Ask the Author: Millie Florence
Answered Questions (9)
Millie Florence
Ultimately, the vision I have for the book. When you have an idea you love, there's nothing more rewarding than seeing it through to completion. At the same time, there are some days when I don't feel motivated at all, and I have to write anyway. Everyone has to do that sometimes. You shouldn't stop writing because you don't have the motivation - often the act of writing is what sparks the motivation itself.
Millie Florence
I'm the sort of person who has an abundance of ideas and not enough time to write them all.
When it comes to finding story ideas I have a few tips:
1. Carry a notebook with you so that you can write any ideas you have down, whether they might be dialogue snippets, metaphor ideas, or character descriptions, right when the inspiration strikes.
2. Relax. As the saying goes, a watched pot never boils. In the same way, if you’re constantly checking to see if you have any ideas, your brain will stress out. And a stressed-out brain is not a creative brain.
3. Look back at some of your old story ideas and see if you can transform them into something new. The idea for my book Lydia Green of Mulberry Glen, actually came, in part, from a story I wrote when I was around six, called Lydia and the Forever Living Land.
When it comes to finding story ideas I have a few tips:
1. Carry a notebook with you so that you can write any ideas you have down, whether they might be dialogue snippets, metaphor ideas, or character descriptions, right when the inspiration strikes.
2. Relax. As the saying goes, a watched pot never boils. In the same way, if you’re constantly checking to see if you have any ideas, your brain will stress out. And a stressed-out brain is not a creative brain.
3. Look back at some of your old story ideas and see if you can transform them into something new. The idea for my book Lydia Green of Mulberry Glen, actually came, in part, from a story I wrote when I was around six, called Lydia and the Forever Living Land.
Millie Florence
I'm a strong Panster when it comes to first drafts. After the first draft, however, I go all out with scene cards and plotting charts and character bios... you name it!
Millie Florence
Yes. I believe in writer's block. However, it’s a lot rarer an occurrence than many writers claim it to be. These days every artistic difficulty is blamed on writer’s block, but often writing is just hard. I call this ‘writer’s mud’, and sometimes you just need to slog through it.
Millie Florence
I never set daily word count goals until I started writing Honey Butter, which I did during 2016 NaNoWriMo. At that time my daily goal was 1,000 words a day, and it was a bit of a struggle to reach it.
The more I wrote however, the faster I got at it. Today 1,000 is less of my goal, and more of my minimum. It's not uncommon for me to write 2,000 a day, and I can easily do 1,500.
The more I wrote however, the faster I got at it. Today 1,000 is less of my goal, and more of my minimum. It's not uncommon for me to write 2,000 a day, and I can easily do 1,500.
Millie Florence
So far I've worked on 8 'serious' novel length projects throughout my life, two of which are published.
Also countless poems, songs, short stories, the first chapters of ideas that I never got anywhere with, and long form stories I told aloud to my siblings or my recorder.
Some of my earliest titles include "Little Girl Lucy" "Glacier's Wings" "Lydia and the Forever Living Land" "The Sky Dwellers and the secret of the Gems" and "Destiny".
There are many more to come!
Also countless poems, songs, short stories, the first chapters of ideas that I never got anywhere with, and long form stories I told aloud to my siblings or my recorder.
Some of my earliest titles include "Little Girl Lucy" "Glacier's Wings" "Lydia and the Forever Living Land" "The Sky Dwellers and the secret of the Gems" and "Destiny".
There are many more to come!
Millie Florence
I made a video all about this on my Youtube channel! You can find it here: https://youtu.be/licNcBkLy9s
Millie Florence
Contrary to the popular belief, inspiration isn't really something you find. It's something that finds you. It creeps up next to you a hangs around a while. Sometimes you don't even realize it's there until you've already written it into your book!
Millie Florence
First drafts! I'm the sort of person who has way too many ideas, and in the first draft, they can all pour out and there's no right or wrong. It gives me a soaring sensation to write those drafts as if I'm born aloft on the wings of imagination.
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