Some people may be able to write almost anywhere, and others may have a special place where they are free from disruptions.
I write where I can see the sky. As a young child, I often used to day-dream, watching clouds merge into new shapes. I’d imagine seeing a dragon with his spiked tail swishing through the sky, or I’d visualise what it would be like to climb the fluffy white mountain peaks. I’m sure I’m not the only person who sometimes thinks that a cloud resembles an animal, or perhaps it even mimics a heart shape!
Clouds have always fascinated me, although I’m more interested in what they look like, than why they occur. However, I am learning that to be a writer, technique is as important as imagination, and creativity would be nothing without structure. Like clouds, when an idea is born, the characters begin to evolve. The plot will be constantly changing until you are happy with the originality and the domino effect that you have set up.
The sky lights up in unbelievable colours and has many moods. A shaft of light can change your entire perspective. There are so many wonderful writers, past and present, who can paint a picture with words — sometimes with only a phrase — and you can instantly picture the scene.
Clouds tinged with the setting sun’s rays or the sun bursting through the clouds after a storm, are for me, like the story’s cliffhangers, or crisis points.
After the novel has been written, then comes the brutal part: editing. Cloud formations often merge or they are pulled apart, then dissolve, deleted by the heat of the sun. So it is with editing: I’ve discovered that cutting redundant phrases and checking every single detail, often takes as long, if not longer, than writing the novel in the first place! One character may almost have taken on a mind of his own and may need to be reined in. Your favourite description may not be essential to the plot, so it has to be deleted — or saved for another story one day.