Ask the Author: Jennifer Barraclough
Answered Questions (7)
Jennifer Barraclough
There's a mystery in my family background that might - if suitably disguised - form the basis for a book one day
Jennifer Barraclough
Sometimes inspiration comes easily, triggered perhaps by an incident in everyday life, by a memory from the past, by a dream, or apparently out of nowhere. Other times it appears to be absent but I usually find that if I discipline myself to sit down and write anyway, new ideas start to flow.
Jennifer Barraclough
Virginia Woolf said “So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters ..." and I would agree with that, if your aim is to gain maximum pleasure and fulfilment from your writing. But it may not bring you a large volume of sales.
Jennifer Barraclough
The plot of my first novella 'Carmen's Roses' was woven together from varied sources: a case history in a medical journal, a car number plate, an Italian vase, my travels between England and New Zealand, fragments of autobiography and of dreams ... The second, 'Blue Moon for Bombers', again had complex origins but was partly inspired by my interest in the aviation psychology of World War Two.
Jennifer Barraclough
For me it is FREEDOM - having the independence to write what I wish, when I choose.
Jennifer Barraclough
My third novella contains elements of mystery and romance. Set partly in England and partly in New Zealand, it continues the story of the characters introduced in 'Carmen's Roses' and 'Blue Moon for Bombers'.
Jennifer Barraclough
I alternate between two opposite strategies - either a) Give up trying to write for a while, and do something completely different, or b) Sit down at my desk and start writing something - anything - until inspiration returns. But prevention is better than cure, and personally I've realised that I'm most at risk of block just after finishing a book. So now I aim for an overlap between one book and the next - drafting an outline of the second before I check through the final manuscript of the first. Of course it doesn't always work out quite so neatly as that.
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