This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Remember that you can listen to Anna’s podcast novel on her website www.annabellwrites.com and follow her on twitter @annabell_writes. Take it away Anna 🙂
A little while ago, when Emily was writing the column, she wrote about how she wrote her work out of sequence depending on her mood. When she was happy she wrote happy scenes and when she was sad she wrote sad scenes. Which if you think about it makes total sense.
Yet when I wrote my first novel, I had a bit of a reversal of this. I wrote it over a really short space of time. I was really lucky too that it wasn’t diluted like my writing is now with subbing books, recording podcasts and updating my website. Which means I got totally sucked into the world the characters lived in. Published authors is that what it is like when you right full time? Sigh, that would be awesome.
When I was writing my first novel, The Thailand Fling, my fiancé was working away from home during the week. Night after night I would sit typing furiously away at the computer alone in the house. I got so into the story, that I felt like I was living it.
When one of the characters had an argument I got so het up that I had to calm myself down before speaking to anyone in case I took out the imaginary rage on them.
I also kept crying. There were quite a few traumatic things that happened in the book which had me blubbing. And then when anything soppy happened, truth be told I had a few tears then too, and my poor fiancé would have me phoning up telling him how much I loved him as I was feeling all mushy.
It truly was the oddest experience. I know I’m an emotional person, I do cry at Eastenders after all, but I didn’t expect to be moved by what I’d written. The really nice thing is, that I had friends who have read the book and of those bits that made me rage and cry, they said they could feel the emotion in it.
I guess they always do say that true artists have to suffer for their work. I must remember to state that the next time I snap at someone after I’m mega angry after writing an arguing scene.
But it got me thinking do other authors do this too? When I read books and get moved by bits, I now imagine the author having a quick blub. I wonder if they were sat there in their office typing away throwing cups at walls, or whether that’s just me!
So there you are, I’m intrigued, does this happen to other people too, or am I some blubbing or giggling to herself super freak?