I love this part of the process, although it’s so nebulous
it can hardly be called a process. I recall vividly sitting in a café on the
coast somewhere between Sydney and Brisbane – okay I recall the moment and the
café just not exactly where it was - reading a magazine article, when THE IDEA
struck.
As with the previous ideas that became books, at that point THE IDEA was
just a premise with the main character appearing as little more than a
silhouette.
She (the main character) is still nameless. I always take a
long time with names before the correct one comes, but I know a lot more about
her now than I did in that café. I know how she feels about some of the things
that concern her and how she will react to situations. I know her family
situation, her husband’s job (which is important to the plot), and with each
piece of the puzzle she comes a little further out of the shadows.
The thing I love most about this part of the process is that
there is all this possibility ahead of me before the internal critic gets to
work and tells me I haven't quite captured the brilliance of my original idea!
On this subject my favourite philosopher (Winnie the Pooh) says,
'When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find
sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different
when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.'
Neil Gaiman said, ‘Perfection is like chasing the horizon.
Keep moving.’
So I’ll keep moving and in the meantime I’m enjoying the
nebulous part of the process.
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