how I wrote the book - part 1

from first spark to published novel: the origin story

completely outdated view of my writing desk…though I was working on this novel at the time so still vaguely relevant 😎

I thought that, because I’m right in the thick of it¹, this would be a good time to try to write about how this latest book came into being.

I’ve had people ask me, at various times and in varying ways: where do you get your ideas? how did you know it was a novel? where did you get the cover? what’s your editing process? do you use an outline? why would you put yourself through that? (oh, wait - that last one was me).

And every time it happens, I draw a complete, stuttering blank. Firstly, because I’m socially awkward, secondly because I struggle to talk about my writing and thirdly, because I don’t always have a straightforward or articulate answer (see: firstly in combination with secondly). So, in an effort to combat all three of those, I thought I’d try and wrangle my thoughts on the subject. It may need to come in several parts because it seems there’s rather a lot that goes into publishing novels as an indie, especially when you do the vast majority of the work yourself - which I do — we’ll see how it goes.

Without further ado….

Origin Story - where do the ideas come from?/how do you start?

Most of my books, and this one is no exception, start either from a writing prompt² or a stray scene materializes in my head. Now, when I say ‘stray scene materializes’ - this is a culmination of many influences. I’m a voracious and indiscriminate reader, so I’m constantly taking in information and ideas/concepts. It’s not unusual for me to read something and think, “oh, but what if…?”. This falls directly in the realm of “steal like an artist” - none of us exist in a vacuum, there are no new ideas, only new spins and interpretations.

Ranty aside: Let me tell you, I get right stroppy with gatekeeping and hoarding. Yes, in this era of AI pillaging everything it can get its evil digital mitts on we need to be aware of crediting and compensating artists for their work (and when I say ‘artist’ I assume you understand I mean all creatives of all kinds), however, literally stealing (as in a direct, identical copy) and riffing off/being inspired by/altering/subverting/adapting (you get the idea) are two entirely different things. If someone tells you their ‘thing’ is completely original, they’re full of poo. They might even be an AI bot.

I know of one author who takes popular novels and then breaks them down to their barest bones then uses that for her outlines. I know! Genius.³

Lately, I’ve been watching and revisiting some paranormal tv shows (The Dresden Files, Lockwood & Co,. Dead Boy Detectives) and books (after watching the tv show, I went back to my audiobook collection of the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher) and from those I’m percolating ideas based on “what if technology stopped working? what are some circumstances where technology would be useless and how would that be managed?”. I’m not likely to start writing about ghosts or wizards but all of those inputs involved a scenario where modern technology didn’t work for some reason. From there, my brain wanders down many rabbitholes and eventually will spit me out in a new story/idea.

But I digress.

I’m also nosey a keen observer of human behaviour. I’ve been watching people since I was a child — it’s something I do unconsciously at this point but it definitely helps me to mine material from the everyday world.

I’m constantly Wondering: Why does that person dress that way? (in a non-judgey way). Why did they use that very snippy tone? What’s the relationship between those two? What are they arguing about and why?

Obviously I don’t have the answers to those questions, so I make them up.

Bus stops and waiting rooms are rich with possibility.⁴

Given the observations and inputs, my brain then filters and stores all of that information until one day, a scene will gradually unfold, or a character will come to life.

The House in the Hedge started as a very different story, with a very different main character. It also, by virtue of my lack of outline and the meandering way in which I drafted it (not recommended), veered off in several directions before I settled on how to execute the plot. But it was always going to be about a character who inherits a cottage and discovers a portal to Faerie at the bottom of the garden. Oh, and needed to save a hedge. (I was deeply interested in hedgerow conservation at the time #rabbithole).

Hazel changed ages three times but she was always the same type of person; I wanted the opposite of the typical strong, confident, assertive female leads that we’re supposed to want to read about. I wanted her to be more like actual women who aren’t always those things or don’t always feel that way. I wanted to show that ordinary people who are anxious and unsure are still quite capable of making an impact, thankyouverymuch. And, because I write Heroine’s Journeys, there was always going to be a cast of loveable supporting characters, one of which would be a talking cat.⁵

Obvs.

So you see, it’s not at all a linear process which is probably why I have a hard time giving a direct and concise answer to “where do you get your ideas?”. I generally don’t proceed in a direct and orderly fashion from the first spark to the final product. I often wish I did, it might be easier and faster, but mostly I don’t; there’s a certain kind of chaos magic in the figuring things out as you go along that feels very necessary to how I do things.

Which neatly segues into my drafting process…which I’ll write about next time.

Shameless self-promotion incoming….

In the meanwhile…don’t forget, if you’re a digital book person, you can pre-order yourself a copy by clicking one of these conveniently arranged buttons. Paperback people will need to wait until May 23rd.

Thanks heaps for reading….if you have questions, always feel free to ask either in the comments or via a message. I’m always happy to nerd-out over writing and/or books….well, and gardening and a bunch of other stuff.

~m. xo

1. The fact that it actually made it into being at all is nothing short of miraculous, which you know if you’ve been following along from the beginning.

2. Which is why I’m so very insistent that people give them a try

3. This is a really good way to learn about not only story structure,but also how to build an outline.

4. I will say, alas, that this is less so in the age of everyone with their heads down in their phones.

5. A purposeful middle finger to the agent/editor I read about who scorned the very idea of talking cats. Pfft.