Inspirational walks 2: Knettishall Heath

Today is Sunday, and as I had no other plans I decided to have a full writing day starting with a little inspirational walk before breakfast!  So, armed with camera and some suitably inspiring tunes  I set off for Knettishall Heath.  Knettishall is a lovely little country park practically on my doorstep - well about twenty minutes away.  It is located just off the A1066 between Diss and Thetford in sunny Norfolk.  It's quite a popular little spot locally and I often come here with my grandchildren.  The kids love to swim or paddle in the river and there are some well marked out routes if you fancy a stroll through the woods or the heath.  There are picnic tables here and public toilets and, if you're lucky, an ice cream van!

It is a beautiful, peaceful and certainly for me, an inspiring place to walk.  I got there this morning at 7.45 and apart from a few dog walkers had the place to myself.

The heath is also home to a herd of wild ponies so if you're walking with a dog there are parts where they have to be kept on a lead.  Also at certain times of the year when there are birds nesting on the ground, again dogs should be on a lead but there are always plenty of information notices about so it's not difficult to follow the rules.

As you can see there are a combination of heathland and woodland walks here and as I believe I may have mentioned in previous posts, I love trees!  I have woodland pictures all over the house; I find them so relaxing somehow and today I got the chance to add a few more to the collection!

So if you're looking for a nice, quiet, inspirational walk to get the creative juices working; somewhere where nature can nurture your spirit, this is a perfect choice - especially at 7.45 on a Sunday morning!

Happy walking!

Kim

Plot points and Stepping stones

So how do you plan a story?  I have to admit that in the past I didn't really plan anything at all, I just got an idea and started writing.  This wasn't very practical of course and back then in the prehistoric times before computers it could be very time-consuming!  So, when I started taking my writing a little more seriously I knew I had to become a planner.

When the idea for Prudence first came into my head I thought about the story for a long time before ever putting pen to paper.  She sat outside the office of the headmistress of her school (where the books begin) for about two years waiting for me to continue her story.  I made a list of all the things I needed to know before I could move forward; who was Prudence? Why was she here? Where had she come from? Who were her friends, her family - if indeed she had any?  What were her likes, her dislikes, her hopes, her fears?  Once I had all of this worked out the basic plan of the story came quite easily and so did the ending.  I knew before I wrote anything else exactly how I wanted the story to end.
I then began to develop a few character bio's for those who would be joining Prudence on her journey, principally Maggie, Sam, Rupert, Miles and Alaia.  I also had to think about the 'bad guys', Gideon, Tristan and of course, Mareck.
With the beginning and the end of the story sorted and all the major players in place, plot points naturally began to form; things that I wanted to happen and things that needed to happen to not only propel the story forward, but also to develop Prudence's character from the person she was at the beginning of the story to the one she would be at the end.  Entwining her story into the Arthurian Legends was the final link in the chain, the element that brought the whole thing together.
So, armed with my beginning and the end, the plot points and character bio's it was then just a case of creating little stepping stones to thread it all together.  And, that's when I started writing.

I'm not going to say that I have stuck rigidly to the plan; the bane of a creative mind is that the creating doesn't tend to stop and new ideas - even now - are still popping into my head, but having the plan has helped so much with avoiding constant re-writes.  I'm actually quite proud of how it's gone so far.  Being the disorganised person I have always been, having the patience to sit and sort through the plot like this was really quite an achievement!

It is definitely a process I intend to use again.  Once you have found a successful formula it only makes sense to stick with it and this is definitely the way forward for me.  I have become a planner!

Keep writing, keep planning.

Kim

Walks of inspiration 1 : Southwold

Southwold

I have often spoken on here of how I find going for a walk a wonderful source of inspiration so I thought I would share a few of those walks. I am going to start with one of my favourite local places to visit, Southwold.  If you have never been to this lovely little town then it is definitely worth
putting on your list of 'places to see'.  It is situated on the Suffolk coast and for me it is only about an hours drive away from home.  I love it here!  It is a quintessentially English seaside town that has not lost it's charm to the brassy commercialism that has taken over so many other coastal towns.
The lighthouse, the beach huts and the pier are probably the most photographed and recognisable parts of the town and there are a range of lovely little shops, art galleries and places to eat.
However, if you are looking for a nice quiet walk to get the creative juices flowing then there are plenty around the town.  The beach, of course is a great place for this.  Who can not be inspired by the ocean?  Or, you can head out of the town, which is what I did on this particular walk, towards the harbour and enjoyed a walk along the river.

