After the writing is over …

Well, not over. But the sequel to The Dangerous Dance of Emma JJ is written, my edits are done and the final draft has been sent for consideration by my publisher.

Although I hate waiting for a verdict on what I have written and feel like I’m in limbo, it is a relief to be on pause. And to have time to review the process.

It’s been a battle to write the book against the background of my life being devastated by family illness and death. Yet it has been a refuge taking me to a different place when I have managed to concentrate and step into my characters’ life and thoughts. Not that everything has been going smoothly there either. My protagonist was already doomed by her creator (me) to have to cope with great adversity.

This juxtaposition of two worlds brings up the whole question of how our own lives affect our fictional characters when we are burdened with anxiety, loss or grief. I will never know if what I have experienced over the last few months has meant that I have written a very different book to the one that would have been written in a calmer phase of my life.

Aware of this, I have consciously tried to clear my mind of all that’s been happening before writing anything. I have eased myself back into the story and immersed myself in Emma’s world. But then a trigger can strike from something I have written for Emma and I am struggling to focus again. I know that sometimes I have put off writing a difficult scene, saving it for a better time. Or even a better place that is not connected to all that has happened. 

But these struggles themselves can add great depth to the story. Our own emotions, experience and empathy feed into forming rounded characters to whom our readers can relate. Probably more so when we are feeling similar emotions ourselves. 

When we are reading a good book that makes us feel for the protagonist, we can be sad and even distraught when things go wrong or relieved when disaster is averted. So it’s not surprising that when we write or read our own work, we can experience these feelings ourselves. 

So we have three linked aspects of feelings here:

                             Author’s emotions affecting 

                                             Characters’ emotions affecting 

                                                                     Readers’ emotions

Which could be the same pattern for experiences, empathy and very many other components of a good story.

And if you ever get overwhelmed with your own emotions while writing, then you may need time out to talk to someone, pray, go for a walk. But if it helps, I have a great tip. Research. Even if you have everything you need before you to write the book, there is something so sensible about trying to find out more that it helps to ground you. I probably know more than Emma will ever need to know about the BTEC Diploma in Performing Arts.

And when I was writing Red Cabbage Blue, I found more and more exotic blue foods. That was fun!Blue lobster

Annie Try is the pen-name (for fiction writing) of Angela Hobday. She has just finished writing her tenth book, including four child therapy books written with colleagues.