Inspiration Strikes

I’d not long posted my last blog when I opened my March copy of Writers’ Forum and saw Sue Moorcroft’s article called “Research Secrets”.

Last year I was an avid follower of her Target Practice series and even sent in a short story for The Weekly News competition.

I was practically jumping for joy when I received Sue’s very positive feedback on my story and was even more delighted to learn that it had been forwarded to Jill Finlay for consideration to the final stages of the competition .

My story didn’t win but it did come highly commended and was published in The Weekly News.

Apart from readers’ letters this was my first (and to date only) published short story which had me practically dancing for joy.

So now whenever I hear or read the name Sue Moorcroft I am on instant alert. Again, she didn’t disappoint. She too referred to research as the chicken and the egg situation. She describes her process as initial research to find enough about the subject followed by the writing of the first draft and then more research to plug the gaps in the editing stage.

Over the last few weeks I have identified areas in my plot which need significant research and with the help of this article I can see clearly now that I need to hit the books again to resolve my plot before I can get back to the writing.

So thanks Sue, again your advice has been invaluable and now its time to hit the archives, internet and whatever other sources I can find.
On a final note for today, the article also plugs Sue’s latest book: Love Writing - Romantic or Erotic Fiction; that’s definitely one I’ll be adding to my “To Be Read File”.