The Stories In The Air

The Stories in the Air

Where do stories come from? How do they appear? 

Anything you read about writing will tell you that inspiration is a very small part of the writing process and that the most important part-the part that gets things done, is the part where you sit down at your computer or notepad and get the words onto the page.

Right now, all across the world, millions of people have a great idea for a novel. Millions have even started writing only to never finish- so perseverance and dedication are obviously a big factor in ever getting a novel written and then published.

But…it would be remiss of me not to admit that sometimes there is something else at play, something that we just have to accept is working in the universe to bring a story into being. 

‘His other Wife’, began with some whispered words- ‘daddy can you come help us please-he’s back again.’ I knew it was a child speaking. I knew she was on the phone and I knew she was terrified. And that threw up a whole host of other questions. Why was the child’s father not with her? Where was her mother? And what did she mean by ‘he’. Who was the mysterious, ‘he’?

Scenes unfolded and clashed in my mind as I tried to make sense of the story I had been sent from-who knows where. Maybe it was something I read or heard or felt but it was there, in the air around me-pushing itself into existence.

I have never been a fan of waiting for the muse to inspire me. If I waited for an idea to simply appear, I would never get anything written. I favour sitting down at my desk, writing and writing, deleting and deleting until something begins to form. But lately-the more I work, the more I get the feeling that I am being chased down by the stories, rather than the other way around.

When I sat down to start writing, ‘His Other Wife’, I had no real idea where the story would go. In fact-I was unsure as to who my protagonists were, and which of them I should be concerned with. Like most of my novels, there is a child involved and I saw Emily quite clearly. I knew she was five and I knew that she was a delight. But I needed to learn a lot more about the people who were in this little girl’s life.

I pitched the story to my editor, Christina, and she asked a few questions, made a few suggestions and signed off on it. And then I was left with the blank page that needed filling. 

I hate that blank page. Sometimes I can feel the whole story hovering around me but I get stuck on the first paragraph, writing and deleting again and again because it doesn’t feel right. Sometimes I have to push myself to keep getting words on the page so that I can at least say that I hit my target and because everyone says you can’t edit a blank page. 

And that’s when I do what I did with this book and allow myself to write the scenes I can see clearly because certain scenes-like Emily hiding in the closet with her terrified mother afraid of ‘the whispering man’ were so clear. Sarah (Emily’s mother) on a stretcher, being wheeled out by paramedics was clear. And so, I allowed myself to write the scenes that I could see. 

It made for a chaotic manuscript and lead to a lot of cutting and pasting as I moved text around when the story began to form, but I am getting used to this way of working now. 

There were more hurdles to come because I know that in my writing process, just when I think I have things under control-I hit the twenty- thousand- word mark and things get dark for a bit.

I declare the novel rubbish; all my work rubbish and I want to quit writing forever and get a job that ends at 5pm. That’s somehow worse than the blank page. It shouldn’t be but it is. 

I have been writing for long enough now, that I know what to do when that happens so I allow myself a day off, a walk with the dog, some time to regroup and then out of nowhere, the story will take off on its own again and I will be desperate to get back to my computer. 

It has become easier to let the story take me where it wants me to go-forcing it never works.

‘His other Wife’ was going one way and then the story decided on another direction. As I wrote I found myself bewildered by what my characters were doing. It wasn’t what I pitched. It wasn’t what I had planned but the story had other ideas. I went with it. 

I have to say that ‘His Other Wife’ is a little different to my usual novels-it’s a lot scarier and there were times when I turned my head and saw the ‘whispering man’ standing beside me. 

This novel didn’t just come from perseverance and from staring at the blank page until I could force the words to appear. This story was always out there-just waiting for someone to write it down. 

Reading the first reviews for the novel-I could see that readers felt that way too and I hope they will continue to do so as they enjoy reading ‘His Other Wife’ and all the books that come after that.

—

His Other Wife

She has my husband. She has my child. She has my life.

I never thought I would end up here. Alone, in a cold one-bedroom apartment, only seeing my precious daughter once a week.

Another woman is living the life that was once mine. I wish I was still married to my ex-husband, the love of my life. I dream of tucking my five-year-old child into her ballerina bed sheets every night. I miss living in a beautiful house, the perfect family home, with a winding staircase and a sprawling garden.

I’d do anything to be with my family again. To start over and prove to them that I’ve changed, that I won’t lose control like before.

But when I get my second chance, the vicious messages come. The noises at night. The feeling of being watched. It’s happening all over again. I know I’m not going mad, but no one will believe me. I don’t know if I even believe myself.

All I wanted was my life back. But now my life is under threat – and my darling little girl is in danger…

A totally addictive, twist-packed psychological thriller about the lengths we go to for the people we love. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Liane Moriarty and Adele Parks.

EBOOK:

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AUDIO

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—

Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature.

The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. She went on to publish a further five novels in Australia before joining Bookouture in 2019. She is a USA Today and Amazon bestseller in the USA, UK, AUS and CAN.

Her Books have been translated into German, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Italian

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/nicoletrope

 

 

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Category: How To and Tips