Nobody Inside my Head Respects Office Hours

Just walked in and made himself at home!!!

There are days when I wonder what it must be like to have a job you can actually leave at the office.

You know the sort: You finish work, turn off the computer, close the door and go home and nobody follows you home.

Nobody wakes you at three in the morning because they've suddenly worked out why they've been behaving like an idiot for the last six chapters.

Nobody interrupts you in the shower.

Nobody starts an argument while you're out trying to coral chickens who are behaving like cats in wet weather.

Unfortunately, we writers aren't quite so lucky.

Let's take this morning as an example. I woke up, let the chickens out and discovered, to my horror, that my head is particularly crowded. It's actually a zoo up there!

I've just finished CLASH, the fourth book in my Style Strike series and I'm working on BURN.

Which means Sam needs editing. Have you met Sam? Julian MacAvoy's younger brother...

Sam's on-again-off-again partner, Dusty needs managing.

BURN needs writing.

And Ziggy Stardust MacAvoy needs to learn to walk on a bloody harness while Dusty watches Sam lavish affection on him and becomes increasingly affronted by the entire situation.

Yes.

The bloody cat's somehow managed to take centre stage!

Don't ask.

Actually, that's not entirely true. You can ask, but I'm not sure I can explain how we got here.

The imaginary people are surprisingly demanding

One of the questions writers are often asked is: Where do your ideas come from?

I've never been quite sure how to answer that question because it suggests ideas arrive fully formed with everything you need.

Mine, unfortunately, don't.

They tend to wander in sideways, or whisper a snippet of something completely ridiculous in my ear.

Another character reacts in a way I wasn't expecting or completely rejects the idea as insufferable.

Maybe I remember something that happened twenty years ago.

Or a photograph triggers something that relates to exactly where I am in a particular chapter.

Maybe a musician I know tells a story while we're all sitting backstage waiting for the sound guy to get his gear in order.

Or I visit somewhere new (yay, recent European cruise...)

Maybe I watch the way two people interact across a supermarket aisle.

And somewhere in the strange filing cabinet inside my head, all those completely unrelated things collide and spark a brilliant idea.

Suddenly I know something about a character that I didn't know yesterday.

That's exactly what's happening with BURN and the reason that I say writing fiction for me is like having a private diary inside of my stories.

I've known a lot of these characters for years. Some of them have been hanging around my fictional world (and invading my thoughts uninvited) for a very long time.

You'd expect that they've have had ample opportunity and time to tell me everything about themselves...

But, apparently not!

Then there's the squirrel

The characters oftentimes aren't actually the biggest problem.

The squirrel is.

🐿️

The squirrel is that part of my brain that gets terribly excited by A New Idea™ precisely when I'm supposed to be doing something else tough (like listening to Sam's woes and making sure he gets his happy ever after).

I sit down to write or to edit BURN.

🐿️ Have you thought about box sets?

Yes. Thank you. Go away. Three paragraphs later:

🐿️ What about that other series?

No.

🐿️ You could redesign—

NO.

This is one of the less-discussed parts of being a writer, particularly an independent author.

Writing books is only one part of the universe that my writing inhabits.

There are covers and advertising, newsletters and websites, social media and sales reports.

There are "shiny new" publishing tools to investigate and fascinating marketing ideas appearing approximately every bloody seventeen seconds.

And I genuinely enjoy many of those things.

Which is precisely the problem.

Because sometimes the shiny new object is much easier to play with than the difficult chapter (aka rockstar) demanding my immediate attention.

Eventually, you have to choose

I've been writing and publishing for a long time now and perhaps one of the most useful things I've learned is that I don't have to chase every opportunity.

I don't have to try every new platform and I certainly don't have to implement every clever, new marketing strategy.

I don't have to write every story today which means some ideas can wait.

But (and it's a big but) that can be difficult when you have a head that wants everything NOW.

Since I stepped back from law and my life has generally 'slowed down' (Hahahahaha!!!) I've become much more interested in quietly building something that lasts.

Writing the next book.

Looking after the lovely readers who've trusted me with their email addresses.

Making my existing books easier for new readers to discover.

And working hard on showing up regularly.

Trying to work this way means that I can continue to tell stories about these ridiculous imaginary people who apparently believe they have unlimited access to my brain.

It isn't particularly glamorous.

But it makes me ridiculously happy.

Back to the word mines

So that's where you'll find me at the moment.

Digging deep in the word mines.

Sam needs his story telling and he's been very patient while I've been cavorting around Europe.

Dusty still needs managing.

Ziggy needs harness training.

And BURN needs to become a book that I'm happy to share with those readers who trust me.

There are other stories quietly beginning to whisper in the background too. Hauraki Island, has been getting rather noisy since I came home from Europe. I blame all that water around the boat and the amazing scenery. Did I mention how may photographs of beautiful sunsets I have sitting on my phone?

But, Hauraki Island can wait its turn.

🐿️ Although, while we're talking about future books—

You be quiet.

I'm going back to work.

Love from the word mines,

💕 Toni x

All my books are available in KindleUnlimited