Ask the Author: Maria Wallingford
Answered Questions (4)
Maria Wallingford
I never quite understood writers block. At one level either you've got something to write or you haven't.
With horrible lack of sympathy, I get a picture of someone chewing their pencils over the tenth coffee in the garret screaming 'I'm a writer, I'm a writer, but what?'
Having said that, I opened The Virgin Paige: My Twelve Months a Troll with my lovely heroine in a fit of writer's block - she needs and wants to write but she wants to start a project that's worthy of her, that's going to make her proud of herself.
Once I'd written My 12 Months a Troll I had a better understanding.
It's not having nothing to write, it's the fear that what you've got in your head isn't good enough. Ultimately that you're not good enough yourself.
So, for writers block I go with the old maxim of a rubbish first draft. You can write, don't worry, you can edit later. If you're stuck on a plot point then think it through - thinking is writing as well.
One last thing - always have some spade work you can be doing - editing, prepping, character tweaks - not every day will dawn with a fizz of inspiration.
With horrible lack of sympathy, I get a picture of someone chewing their pencils over the tenth coffee in the garret screaming 'I'm a writer, I'm a writer, but what?'
Having said that, I opened The Virgin Paige: My Twelve Months a Troll with my lovely heroine in a fit of writer's block - she needs and wants to write but she wants to start a project that's worthy of her, that's going to make her proud of herself.
Once I'd written My 12 Months a Troll I had a better understanding.
It's not having nothing to write, it's the fear that what you've got in your head isn't good enough. Ultimately that you're not good enough yourself.
So, for writers block I go with the old maxim of a rubbish first draft. You can write, don't worry, you can edit later. If you're stuck on a plot point then think it through - thinking is writing as well.
One last thing - always have some spade work you can be doing - editing, prepping, character tweaks - not every day will dawn with a fizz of inspiration.
Maria Wallingford
In the clouded mirror, Giselle saw herself but younger, a girl so wickedly helpless for guessing nothing of what was to come.
As she held the heel of her shoe against the glass, words hissed again from that ripe mouth, so aching for pleasure, 'could you destroy me as I am now, and lose the chance to have everything you once craved?'
As she held the heel of her shoe against the glass, words hissed again from that ripe mouth, so aching for pleasure, 'could you destroy me as I am now, and lose the chance to have everything you once craved?'
Maria Wallingford
I've got a sequel bubbling away for The Virgin Paige, which has a trilogy format planned from the outset but could go for more. I love the character's chirpy over-confidence in what literature and writing can do for her, I hope I can do justice to my plans.
Outside Paige Gabelle and her travails I have a twentieth draft of a literary novel that I really should just accept is done and post to potential agents.
When I get time away from those I've got a Middle Grade Fantasy that tackles issues of self-belief and I'd love to write that down properly just in tribute to my younger self and the things I managed to get through eventually.
Outside Paige Gabelle and her travails I have a twentieth draft of a literary novel that I really should just accept is done and post to potential agents.
When I get time away from those I've got a Middle Grade Fantasy that tackles issues of self-belief and I'd love to write that down properly just in tribute to my younger self and the things I managed to get through eventually.
Maria Wallingford
Enid Blyton's Enchanted Wood and Faraway Tree - a go on Moon Face's slippery slip would be fun enough, but the whole universe seemed to go on forever.
My first ever long-form fiction was a version of that world, putting me at the centre of it. I was about seven and wrote dozens of pages about the move from land to land, where almost any character could join you.
Enid has had a bad press through the hipper-than-hip years since her death, but there's so much on social media from children today who love the immersion in what she created.
My first ever long-form fiction was a version of that world, putting me at the centre of it. I was about seven and wrote dozens of pages about the move from land to land, where almost any character could join you.
Enid has had a bad press through the hipper-than-hip years since her death, but there's so much on social media from children today who love the immersion in what she created.
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