1. NOTHING
I know that sounds weird but it’s true. My best ideas come to me in that sleepy time before I drop off into slumber land or when I just wake up and am still hazy. This actually has a name, the hypnologic state, and it’s when I often come up with the perfect title/first paragraph/idea for my next book. It happens for almost every book I write and with 70 books published, it’s my tried and true method.
My Sister's Husband
2. AVOID READING ANY OTHERS
I write across several sub-genres—domestic suspense, contemporary romance and women’s fiction—and when I’m writing a book in each genre, I don’t like reading in that genre. I like to focus on my work and not be distracted, so while I’m an avid reader I don’t read in that genre when I’m writing a story.
3. BUY A NEW NOTEBOOK
Most writers have a stationary addiction. We can’t help it. It’s part of our DNA. So writing a new story deserves a new notebook to brainstorm in. And if it doesn’t get used because you’ve still got a stack from previous visits to Officeworks…well, it’ll get used eventually because those ideas keep popping up.
4. HAVE COLOUR-CODED PENS ON HAND
When I first come up with an idea, I brainstorm on paper (in one of those new notebooks mentioned above) and to do this, I use multi-coloured pens. It helps me get a clear delineation between characters and subplots. It has absolutely nothing to do with the prettiness.
5. ENVISAGE THE EVERYDAY
What I love most about writing domestic thrillers is taking normal, everyday domestic life and twisting it into something so shocking you’d never imagine it. I like to delve into the intricacies of families and friends, because most people have secrets simmering beneath the façade of normality. In my new release, MY SISTER’S HUSBAND, I had the idea for two sets of sisters, three decades apart, but whose lives mirror each other. The more I thought about what lay beneath their apparent sisterhood, the more I wanted to twist it out of shape. It’s fun being a writer!
6. CLEAN MY DESK
Trust me, by the time I finish a book, my desk needs a good clean. So before I start the next, I like to have a ‘blank slate’ so to speak. I’ll file away those random papers scattered across it, throw out stuff I should’ve chucked in the first place and give it a quick dust. My least favourite activity is cleaning. Ugh.
7. PROCRASTINATE A LITTLE
I think most writers have a fear of the blank page so even with a new document open in front of us, ready for the story to pour out, we prefer to be distracted a little. There’s always more research to be done. There’s social media that needs to be checked. There’s even, on occasion, a bit of housework (okay, a lot of occasions.) Thankfully, this procrastination eases once the first word hits the blank page.
8. CHECK OUT MY LAST TITLE ON GOODREADS
Many authors don’t read reviews, I do. I like seeing those five star raves because it helps get me motivated to write another book those happy readers can rave about. As for those less than stellar reviews…that’s why authors have thick skin! Rhino-thick. Seriously. It’s a prerequisite.
9. RESEARCH
Once I’ve brainstormed an idea, I like to do a little research. Most of it happens later, once I’m deeper into the story, but I like to have my setting clear in my head so that requires searching online. I prefer to create fictional towns but visually it’s nice to see what I imagine reflected in a real place.
10. EMBRACE SCRIVENER
If I could physically embrace Scrivener, I would, because this writing software gets me inspired to write my next book like nothing else. After I’ve brainstormed my new idea on paper, I open up a new Scrivener fiction document, start outlining and colour-coding my protagonists’ points of view, and get my research sorted into some semblance of order. It’s the fun stuff before the hard part of actually writing the story happens.
About My Sister's Husband:
The sunroom at the back of the house is just as I remember. I can’t taste homemade lemonade or smell oatmeal cookies without thinking of home, of the beautiful cliffs of Martino Bay, and I feel welcomed. But all thoughts of a happy family reunion are destroyed the moment I see him…He’s as handsome as I remember: broad shoulders, piercing blue eyes, hair the colour of burnt toffee.The man who once meant the world to me. The reason I fled eleven years ago. I’ve never told anyone the terrible mistake I made that night. The secret we share. I’m still haunted by the crashing waves at the bottom of the cliffs, the blood…But what is he doing at my sister’s house?And then I see her. My baby sister. She smiles, she tips her hand so I can see the ring. And his arm slides around her waist, pulling her close…A twisty and emotional domestic thriller for fans of Liane Moriarty, Kerry Fisher and Sally Hepworth from USA Today bestselling author Nicola Marsh. It will keep you turning the pages deep into the night absorbed by every last word.
About Nicola Marsh:
USA TODAY bestselling & multi-award winning author Nicola Marsh writes feel-good fiction with a twist!She has published 68 books with Harlequin, Amazon and indie, and sold over 8 million copies worldwide.She currently writes women's fiction/rural romance for Harper Collins Australia Mira imprint, emotional domestic suspense for Bookouture and contemporary romance for Harlequin Dare.Her first mainstream contemporary romance, BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD released to rave reviews, including a nomination for RWA's RBY, Romantic Book of the Year. Her first indie-pubbed contemporary romance CRAZY LOVE is an Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller, and was nominated for an ARRA award.Her women's fiction novel SAVING SARA with Lake Union hit the #1 kindle romance spot on Amazon UK.Her young adult fantasy SCION OF THE SUN won a National Readers' Choice Award for Best YA novel.She's also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a RBY and National Readers' Choice Award winner, is a multiple finalist for awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, Booksellers' Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has won several CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Awards. A physiotherapist for 13 years, she now adores writing full time, raising her two dashing young heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, barracking loudly for her beloved North Melbourne Kangaroos footy team, and her favourite, curling up with a good book!
RELATED: 10 Things I'd like my readers to know about me by Nicola Marsh
I crave the perfect title. I’ve written 70 books and for every one of those I had to have the perfect title before I started writing. It’s a quirk of mine. It doesn’t matter that publishers changed most of those titles before the books hit the shelves but coming up with my perfect title to encapsulate a story before I put words on a page is vital for my creativity... to read more click HERE
