Ellie Holmes, 2nd place prize winner of the International Words for the Wounded Independent Author Book Award with he wonderful The Flower Seller tells Frost Magazine readers about her day – as an author.
When the sun is shining I like nothing better than to relocate from my study to the garden. I only have a small garden but I have worked hard to create a calming oasis full of colour and interest. It is a place for calm and relaxation, wonder and inspiration.
I am not blessed with a garden office – now there’s a tempting thought – but I do have a lovely patio table and chairs set in the shade of a red Acer with roses in bloom above my head.
It is the perfect spot to while away a few hours working on the plot of my latest novel. Although my wi-fi does reach this part of the garden, I try not to get distracted by the constant whirl of social media. I limit myself to having a quick look at Facebook and Twitter whenever I take a tea break. Writers need to be disciplined. You have to put in the hours whether you are feeling it or not, waiting for the elusive muse to descend is not an option for the serious writer.
When I need to refill the well of creativity I will take a break for an hour or so and take my longhaired Dachshund Willow for a walk across the nearby fields. Enjoying the countryside and watching Willow mooch along chasing captivating scents and bugs, allows my subconscious to work out any kinks in my complex plots. Often, I will come back from a walk with a fresh idea or an insight into what I had previously thought was an intractable problem without even being aware I have been thinking about it.
If the words are flowing I will work for as long as I feel comfortable but I never write myself dry. Ernest Hemingway espoused: “…never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.” I always work like this. It means that when you start work the next time you have something to say, you are never left staring at an empty screen bereft of ideas.
When I am writing a first draft I will write the whole thing from start to finish. Only once the bones of the story are down will I go back and start the lengthy process of editing and polishing.
I am pantser not a planner. I always know how my stories are going to start and how they are going to finish but I never know how I am going to get from the beginning to the end. It keeps the journey interesting.
Ellie Holmes writes commercial women’s fiction.