 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||
| The Simpson Method From Interview no. 35 • Keep an idea or two in your head. Once you focus on one that you’re going to use, do a lot of reading around the subject, educate yourself. • Get focused on a certain subject and notice how it opens up to you. l Leave the idea for a bit and let it settle in your head. Allow yourself to think about it without working directly on it. Let it do its own work; let a story take shape based on the research you’ve done. • Always give yourself time to think over what you’ve read about, what you’ve learned. Mull over what that information will bring to bear on the story, how you want to use it and what you will use. • Characters have to come out of the story: it’s people reacting to a situation. • Work through the necessary drafts until you get to the polishing bit. Get obsessed with each sentence, each comma, how they fit, the rhythm they create. • Pack a few bits of scrap paper when you leave the house, even just for a walk or an errand, so you have a place to write down notes if thoughts come to you. •Observe unusual things or events that people are riveted by. • Block out a story. If you have an idea of the word length, lay out sheets of A4 paper so that you can see them in front of you like a canvas, so that you can have some idea of the space you’re allowed to occupy. • Write longhand. Keep a favourite series of notebooks, and jot down story ideas or overheard phrases at the back. • A good, brisk walk clears the head and stimulates the writing muse. • Woolf was right: make sure you’ve got a room – or even a house – of your own, so that you can work away when necessary. House-sit, pet-sit, plant-sit, go on retreat, residency, writing course – or just make sure your family, friends and neighbours respect your closed door. • The world around you is your writing material, whether you are enabling the daily schoolrun or skydiving. • Think about the shape and the rhythm of the story before you start writing. Try something different, formally, each time. The story ‘Constitutional,’ for instance, was in the shape of a circle, a circular walk and a woven wreath of memory and anticipation. • Always have your dictionary at your elbow when you’re writing. • A large part of writing is knowing when to linger and elaborate – and when to keep quiet. • Scribble a motto onto a Post-it note on the wall by your desk for a while. A current favourite: ‘Faire et se taire’ (Flaubert) which, loosely translated tells me to shut up and get on with it.  |
'Always give yourself time to think over what you've read about, what you've learned.' |
|||||
|
|
Top of page | Home | Contact | About | Subscribe | Submit | Advertise | Tell Us