy when you get the chance to write

The end of the month comes all too quickly in February. This is a relief when you look at your bank balance, but when it comes to reflecting on what you have written it is almost a bit too soon. When I reviewed my January work, I posited that sometimes the work is done off paper by letting your ideas fester. However it did also push me to work more this month, knowing I would be updating the blog with what I had achieved.

So despite half term (and ill health yet again,) the good news is I wrote two new scenes for my motherhood project. One was prompted by an old photo. Because as much as I feel like I remember those early days, writing about the early years and the joys of toddlers has been blotted out by later tears and tantrums (and joys of course.) My own memories, along with knowing my characters better, helped me develop a scene where we see the strain of dealing with a difficult child through the impact it has on their parents.

The other scene I developed was on the back of the character profiles I have been developing. I wrote recently about avoiding clichés in my writing by using character profile worksheets. I love this activity to get the ideas flowing. I took this a step further and wrote a scene where the antagonist met up with my main character. I had identified both her flaws and the obstacles she faces so that both characters are more fully formed when they interact.

To really develop the idea, I wrote the scene from the antagonist’s first person and then rewrote it from the main character’s viewpoint. This was a technique that I learnt in a writing class that I would recommend. It is a really good way to develop the scenes because you have full awareness of what each character’s intentions are and are more aware of the tension between the two or more people. Whilst I highly recommend this idea, I would also caution not always do this. I have swathes of writing where the viewpoints have got mixed up either conciously or unconciously. This may be a style you choose to adopt, but it is best to choose a viewpoint and stick to it at least in the first draft.

Finally, to really develop your ideas, I like to leave an unfinished sentence at the end of your writing time. This week I finished the scene where the main character has been allowed into the home of the antagonist and at the end we know she has been invited out to an event. I know now that I have to write next about the event or at least the aftermath so I am setting my brain up to fester on that idea whenever I get back to the paper again.

I would love to hear any tips and tricks you use to keep going at your writing projects.