Fairy tales are one of the oldest forms of fiction going. They can be gory, humorous, have the happy ever after ending or not as the case might be. There is flexibility writing fairy tales there isn’t always in other forms of fiction. Ask someone to name a story from their childhood and the odds are they will name a fairy tale. And a good fairy tale is anything but twee. Take The Little Match Girl for example by Hans Christian Anderson, which is wonderful direct social commentary.
What inspired you to write?
I’ve always loved playing with words. English was my favourite subject at school and I loved what they called composition. The idea of making up stories to my mind back then was a great one! I was right back then too! I’d had the idea of writing my own book at the back of my mind for a long time. The idea of having my own collection of books and at least one on the shelf having my name on appealed no end and still does! Turning 30 and having recently had a family at that point, I finally got started. Maybe it took two major milestones to kickstart me. I do know I wish I’d started sooner.
What is my writing day?
I write in the evenings and into the early hours. Am very much a night owl! I start with putting a mini blog on my Facebook author page, then I bring the blogs on both my websites up to date and then work on short stories including flash fiction, posts for Chandler's Ford Today and either then write a new short story or edit one for a competition. I need to get back to my novels and scripts but hope to do this soon. (The break from them has been partially deliberate as I need some distance before I read them again and then see what I can do with them before trying to get them "out there").
I’ve discovered outlining what I’m thinking of writing helps clarity of thought and prepare a brief outline for a short story with a more detailed one for a novel. I write most days (with time off for holidays but then I keep reading and that is a writer’s background activity. You must know what you like to work out what you want to write).
What is my writing method?
I write novels longhand and use the typing up of them as the first edit. Short stories I tend to write directly to screen but I always print out on paper as it’s easier to see mistakes then. I like having a variety of writing tasks as I never get bored with any of them and I’ve always got something on the go. Every so often I rework short stories turned down for competitions and send them out again. Again from time to time I try to have brainstorming sessions. I've discovered the joy of Scrivener and find setting project targets really useful for encouraging me to keep writing to meet my determined word count for that project. I know it sounds silly but watching the counter change from yellow as I type keeps me going until it turns green and I've met my word count.