Charlie Hicks – Author

So I had a brilliant idea about the how the next chapter for my next book TPOTN should run. (sorry no titles yet, as it will give away a huge chunk of the storyline.) I sit down at the computer and stare at the screen. My mind is whirling away with ideas, but as my fingers hover over the keyboard, somehow none of those ideas make any sense any longer. And so I sit here staring at a blank page on Scrivener and say very quietly to myself Bollocks! (everyone else is asleep it’s 11 pm.

Yes my Muse has clocked off for the night and gone home. Normally this is the most productive time for my writing and I can produce some fantastic chapters. But tonight; No she has deserted me and gone home without a so much as a goodbye and a see you tomorrow. It’s not that I’m complaining because my Muse is fantastic, admittedly she works weird hours, but so do I if I’m being honest. So what am I to do? I sit here blankly staring at the screen, and nothing and I mean nothing is flowing from my mind tonight.

Now if you have read my previous blog about Exploring Whimsical Story Ideas and Inspirations, you will probably either think I’m:

• Weird as Hell
• or Likes to explore the paths least trodden.

Now to anyone who knows me I absolutely adore the early works of Tom Holt, like Paint Your Dragon, Valhalla and my all time favourite Odds and Gods. And yes I know he wrote Portable door, which is very well written but just not as good as the earlier works In My Humble Opinion (IMHO). The scary thing is, is that one of my ideas ‘The three Unicorns of the Apocalypse’ is most probably very heavily influenced by The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse.

So here I am sitting staring blankly, and I reach down and pick up my notebook. It is my go to place for ideas I’ve had, whatever I do it is with me. So I open up a blank page and start writing down the idea which has suddenly flashed in to my head. I mean it has absolutely nothing to do with the book I’m currently writing, but somehow, instinctively I know I’ve got to capture this fleeting moment of pure inspiration. Why may you ask? Well because tomorrow It will have flittered out of my mind and floated off into the ethereal background. But tonight it landed inside my head and I wasn’t asleep, I was ready with the essential tools I needed to capture this moment of pure inspiration. And so like Archimedes I have my moment of pure unbridled inspiration. Quietly I whisper, because everyone is asleep ‘Eureka’.

Now comes the difficult part I re-read what I’ve just written down. And as usually I find that not only have I outlined the plot, but the main characters and the overall outline of the story in a 3 act 8 sequence structure. Now yo maybe asking why has this person done this, and to be honest I put it down to a couple of things.

• My Autism is going hell for leather.
• I’m hyperactive on coffee.
• Or; the idea is so compeleling it just grabs hold of me and wont let go until I do something with it. **

** By the way it the third one if you were wondering.

So your probably wondering where I’m going with all this. I had someone ask me what is the most important thing about being an Author today, and I instantly answered ‘Your Imagination’ I explained that a flash of pure unadulterated inspiration can come at anytime, and you need to be ready for them. That’s why I carry a notebook and pen with me all the times. The flash will happen and I will write it down there and then. Why because my memory is shite with a capital SHITE. TPOTN, is one of these flashes of inspiration which happened as I was listening to someone I was working with. They told me about the magic of their child’s first Christmas Nativity play. It didn’t matter to this person that their child was a sheep. What mattered was the magic of the moment. And in that brief moment an inspiration struck me, and I wrote it down. 2 years later it has been worked up into a fully fledged story that I’m currently writing it now. But that wouldn’t of happened if I hadn’t captured that fleeting moment on paper. Never take for granted any idea however insane it maybe, who knows it may be the next best seller and they could be turning it into a movie. So to summerise:

• Inspiration can come at any time, be prepared
• Your Muse may not be who you expect it to be.
• No idea is rubbish.
• And as Willian Goldman said “Nobody Knows Anything”

To to close: Nobody knows what is going to be the next best seller, nobody knows what the public are going to react to. All we can do as writers is write what we feel is right in our hearts and souls. And sometimes the muse may leave us, but if we have been listening carefully and preparing for these fleeting moments of unadulterated inspiration we can have a stash of ideas which will carry us through when our Muse goes on vacation.

Good night and I hope to see you again soon for some more mad witterings from my weird and wonderful mind.

I highly recommend reading. (P.S. it isn’t an instruction manual but very insightful into the whole writing business not just screenwriting.)

Adventures in the Screen Trade: A personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman, ISBN 9780446391177