Saturday 30 July 2011

Why Fiction Writers Need Markets

Like many writers, I try to stick to a daily word count goal. Last week, Thursday was a writing wash-out for various very good reasons and I didn't manage to write a word. So Friday was the day I had to get back on track.

Friday is market day in our little French town. I decided to give it a miss and get on with the writing. But the market is the best place to buy fresh flowers. We had guests arriving at the weekend. Fresh flowers would cheer up our work in progress house. Our wip garden does a fine line in weeds. Flowers? - well that's next year's challenge.

So feeling frustrated and twitchy about something else taking priority over the writing, I trailed up to the market. And I discovered they were all there - the characters that might people my novels one day: the attractive Parisian businessman on holiday, in his pristine linen shirt and designer shorts, two fractious children and an even more fractious wife in tow; the elegant elderly lady I queued behind for tomatoes who'd forgotten her list and couldn't remember what she needed to buy; the affable stallholder, growing less affable by the minute; the pleasant, sad-eyed woman in the boulangerie who remembered my bread order before I even had to ask; and the young flower-seller with the winsome smile who takes such delight in fashioning his lavish bouquets.

I came home with more than flowers. I couldn't wait to jot down some character ideas in my notebook. They'll wait in the wings of my subconscious. One day they might make an entrance on the page.

Sticking to writing goals is vital. But gathering the fuel for those goals is vital too. I once had the privilege of meeting Muriel Spark. Something that great writer said has always stayed in my mind. 'Travel is the life blood of the writer.' I think that's true - even if the only place you travel is up the road.

PS I achieved my word count on Friday too!

How do you manage your writing priorities? Do you get time to live as well as write?

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