Amanda Strong talks about the 'voices in her head'

Yesterday was my stop on the blog tour for With Just One Click by Amanda Strong. My thoughts on the book are here.

Thanks for joining us today, Amanda. I have heard other authors say that they 'hear voices in their head' and that is how they write their books, the characters are telling their stories.

That concept has always intrigued me. When some people hear voices, we get them medical attention, other people become writers. How do you come up with your stories?

Hearing voices in your head does sound funny and weird to many, but I do identify and understand what other authors mean. When I was younger, I didn't realize that not everyone had this type of process when they wrote something. When I grew older, it became apparent that what I felt was natural to me was not the norm for everyone else. I guess that moment is somewhat defining, because you know that you're meant to do this,

I come up with stories in different ways. With writing, with just one click, I developed three different stories with a general sentence or two of what I wanted to accomplish with each. I moved on and wrote a character list, describing who they are, what they looked like, what they stood for, etc...and then I began writing.

When I sit down at the computer, I do hear voices, but I also see the characters and the scene in my head. I can only describe it like watching a film or television show; you see the characters and hear their conversations. I begin typing and let myself fall into the characters and their lives. 

I know that might sound somewhat strange, but I believe this is just a creative process. Sometimes I will think about the stories throughout the day and think about their next step, other times I can go through the entire day and not think about the book at all. During those days, I still can sit down in front of the computer and immediately pick up where I left off with the characters without a pre-existing plan in my head.

Ideas for other projects can come out of the blue. Just recently, I was exercising on the treadmill, mulling over a possible next book and what type of story it would be, and all of a sudden, ideas just started flooding my brain. These moments sometimes give you chills or make you smile and excited, because you can begin to see new characters come to life, and you get anxious to sit down at the computer and see what is to come.

A funny or interesting anecdote to this event was I just recently shared the details of that particular story with one of my close friends, just running it by her to see what she thought. After I shared a brief synopsis, she looked at me with a blank stare. I thought she disliked the story, but instead she just shook her head a little and smiled and said, "How did you even come up with that?" She couldn't fathom how a story just pops in your head like that. I simply answered, "I really don't know." I think that goes along with "hearing voices in your head," sometimes you just can't explain it.

One thing I know for certain: writing is a part of me, it helps define who I am, and I wouldn't change that for anything.

 

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**Everyone who leaves a comment on Amanda's blog tour page will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! If you purchase your copy of With Just One Click  from October 27- November 14  and send your receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, you will get five bonus entries!**