“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” —Virginia Woolf
Mia and Dan's love story was inspired by my own one-sided dance with love when I lived in London. Some of the scenes from Her Long Goodbye and Her Waiting List were inspired by that dance with love. Writing from a place of such deep emotion is powerful but it can be draining for the writer when recalling the memory of the emotion. Such as my emotional farewell in London.
The beach scene in Her Waiting List where Mia and Anna are lying by the beach talking was inspired by sister's wedding at a beach in Khao Lak in Phuket in 2013. During the wedding strangers from the resort gathered nearby watching the ceremony, just like Mia and Anna did.
Most of the date scenes from Her Waiting List were inspired by dates I went on in London, such as the date with the married man. When I was writing Her Waiting List I signed up to an online dating website to gather research and inspiration from when writing about Anna's stint with online dating.
When writing about a particular place, such as a city or landmark, being able to paint a scene true to life is crucial in keeping the reader engaged. Having visited the place being written about helps me to be able to paint such scenes. This is reflected in a review for Her Long Goodbye - "Amazingly written book, I love how Nicola has written scenes so descriptively you feel like you're there". Living in London has proved extremely helpful with writing my first two novels. Like Anna did in Her Waiting List I lived in Ealing, London. For me travelling is key with being able to write descriptively but also for creating inspiration. Even if I don't end up writing about where I am travelling gets my creative juices flowing at a great rate of knots. New smells, sights, emotions, people, experiences.
There is an element of creative writing which involves baring one's heart and soul even if you're not specifically writing from your own life experiences.
Mia and Dan's love story was inspired by my own one-sided dance with love when I lived in London. Some of the scenes from Her Long Goodbye and Her Waiting List were inspired by that dance with love. Writing from a place of such deep emotion is powerful but it can be draining for the writer when recalling the memory of the emotion. Such as my emotional farewell in London.
The beach scene in Her Waiting List where Mia and Anna are lying by the beach talking was inspired by sister's wedding at a beach in Khao Lak in Phuket in 2013. During the wedding strangers from the resort gathered nearby watching the ceremony, just like Mia and Anna did.
Most of the date scenes from Her Waiting List were inspired by dates I went on in London, such as the date with the married man. When I was writing Her Waiting List I signed up to an online dating website to gather research and inspiration from when writing about Anna's stint with online dating.
When writing about a particular place, such as a city or landmark, being able to paint a scene true to life is crucial in keeping the reader engaged. Having visited the place being written about helps me to be able to paint such scenes. This is reflected in a review for Her Long Goodbye - "Amazingly written book, I love how Nicola has written scenes so descriptively you feel like you're there". Living in London has proved extremely helpful with writing my first two novels. Like Anna did in Her Waiting List I lived in Ealing, London. For me travelling is key with being able to write descriptively but also for creating inspiration. Even if I don't end up writing about where I am travelling gets my creative juices flowing at a great rate of knots. New smells, sights, emotions, people, experiences.
There is an element of creative writing which involves baring one's heart and soul even if you're not specifically writing from your own life experiences.