BEGINNERS
A job well done
Treat writing as a craft so you don’t leave work unfinished or incomplete, says Adrian Magson
Adrian Magson
An outsider’s view of writers might well be one of us sitting at a desk or table, laptop open or pen poised, the worlds we create spilling forth at our bidding in a steady stream. We stop, they might imagine, for the occasional tea, coffee or something a little stronger, before ploughing on until the end of the day’s work, picking up again the next day or session after walking the faithful dog/cat/duck/pig (tick as appropriate), all the while thinking of new scenes of danger, intrigue, romance and dialogue ready to set them down on screen or paper.
The truth is, most of the writers I know are rarely as regularly creative as this. The scenes and words mostly emerge through sheer concentration and sweat, the writing conducted in bursts, much of it dodging about from one scene to the next in a manner which might suggest the writer has lost the plot. Most seasoned scribes, however, are able through experience to keep an eye on their progress and continuity without leaving gaping holes in the storytelling.