Today, I am very excited to have Monica Marlowe here at The Book Bag! I read her newest book Finding Felicity and loved it! My thoughts are here. And now, Monica will be giving us her answer to my favorite question to ask authors ~ Do you have voices in your head who help you write their story?
Monica, welcome to The Book Bag! ~ 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. Not being a writer myself, that concept has always intrigued me.
When some people hear voices, we get them medical attention, others end up becoming writers. Does this happen to you? How do you come up with your stories?
Voices … they’re everywhere … right? No. Not really. At least not for this author!
When I started writing Finding Felicity, I had been inspired by a friend of mine who was meeting with the CEO of a famous lingerie company. I was fascinated by the idea of such a person. What would she be like? What was her story? Who was she? And who would she become?
As I started answering these questions, I didn’t exactly hear voices. What I did listen to were the ideas that literally just came to mind as I was writing. It wasn’t that I was actually listening to voices, it was more like the story was coming through me, as if I was channeling it. Oh dear, that sounds even worse than hearing voices, doesn’t it?!
Yet, it is the truth. Without spoiling the story for those of you who haven’t yet read Finding Felicity, there were definitely things that Madeline O’Connor did that surprised me. I’d be sitting at my computer writing and suddenly something would just … happen … and there we were. I would sit back, astonished, and ask myself, “Now what?”
Simply asking questions led to the next development in the plot. Where did Madeline’s sister live? What happened to keep them apart? What happens when Madeline travels to Italy? What happens when she returns to New York? Who is she when she returns to New York? On a smaller scale, at a scene in a restaurant, I would ask, “Who shows up?”
Asking the right questions while writing seems to invite the right answers. It requires that the author be comfortable not really knowing what happens next. It’s less about creating a story and more about letting the story tell itself.
Michaelangelo said “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and in action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”
Writing can be like that, too. Every character has a story to tell … an author just has to reveal it.
Author Bio
Monica Marlowe was born in Toronto and later moved to Los Angeles. While in LA, Monica studied the craft of novel writing and participated in the Noel Hynd Workshop. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Spiritual Psychology. Now, Monica makes her home in North Carolina and divides her time between the East and West Coasts. Monica is currently writing a memoir, The Gift Horse, about acquiring her first horse and finding herself on a most unexpected path. Monica writes stories about heroes and heroines who follow their heart, wherever the path may lead, knowing that the heart has reasons of its own.
Connect With Monica!
Other stops on the tour can be found here.
**Everyone who leaves a comment on the tour page will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! If you purchase your copy of Finding Felicity before June 18 and send your receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, you will get five bonus entries!**