It was quite a grey day, but warm and, after all the rain we have been having lately it stayed dry, if a little damp under foot in places!  Also, because of the lovely typically English, wet summer that we have had some of the paths were a little over grown and I ended up with soggy trousers - although I was wearing the right foot wear so feet stayed dry!

The Clockhouse is my favourite place to end a walk in Southwold; it's a little coffee shop on the pier and this is where I like to sit, by the window with a coffee (and maybe a piece of cake!) and a notepad and bring together all the ideas that have popped into my head during my walk.  This is where I sat and mapped out the second volume of the Prudence trilogy and now I have done the same for the third volume.  I hope they never close this place down!

So if you are ever out this way pay a little visit to Southwold and let it work it's magic on you!

Keep inspired,

Kim

Let Music Be the Food of...........Creativity?

This is really just an update to the recent post about my writing corner.  I have, this morning made a vital addition to my writing area: Music.  I can't stress enough how important music is to my creative process; without it I'm not sure where the inspiration would come from.  If I'm feeling a bit low or I've come to a bit of a brick wall with the narrative I usually go for a nice long walk with my headphones and come back suitably inspired and ready to go again.
So what do I listen to?  Well that depends a lot on what I'm writing.  My writing playlist at the moment consists of a lot of classical music and movie soundtracks.  For the Prudence series which is of course a fantasy story this kind of music seems to inspire the right mood.  One of my favourites at the moment is Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to the movie 'King Arthur'.  There are some very stirring pieces on there and I have found them particularly inspiring when writing the battle scenes in the Prudence books.
With the ghost story, 'What It Takes', the music was a little more contemporary.  One particular track has come to represent the book for me more than any other; at one point in the story Sean Hanlon attempts to show his friend what inspired him to buy a broken down old house in the wilds of Cumbria when his life and work all centred around London.  Whilst I was writing this part of the book, with my o.s. map of the Lake District on the floor in front of me, a particular track came on that has now become synonymous with the book for me.  It was a song by Bob Seger called 'Roll me Away' and now every time I hear it I'm back with Sean and Brin hiking through Langdale!  If you've read the book listen to the track and you'll know what I mean!  Also on the same c.d. was a track called 'We've got tonight' which for me has definitely become Sean's and Karen's song.
 Even the title of this book came from a song;  Aerosmith's 'What it Takes'  There are a couple of lines in that song that go,

'Tell me what it takes to let you go
Tell me how the pain's supposed to go

And, that seemed to sum up the character of Tom Harper to a t.

With my second ghost story which is still a work in progress and as yet untitled I also already have a piece of music that brings me back to the story each time I hear it; 'The Longships' by Enya.  You'll have to wait until the book is finished though to see the connection there!

I could ramble on about this subject for ages, but it's Sunday, I'm not at work and I really should be getting back to Prudence!  Just in case you're wondering, as I write this I am listening to the soundtracks to the Lord of the Rings movies - if that doesn't take me back to Ealdhun I don't know what will!

So, let music drive you on,

happy writing,

Kim

The Mini Library

I have recently found myself with the distinct luxury of having a 'spare' room.  My son has flown the nest and so it is time to decide what to do with the space he left behind.  After much pondering (well actually not a lot of pondering at all really) I have decided to create my own little library.  Being a writer goes hand in hand with being an avid reader also and having a house with its own library has always been a little dream of mine.
Now as I have said before my house is not big so this is not going to be anything like the grand plan I would like it to be, but it's a start!  I have been scouring the internet for ideas for this room but I think basically I'm just going to fill it with books - oh and a sofa! Whereas the writing corner was to be light and airy and inspirational I want the reading room to be warm and cosy; somewhere to snuggle with a good book!  Here are a few of the images I've found of some very creative idea's of others..............

As you can see there are some ideas here that haven't been thwarted by size, odd shaped walls or even stairs, therefore my relatively square room should be a doddle! Obviously the main ingredient is going to be books, so at the top of all birthday and Christmas lists from now on is going  to be book tokens!  I'm already looking forward to many a happy hour scouring the book shops!  I'm really excited about getting started with this project - as you've probably gathered - although it is going to be something for later in the summer.  Updates will be provided!

Happy reading everyone!

