Ideas. Where do they come from?

I've sent my entries to the Emerald Writing Workshops competition I mentioned in my last post. I abandoned the rewrite as there would not have been enough time to edit it properly. That one is now on hold for another market in the future.

The next one on my list to write is for the competition in Best magazine. I don't have a deadline date yet but the entry form will be published in the 6th September issue. The prize of £1,000 is attractive but I expect the competition will be fierce.

So, what shall I write about? Last night I had absolutely no idea. Thought I'd sleep on it. Sure enough, I woke not long after four o'clock this morning and - still no revelation. It looked like I would have to do this the hard way. Brainstorming - or is there a more modern word for it now?

First hold the image of a typical reader in my mind. I have read the last five issues all the way through (including the adverts) so have a rough idea.

Now, last weeks published story revolved around having to do housework on a self catering holiday. Can I use another slant on housework? Nothing comes to mind so what else does this reader do? Shop. That holds a bit of promise but lots of stories cover this. Shopping with a friend and also lunch. Maybe.

Suddenly a theme springs into my mind. Where did that come from? Never mind, it would give the story some structure. But there's got to be emotion in there. What about relationships? Aha, I see a way of tying a relationship change with my theme. I now have the basis for a story. I let it roll around a bit in my head and out pops a title. This is going well. Only another thousand words to write now.

Is any of this familiar? How do you get your ideas? Are you methodical about this or do you wait for inspiration to strike?

Decisions, decisions

Are you intending to enter the current Emerald Writing Workshops competition? If so then you need to get a move on. The deadline is looming, and I haven’t got an entry ready yet. That’s nothing unusual – I can never decide what to write early on in the competition. Trouble is, this one does not have a theme. Just 500 words or less on any topic.

In case you think I’m totally disorganised I should mention I had planned to rewrite an existing story for my entry. But I thought, ‘I've plenty of time, I’ll do it later’.

Well, later has arrived and for some reason the rewrite is not going to plan. I think I’m achieving the purpose of the rewrite, which was to make the scene a metaphor for the main character’s life. But I’m losing the original tension a bit. Or a lot. Perhaps I should just enter another story which I had intended to send as well. That one is a bit short and I've been looking at ways to expand it without resorting to padding for its own sake.

Well, the competition is postal entries only so I need to make a decision very soon. I don’t do decisions, not well anyway. Perhaps another cup of tea would help (a glass of wine definitely would but it’s only just after breakfast).

I’ll let you know if I managed to send an entry. Oh, and the link to the competition is here in case you have a suitable story ready.

Yes, another writer's blog

I like to think of myself as a writer. This is just a hobby which is just as well as the only formal training I have had was a GCE O-level (remember those?) in English Language.

Strangely enough numbers have up to now played the larger part in my life. I had a reasonable pass in the Mathematics GCE. (Oh, what the hell, this is no time to be bashful. I achieved 96% even though I completed each exam in half the allotted time.) Anyhow this allowed me to start in accountancy and I qualified in the Seventies.

In 1980 I started with the Open University and most of the early courses were in Maths. Then I got sidetracked into the more interesting Science courses.

But through all this my interest in words was forever in the background. Mostly crosswords and word puzzles. I even started compiling but just as I got going the market was flooded with easier puzzles and these were mostly produced by 'puzzle factories'.

So I plodded on solving, winning a few prizes along the way. The euphoria when I completed my first Listener crossword is indescribable. Unfortunately, this is one where my entry has never been selected for a prize.

For the past couple of years I have tried writing fiction and feel that it is now starting to come together. So I'm actively trying to get something published and, preferably, sold.

I enjoy reading other writers' blogs so decided to join in. It would be nice if This could inspire some other story virgin but even if it just demonstrates some of the things to avoid it could still be useful.