Saturday 7th June

Even though the last one “2066 – a personal memoir” isn’t published yet, I have started a new story.  I won’t say much about it yet, as I am still feeling my way both for the plot and the tone of the narration. This time however it will be a third person narrative, so far almost everything I have written was in the first person.  Different voices; but always from their individual personal points of view.  My subject this time is more elusive and I want the character to evolve slowly through the story.

But at least I am writing again.  The thought that you might run out of ideas always scares writers, that somehow the words will dry up, that you won’t be able to write is a constant worry.  So, a metaphorical sigh of relief.  And where do the ideas come from?  Possibly I am dreaming them, not so much night-time dreaming but a form of daydreaming, where I let my mind drift away into almost nothingness.  There is also quite a bit of autobiographical stuff, though not as much as you might imagine.  I look at it more as my own life is the coat hanger on which I drape the story, it is simply a prop, a starting point, a place on a map, a moment in time.  And my characters are all part of me in a way too, different facets maybe of my own self.  I am at my best when I can slip into the character; then I know the voice to use, the turn of phrase, and I can believe in them.  And if I can, then hopefully so can you.  The writing of the story is almost the easy bit, the editing and the rewrites are the hard bits.