Kim

The writing Corner

For those of you who read my blog regularly you will know that I am currently in the process of redecorating my house, not a huge project when you consider the size of the place (it's tiny!), but I bought the place from an old lady in her nineties and suffice to say the place was built in 1981 and there it has stayed ever since!  This last year I have been re vamping the downstairs and am pleased to report that the task is nearly finished and hopefully no longer a distraction for my writing.

I have been without a designated writing area for about six months now, which at the start I didn't think would really be a problem, I have a laptop so surely I could park myself anywhere and carry on writing?  This unfortunately has not proven to be the case and it is only now that I have my little writing corner back that I really appreciate how much I missed it!  I have read blogs from other writers speaking of the merits of creating your own writing space and now I fully understand what they mean, although different writers seem to like different things included in their 'space'.  So, here is what is essential for me..............

Firstly although I am not really an antique kind of person both the bureau and the clock belonged to my Grandad and are here out of sentimentality more than anything else.  I'm sure Grandad would be pleased to see them both still in use.  (I can still picture him sat here, sorting out his papers - he was much more methodical than me.)

Next, no window.  Others have said how inspiring the right view can be, but for me I think having my writing area by the window would be just too much of a distraction.  Instead I have two pictures (with more to go up) that are there for inspiration purposes.  The first is of my wonderful Grandchildren Darcie and Henry.  I started to write the Prudence books when I learned that my daughter was expecting my first grandchild, Darcie and she and her little brother now are still a constant source of inspiration.  The other picture is by local photographer, Ray Mears and is called 'Woodland Walk'.  I love pictures of trees and intend to get more to go up around the house.

Next to the clock is my scentsy, which for those of you who don't know is a device for melting scented wax without having to use a naked flame - much safer to have especially when you have cats in the house.  I am currently enjoying a 'by the sea' moment - very inspiring!  Flowers are another option to create the right aromatic mood, but again when you have cats, especially the clumsy pair that I have, flowers around electrical equipment is not a good combination!

And finally the one ingredient always needed to ensure a productive writing session - a cup of tea!

So that's it, I have my writing corner and this is where I intend to stay for the rest of the day.  Let me know if you feel there are any vital things that I have missed that you would have in your writing space.

Happy writing,

Kim

Mini Menopausal Meltdown!

I mentioned in my last post (Yes, I know this was back in January!) that 2015 had been something of a stressful time; setting myself the target of getting two books finished that year as well as having lots of other stuff going on in my life - the day job, the continued effort of trying to lick my house into shape on limited funds, and dealing with what my Gran would have called 'being at that 'funny' age'.  I think we give it the more affectionate term 'the menopause' these days.  Now I don't want to be all dark and dismal, but to be quite honest the menopause sucks!  Mood swings have been marvellous things, I've been going from being happy, buzzing with idea's and inspiration to 'what the heck am I bothering with all this for?' at the flick of a switch. I know that writing can do this to you anyway; writing highs and lows are part of the process, but throw a few raging hormones into the mix and, well, lets just say it's probably a good thing I live on my own! There are no two ways about it I have been a grumpy old mare at times!
I'm not about to now tell you all the wonderful things I've done to combat this stress because, to be quite honest I haven't.  I've done what most people do, carry on regardless, but since my last blog post in January I have hardly written a word.  In my head the third and final volume of the Prudence trilogy is formatted and finished, but every time I sit down to actually write anything I end up staring at my laptop for about half an hour and then going off to make a cup of tea and not going back!  It probably doesn't help that Prudence is in a bit of a dark place in her story as well.
My sleep pattern seems to be all over the place too, hence why I am sat here at ten to one in the morning writing this post when I know that tomorrow, at work at about three I'll be desperate for a little re-charge nap.
 Getting back into writing will be the perfect tonic for me, that much is obvious but that is the common sense side of me talking and the hormones can be very argumentative when it comes to common sense. Who needs common sense when your hormones are quite determined that now is the time for a little unnecessary meltdown?
There have been some positives, it's not all doom and gloom on the writing front, some little things  have happened to stop me from giving up completely on the whole writing process( and a little encouragement goes a long way).  Recently a friend told me how she had gone to see her granddaughter and had arrived to find her curled up and engrossed in my book.  Little things like that mean so much.  It may seem trivial, but to me this was a real little person who was enjoying spending some time with Prudence, - what more could any writer ask for?
So here I am, digging in and trying to swim against the tide of my hormones!  If anyone has any hints about surviving the menopause with your sanity intact please let me know.  I'll be the one sat in the corner staring at my laptop and talking to the cat..............


Kim