I couldn’t tell you how many times I got stuck writing my book, The Girl with
Special Knees. Truth is, I started out with an idea – an idea I was wedded to; an
idea about an unhappy little girl who escapes her world of pain and misery and
is transported to another world filled with adventure, danger, treachery and
betrayal. A world rules by the fearsome Council of Grandmothers where
cutting edge science and ancient magic converged.
Trouble was, that was it: I didn’t know the nature of the adventure, the
characters who peopled this new world, where the danger lurked and what
perilous quest the child, Doll might have to undertake or how it would change
her . . .
Back home in Cork, the other family members, Mum, Dad and sister Andi were
trudging through their own dramas and disappointments. When I set out, I had
no idea where this book was going to go.
Some writers plan and plot every scene in advance; they know the outcome,
the characters’ journeys, the plot twists and turns. It certainly sounds like a
super way to approach a novel. Not me. I was never that organised and would
have lost the will to live if I’d had to have all the answers in advance. So, I
started to write not knowing what was going to happen in the next chapter,
and the next. I regularly wondered: Where to now? How can she get out of this
situation? How is he going to react? What will they do now?
I found – and I know everyone is different – that when I was stuck, chewing the
top of my pen and panicking a little – the best thing to do was just walk away.
I’d go and do something active. For me, spinning in District Health and Leisure
Club, where I’m a member was my way to get the creative ideas flowing again.
As the music thumped to the beat and the rhythm of the pedals, all sorts of
mad ideas and plotlines were cycling through my head and I couldn’t wait to
get home to scribble down these ideas before I’d forget them. It’s a great
feeling of elation to have a jumble of ideas spinning through your head as you
drive home.
You have new material and a new path for your characters.
At a workshop in Listowel a few years back, I heard a piece of great advice that
I’ve heard many times since and it’ s this analogy:If you’re driving from Cork to
Dublin at night, you don’t have to see the whole 200 plus kilometre road lit up in front of you.
Your headlights will ensure you can see 300 metres ahead and
that is all you need to complete your journey. Good advice. Trust your
imagination to propel your story forward. And there are lots of great ways to
become unstuck.
Our Imagination is an amazing muscle and the more you use
it the more agile it becomes. Have you any ideas on how to get the creative
juices flowing when you’re stuck? Let me know, I’ love to hear about your
experiences.