Writing Wednesday: Not drowning but writing

Firstly – is this not the most gorgeous typewriter you've ever seen?! I found it on Pinterest.

Anyway. For as long as I can remember I've been familiar with the concept of your life "flashing before your eyes" when you die or are having a near-death experience. It was only fairly recently that I learned that it's caused by your brain scanning through your memories to try to find something that may help you get out of whatever dangerous situation you're in. Gobsmacking.

But a similar thing happens to me when I start working on a new book. I usually have a germ of an idea – just a character or a setting – and then, once I start to focus and actually think about writing the book rather than it just being a vague future prospect, lots of other things pop into my head. An article I tore out of a magazine just because it seemed interesting. A song I downloaded after hearing it on an advert. A photo I spotted on Tumblr and bookmarked.

And then the more things I gather, the more I find or remember until I start to feel like bits and pieces of the book are flying towards me and I just have to fit them together. It's the most amazing feeling.

Of course then I have to actually write the book, but for a while there it's just awesome