When I was a child, they called it daydreaming. Now I can legitimately call it research. Antennae out all the time, hoping to hook an idea. This one came to me while taking my children to an after-school class, and I scribbled it down in my little black book. (The only lovers in mine are fictional ones.)
Almost through the story now, and for a new market too. I've done my research - read the mag for some time, read the specials, studied everything from the ads to the letters page, the photos to the names of the readers. Who are they and who does the magazine think they are? I respect their research! Oh, and the fiction itself - style, length, sentence structure. I've checked out the guidelines for wordcount. (Thanks to womagwriter.blogspot.com for up to date guidelines and I must learn how to put a link in!)
And then ... then I try to put it all behind me and write out of the idea that haunts me this week.
That's how I know it's working - when I can't wait to sit down at the computer. I also love the moment when I read what's lying in wait for me from yesterday's self and can't remember writing it. The antennae taking on a life of their own?
I'm trimming and tidying now. This is the more conscious bit. I work in layers - sweeping through the whole story, building up a structure as I go, finding themes and connections through the language and the images within the story. Titles are the worst part. I can capture a first line, but titles persistently escape me. When I find it, it will tell me if my story comes together as a whole or is still wondering about its own identity. Or possibly mine. Title in search of an author, anyone?
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