Callum McLaughlin's Blog, page 87

It’s All Go

My latest project is starting to really take shape and rule my writing time

For a fair amount of time after I published my first book, The Vessel, I waited. This was not because I didn’t have other story ideas mapped out already, nor was it because I didn’t want to carry on writing. I have realised with hindsight that it was largely a reluctance to move away from a project I had spent so long thinking about, working on and immersing myself in.

Even when I got a new work in progress officially underway, it took me a while to get that same buzz I got from The Vessel. This was also in part because its progress was repeatedly slowed and interrupted because of commitments to various freelance writing jobs during the very early stages. After a solid week of good progress however, I found myself gripped by that same excitement I felt back when The Vessel took over the majority of my writing time. I now know with near certainty that this new project will be the next thing I publish. Still a long way off perhaps, but exhilarating and motivating nonetheless.

Have you ever felt a subconscious reluctance to move onto a new project? What are you working on now? Do you get a buzz when a WIP starts to take shape?

I See You, Wallflower

Shapeless shadows drifting,

obscured by their own darkness.

A whisper in the breeze,

a raindrop on an ocean,

lost, but no less living.

Elusive and intangible,

like hunting smoke with nets.

If you can find the courage

to let your voice go free,

then I am here to listen.

Unleash Your Imagination

set your stories free

‘Write what you know’ – It’s a phrase we hear a lot and while I think it’s a piece of advice worth taking in terms of being familiar with the content of your work, be that through research or planning, I must admit I’m not as convinced in terms of the more literal sense of the phrase.

You don’t have to be a serial killer to write a good novel about one, nor do you have to be a doctor for your lead character to work in a hospital. If you have ever felt restricted as to what you can write about, I would put to you that if everyone were to stick exclusively to what they knew, the world of fiction would become profoundly dull. The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones; none of these multi-million selling franchises would even exist if their respective authors had not been willing to embrace the unknown; to push boundaries and write out with the restrictions of the real world and their everyday lives.

So, by all means do your homework and strive to make your books believable within the context of whatever genre or setting you may choose but never be afraid to set your imagination free.