Robin C.M. Duncan
Ah-ha, what motivates the mercurial muse? I suppose everyone is slightly different, but loving the idea, the places that my mind goes when I contemplate that kernel and start scribbling in my (current) notebook, that's the initial spark, but that is not really the question here, is it?
What makes me pick that first pencil scribble up again, and commit to spending days and weeks (for a short), months and years (for a novel) exploring the concept? It must be more than one idea, it must be the way the story takes shape in my mind, the way it makes me feel, be that excited, intrigued, mystified, even sad or angry: there is always the feeling of an arc for the character, an outline of the emotional journey events will take them on. That's the heart of it, for me, what the character will be faced with and how it might challenge them, change them, but also reward them, and therefore the reader, I hope.
What makes me pick that first pencil scribble up again, and commit to spending days and weeks (for a short), months and years (for a novel) exploring the concept? It must be more than one idea, it must be the way the story takes shape in my mind, the way it makes me feel, be that excited, intrigued, mystified, even sad or angry: there is always the feeling of an arc for the character, an outline of the emotional journey events will take them on. That's the heart of it, for me, what the character will be faced with and how it might challenge them, change them, but also reward them, and therefore the reader, I hope.
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