THE JOYS AND FRUSTRATIONS OF WRITING

Coming up with a one-liner that tells you all you need to know about a character.  I was chuffed to come up with “If she’d lost her head, I’d have understood her complaints” from Eileen after her talk with Hanastrew over the mishaps associated with using the instant transport spell where bits don’t always materialize the way they should.  To get sympathy from Eileen, you’ve got to die!  Tells you everything, yes?


When a minor character takes on a life of their own and their subplot adds depth to your overall story.  Wes and Stan do this in my work.  They start off as mischievous sprites.  Wes becomes brave and discovers a side to himself he never knew he had.  Stan learns not to take things at face value.


Completing a story, particularly a novel.  It is an achievement.


When the one-liner doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped!


Having to take a out a minor character because they don’t develop the plot.  And if any character doesn’t advance your story, you have to kill your darlings.  Better that than allow such characters to kill your story with boredom.


When you think you’ll never finish the tale!


Not being able to get the words out quickly enough when the inspiration really flows.


Spell checkers!  Use a decent dictionary. Why are UK computers programmed to have the US dictionary as first option? I’ve nothing against the Americans but we have our own spellings (the right ones!).