Generating Ideas, by Abie Longstaff

I'm away on holiday so I thought I'd send you my post in visual form.

This is how I get my ideas - I'd love to hear how you get yours.

Can ET riding on a car inspire me to get on with my writing? Writing when you don't feel like it by Juliet Clare Bell

ET's head, riding on a car. And why not?

Writing is personal, whatever it's about. And that's a good thing -it's what gives the story or article or piece, voice.

There are times, though, when it's easier to get on with less personal work, like sorting out school visits, doing professional critiques, preparing SCBWI stuff for an upcoming conference...

Sometimes, it's easier not to pick up a pen and actually write, and now seems to be one of those times. But that's not always very convenient. So, what do you do when you're feeling more inclined to make your google calendar look really colourful and pretty?


Look at all those colours (but not at the chocolate wrapper)

or when those windows suddenly look in urgent need of a clean, even though you've been completely oblivious to the mini hand smears until now...?

How can I possibly write when my window looks like that?


I thought I'd better take a leaf out of my teaching book. I'm always telling students, adults and children alike, that ideas are all around you and that you just have to be receptive to them. I was reminded of this from a friend's recent blog post, written by her primary-aged children, last week. It was a list of all the things they'd seen on a walk

It's great. (I particularly like the two pigeons out on a romantic walk, and a mushroom looking like a curly wurly swirly poo, and falling leaves that we reached up to catch.)

I decided to try that, but the children were at school and I walked in a slightly different direction from my friends and felt less inspired...

and then I decided to clear out the loft.

Now that was more like it. I found loads of old photos (including ET, above), letters, postcards and best of all, old school books from when I was five and six.

My six-year-old reading my five- and six-year-old school books

But would it spark any ideas for stories?

Well, maybe not that story exactly, but it's reminded me of the incident and some things around it that might be worth playing around with (and it was certainly very funny).



"Someone else came and he is going tonight we think". Did he go? Is he still there? That got me thinking (though perhaps not for a picture book).


I'm not sure I'd get away with this kind of cheat any more...

("I wish that the queen was not dead. So she was not dead.") Would be nice...

and the goal might need to be a little harder for the protagonist to achieve than this

But there's something good about rediscovering an old preoccupation with magic pigs

and the dated work has an added excitement to it

I wrote this exactly 38 years and three days ago as I write...


It's been a good way of reconnecting with things a little, even if some of those things are pretty poignant

Letters and stories from my mum, who died last year

My mum as a young child (with a distinctly sinister-looking doll), out in India


And in the meantime, I'm trying to be more present, aware of what I'm doing -and open to how I could incorporate it into a story (ok, that kind of goes against the being present bit). At lunch, I started making a lentil soup and got half way through making it before discovering that I didn't have any lentils. After I'd added enough water for an ingredient that was now missing. What could I do to my watery soup? Well, I looked around and turned it into anything goes soup

which kind of got me thinking along the right lines for picture books (and tasted ok, in spite of the slightly unusual ingredients).

And it may not be relevant but I really enjoyed this recent picture by one of my children

and this spider who was stretched out along a light-coloured wall, possibly to make the most of the sun? There were three of them together and I'd never seen spiders do that before...

Unfortunately, what I REALLY need to be doing right now is editing various manuscripts. And all the fun idea-generating distractions in the world won't help me with that. So I need to get down to it and focus. And actually, that pretty google calendar is helping me prioritise, but maybe I should just change that green to purple...

What do you do to get yourself going again when you're feeling less than inspired to write or edit?

Juliet Clare Bell (always called Clare) is a children's author who's excited about PiBoIdMo, the upcoming SCBWI British Isles Annual Conference in Winchester (in which she's appearing as a panelist representing creative non-fiction picture books, and is overseeing the crazy but fun and useful Friday Night Critique) and the tasty preparation for her first creative nonfiction picture book (out in 2015) on the remarkable Cadbury Brothers. www.julietclarebell.com

Getting in the mood by Abie Longstaff

I’m getting ready to write a new book. 

For me this process starts with collecting ideas. My ideas come from everywhere – the radio, the newspaper, people’s stories, nature, the television – so when I’m at this stage of a project I tend to immerse myself in themes that might crop up in my book. Some of the process is about finding plots and characters, but some of it is also about retreating into a cave of writing where I (try) to shut out the world.

My new book is about a tropical swamp so I need:

1. Ideas for words

These might come from the internet;

 (Source: www.etymonline.com)

(Source: www.visualthesaurus.com)

from other books, like the wonderful Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson (any excuse to read this...);

 

or from brain storming on my own;

 

2. Ideas for images

I find Pinterest a really good source for images. I often make boards for my books as I find it really helps to collect all the pictures in one place. For me the images kick start themes, drawings and plots, or even just get me in the mood to write.  

My boards:

For my swamp book I have:

both of which are starting to spark off ideas. 

I visit places that might inspire me and take photos (these are from Butterfly World):

I also draw my own images to help jog things along.

 

 










 3. Ideas for noise

I find sound a very evocative sense so I will search for noises that echo the mood of the book. For my swamp I’ve chosen a rainforest birdsong background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vli6cmmvXkg

 

I might have this on while I gather images and draw and sometimes throughout the entire writing process. Bits of birdsong may find their way into my descriptions and the noise helps to imagine the hot, humid feel of the jungle.

4. Ideas for scent

I got the idea of using scent from an author friend, Nicola Morgan. Her blog full of writing tips is highly recommended:

http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.co.uk

Nicola told me she sometimes lights a candle to get her in the mood to write. I’ve started doing this too, choosing a scent depending on the book. I’m trying a tropical reed diffuser to get me in the zone for my swamp book.

I’d love to know how you get in the mood.

(If you want to see more of my boards, You can find me on Pinterest under AbieLongstaff)