Visions & Voices
I have been writing in some form my whole life and it’s always been an almost ‘otherworldly’ experience. I call it intuitive writing. Author and public speaker, Michael Roland, calls it writing from the Superconscious. But by any name, it is a very different process from a conscious, step-by-step approach to writing.
My stories feel as if they are ‘given’ to me, rather than being created by me. (I hope that statement doesn’t jeopardise copyright!) I literally see visions, and hear voices in my head. I ‘see’ sequences of events, as if watching a film. I can hear descriptions of entire paragraphs as if someone is reading a story to me. I can hear the conversations of characters, in their unique voices, including tone of voice. I see their expressions. I feel their emotions.
Nothing is given in a particular order, and I never really know where a story is going to be taken. I just trust, and listen, and watch, and record everything as fast as I can. Of course, then there is the conscious mind aspect of the process, where I have to work out which parts go where, like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. This has been my writing process through several picture books, (two published, the rest biding their time), and four fantasy novels – three comprising the Amora Trilogy, (ESOR, ELON, EVER), and another as part one of a second series, ORB Rider.
I can honestly say that I approach my writing with no planning, just pure trust, and I have no idea where it’s going or how it’s going to get there. At times, it’s rather daunting, such as when I got to the third book of Amora Trilogy, and there were myriad loose ends and complications, and I still didn’t know ‘who’d done it’. I was the author and I still didn’t know the solution to my own mystery adventure! My logical mind didn’t have any idea how to tie everything together, but my intuitive, subconscious brain knew exactly what it was doing.
So, the long and short of it is that I am an intuitive writer and the writing flows without conscious thought from me. I comes from visions and voices inside my head. I don’t fight it. In fact, I embrace it.
I believe everyone has their individual process in any creative endeavour, which comes from their individual ‘vision and voice’. I also strongly advocate that honouring YOUR process, and heeding YOUR vision and voice, rather than some textbook style, ‘one size fits all’ approach is the best way to go. Yes, take heed and seek guidance if it is useful, but above all, honour YOU. Honour your unique creative process~ that unique vision and voice you contribute to this world.