Inspiration

I love going to author talks. I love listening to them talk about their writing styles and how they plot and plan their books from start to finish, what gives them ideas, even where they write (I’m a huge sticky beak and love seeing other writer’s workspaces too).

Last night a friend (also a writer) and I went along to listen to Kate Morton give a talk at our local library. She’s a fellow Aussie and I’ve read both of her books, The Shifting Fog and The Forgotten Garden, both gothic mystery type books that I very much enjoyed.

Kate was an excellent speaker and very down to earth as she described the process of writing both books. What really inspired me though was the way she spoke about writing her first published novel, The Shifting Fog (after writing two other manuscripts that she assured would never see the light of day) by putting down on paper everything she wanted in a book, everything she loved and what she wanted to read.

I sat there thinking that we struggle so much to try and remember all the “rules” of writing and trying not to forget everything that sometimes we’re not writing what we truly want to write. Well, that’s how I sometimes feel anyway.

So, after I’d met Kate and had my books signed I went home and made notes for myself for my novel to keep me on track, to remember why I started writing Kiss Butterfly and what I love about it and everything I want in a book. That’s got me all nicely inspired and ready for some weekend writing.