Alannah Foley
My brain regularly pumps out ideas without much prompting - there may be snippets of thought about an event I could incorporate into a story, or I may get whole storylines. In making an agreement with myself to write these down, I feel I am keeping the gates of inspiration open for more to come through.
When I'm working on the latter stages of a book, I'm not so much writing as editing, formatting, etc. So when I return to work on another book, I get my inspiration flowing again by pulling out the notes I've made for that book. In doing so, it's as though the energy of inspiration I had when I wrote those notes starts coming through. This usually grows as I start typing the notes up and developing them.
For newbies, what I would say, is that you don't always feel like you're on some 'inspiration high' as a writer, nor should you wait around to feel this. Often you just have to plod on regardless and 'just write'.
When I'm working on the latter stages of a book, I'm not so much writing as editing, formatting, etc. So when I return to work on another book, I get my inspiration flowing again by pulling out the notes I've made for that book. In doing so, it's as though the energy of inspiration I had when I wrote those notes starts coming through. This usually grows as I start typing the notes up and developing them.
For newbies, what I would say, is that you don't always feel like you're on some 'inspiration high' as a writer, nor should you wait around to feel this. Often you just have to plod on regardless and 'just write'.
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