Enchanted Orb: Shona Husk

Welcome to the Enchanted Orb - a look at the inspiration behind the DarkSider's tales.

Our guest today is Shona Husk. Shona's had a number of novels published and finds her inspiration in a number of places. Take it away, Shona!

Inspiration

I get inspiration from many things. Music, movies, dreams, a picture, something someone said…the usual places for a writer. However there is always one thing guaranteed to spark an idea that is quite odd: a revision letter.

There is something revisions that not only gives fresh life into a story, but also kicks off a new ideas. I’d never stopped to think about why until I was invited to do this post, so here are a few reasons why I think revision letters make a spark. You might find them useful when you are:

A) looking for a new idea or

B) have just received the revision letter from hell and haven’t seen the upside yet.

Editors see the big picture. Step back and look at the type of stories you are writing. Do you have favourite archetypes? Maybe try something a little different—I’m not suggesting jumping to the opposite end the spectrum, just one step over.

Play to your strengths but challenge your weaknesses. Look at what editors/reviewers/readers/crit partners say you do well (it won’t be everything and they won’t all agree but there will be a theme). Now look at that revision letter(s) and see if there’s a common theme of things that aren’t working, then set out to stamp on it.

Thinking about how to fix/tweak/re-write one story seems to set the creative juices on boil instead of the usually simmer. Maybe because the mind is searching for solution and while most won’t make it into the book they will find a use by being a jumping point for something else.

Finally let’s face the truth that there is nothing more tempting than a sparkly new idea when neck deep in edits J