Streamwriting

To Plan or Not to plan…

That is the question.  Here’s what I do.

I had been writing for about ten years on and off by the time I heard this, and when I did it really stuck with me and it does today.  I remember something that Terry Pratchett had said on TV during an interview and it was basically this, if you are stuck about what to write then begin with two characters, get them talking to each other and see where it takes you.  I was quite pleased when I heard this because that was how I had been doing it all along.

But I always end up having to do some at least.  Taking into account that your story has to have a definite beginning, middle and end, it is important to recognise where the crisis point is and so you can take the action down to the resolution point. Minette Walters (The Shape of Snakes) said in an interview that she waited until she got to the halfway point before deciding who the murderer was.  So she was just as surprised herself.

You may disagree, but all I can say to that is, that we are all different.  I usually find that as long as you are true to your characters and give them the life that they ought to have then I find that they take things off into their own direction anyway.  It’s quite exciting when this happens, then you find yourself writing just to see what happens next and that gives you even more of a thrill about writing.

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On Writing

Where do they come from? The words? The poems? The stories? The books? From the booze, the fags, the sex, the despair? From happiness, ecstasy, joy and hope? From the dreams we never achieved? From the voices we hear in our nightmares, our jealousies, our fears? Because we see things we hope will never happen? From a desire to escape our realities? Because they are too painful to confront? There is no happiness in writing. Even a happy ending does not promise better things. There is always betrayal, decay and death beyond the final sentence.

So, why write if there’s never a happy ending? Because we have to. Because we want the answer to all our questions. Because there has to be an answer. Something out there that makes all our moments and seconds worthwhile. Because we’re on a quest. In our books. In our thoughts. In our lives. Because what keeps us striviing is the need for redemption. For ultimate salvation. For knowledge of what comes next. Although we will never know. That’s what drives us.

Every book is a quest wrapped into another story. Every poem. Every sequence of words ordered into the semblance of a sentence. A greater whole.

I can’t stop the words. They appear out of nothing. In dreams. In shapes. In colours. In sounds. The voices never stop.

Take an empty notebook and a pen. Carry them around with you. Listen in on other people’s conversations. On buses. On trains. In cafes. In restaurants. In the street. Walk slowly. Loiter. Mishear lyrics from songs on the radio. And write it all down. Cannibalise the world around you for every ounce of mangled word you can gather onto your paper. Scribble. Jot. Doodle. Invent.

Go into a pub. Buy a drink. Sit outside and light a cigarette. The people who talk to you while you’re smoking are infinitely more interesting than the non-smokers inside. As you drink, the people who walk by without talking to you will become more beautiful, more weighed down with secrets and meaning. And all the time, scribble, scratch, draw. You may even fall in love out there.

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Writing Tips for your First Novel 

Writing a novel is a big commitment. There’s planning and pre-writing, including research. There’s the first draft, which can take anywhere from weeks to months. Then you have to put the thing away for more weeks or months to get some distance before you start rewriting and editing.



Pre-writing is one of the more time-consuming parts of the novel process. It’s here that you figure out who your characters are and what their story might be. Keep notes about everything at this stage. Each tidbit of information that pops into your head should go down on paper. Keep your notes organized, in whatever manner works best for you. You might keep a separate folder or file for each character, setting, and plot element. Or you might color code your notes. I like to use an online wiki (PBWiki) for taking notes so I can link different pages together.



You’ll need to do research. Every story out there requires at least some research. If you’re very familiar with your setting and time period, you can probably start writing without any formal research beforehand. But keep a list of resources you can use to look things up as you write. Even in fiction, historical accuracy is important. While it doesn’t mean you can’t change things, you should have a very good reason to do so. Don’t “wing it” and hope no one notices—someone will. And sometimes rewriting historical or other inaccuracies out of a story can make the whole thing fall apart.



Some writers outline prior to starting their first draft. Others just start writing and let the story take them where it will. Neither method is inherently better than the other; use whatever works for you. I have to outline. Once I’ve actually started writing, though, I tend to completely disregard the outline. But if I get stuck, I can always refer back to it and see what my options are and where I need to go. Outlining, for me, is a way of getting to know my characters and their goals. Before writing my first outline, I’d never finished a novel. I’d had a dozen false-starts, but all fell apart or lost momentum after a few chapters. Other writers feel like an outline forces things and stifles their creativity. Try writing both ways and see which one works for you.

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How To Find Inspiration

A friend once gave me a piece of advice: ‘Absorb’. I was about to set off on a trip to Nepal and she meant that I should let everything I experienced on my journey sink into my body, filter through, become a part of me. I followed her advice and had the time of my life.

From then on, I decided to make that my everyday ‘motto’ - from the way a bird swoops down and almost hits the windscreen as I’m driving the car, to the way my body needs to stretch when I wake up in the morning. Everything can become a lesson, can provoke a sensation, even if it’s years later. This way of approaching life has helped me with my writing.

I’m an observant, visual and tactile person by nature. I enjoy examining objects, find I get a better sense of what I’m dealing with if I study it, touch it, and then ask myself how that made me feel, what thoughts it provoked. I write down things I notice when I’m out walking the dog, on a bus, in the supermarket. If, for example, I see a face I find intriguing, I’m afraid I will stare at the person whose face fascinates me. I then write down what it is that’s so striking about them. This rule applies to everything, not just people. These little scribbles usually find their way into my writing; they get tweaked and twisted to fit the character or setting I want to achieve, but they make it there. And that’s often commented on by readers. They find they can relate to what I write, feel like they’ve visited a place they’ve never been to, or know a character I’ve written about.

Writing can be very personal and isolating. And yet, it’s also about reaching out to people you’ve never met, wanting to show them a moment in time that you believe will inspire them, draw them into your imaginary (or not) world, pass on a piece of advice. Although an insular form of art, it’s a way of communicating ideas. Yes, it’s one-sided, but it’s also liberating and provoking - hopefully not only for the writer! It’s a way of saying: “Look, this is what it feels like to be experiencing this or that, but you might have experienced something similar. And maybe, reading someone else’s parallel experiences might make you realise that we’re all connected, we all share the same desires and hopes, we all dream the same nightmares. It might make you less lonely, less frightened, a part of something greater.” That’s what I like my readers to experience.

Observe the details around you. It’s the little things that add spice and meaning to your life. Pick up a stone, notice its weight, examine its texture, try to describe it in your mind, see how its colour changes when you wet it, look at it as a single stone in your palm and then picture it as one of thousands of pebbles on a beach. How does that change your perspective of this rock? How do you feel in relation to it? Observe all these details, and then absorb them. Let them sit in there for however long they need to ripen.

Nothing gets wasted, even the bits you reject, the parts you find don’t agree with you so much. They have their own role to play. Allow what you’ve absorbed to mature. And then use it. You’d be surprised at what you’ll feel you’ve gained and how close we are to one another.

So, absorb this. Let life amaze you.

Annia Lekka writes fiction for adults and children. Her writing is in the spiritual/magical genre. She has written one cross-over novella called ‘Fish Tail Mountain’ and is now working on one of three novels taking place in Istanbul at the turn of the last century. You can learn more about Annia and read some of her writing on her Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Annia-Lekka/82893230212?ref=ts