Ella Carey Talks About Plotting & Creativity, Giveaway!

Please help welcome Australian debut author Ella Carey. And she's got a kindle copy giveaway of her debut release THE PARIS TIME CAPSULE to one commentater.

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 The Paris Time Capsule

Over to Ella now...

I used to think that plotting before writing a novel was the antithesis of creativity. Years ago, I wrote several novels without doing any planning at all, other than having a story idea with which to start.

 

There was a novel written from the perspectives of several women, all in the first person writing in their own voices … a novel that had a vague storyline about a woman who went back to her home-town after years away, and several others. All of these never saw the light of day beyond my own trusted laptop.

 

I adored the process of writing, and, in many ways, working this way was a wonderful way to learn. I have to add here that I know many writers who don’t plan at all, and they write wonderful novels. But, for me, there came a point when I stopped dreading the word ‘plot,’ and replaced it, instead, with ‘story’.

 

Now, I write as if I am creating a film script.

 

Once I have chosen what I feel is the strongest story idea out of all the ideas that are tumbling in my head, I try to write a blurb, then a synopsis. Does the story work on paper? Is it compelling enough to draw anyone in? This is important, as no matter how attached I am to a concept, if I can’t turn it into a full blown, dramatic event, then it’s not any good.

 

Now … to turning this skeleton into a fully-fledged, well constructed, unpredictable story. Difficult? Yes! But if you can get yourself into the zone - you know how it is, just like when you are writing a first draft, ideas falling onto the page like lollipops dropping out of one of those old fashioned machines - then you are blending writing with story planning, you are creating, and you are away.

 

So the best way I know to do this is to brainstorm scenes.  While I am doing all my character and setting research and design, I play the story out in my head and write down what happens in each scene, line by line. Each scene is labelled. I keep everything in order. But this is not a short process. I find I am refining, cutting, (there is so much cutting) until I have every scene the best I possibly can … it is only then that I am ready to write the first draft.

 

Now, as I am writing, of course, the story is still organic. I make changes, pull out scenes and play with them until I think they are much better as I write. But I have an outline, a home base – a story.

 

I have an entire file of deleted scenes from ‘The Paris Time Capsule.’ I was cutting scenes right until the moment I had to finish it. I ripped out a third of it a month before it was due! You are working like an artisan, constantly shaping, refining … and killing your most treasured darlings.

 

So, let’s return to the idea of creativity and story: I find that working from the inside out, is the most creative way that I know of crafting a story.

 

How do you craft your novels? Or how would you craft them if you wanted to write?

 

Inspired by the true story of an apartment in Paris that was abandoned for seventy years. The owner fled Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion in 1940 … but why did she never return? 

New York photographer Cat Jordan has fought hard to free herself from the past, but when a stranger dies, Cat finds herself the sole inheritor of a treasure filled apartment in Paris that has been locked up and abandoned for seventy years. A stash of love letters belonging to Marthe de Florian, one of the Belle Époque’s most famous demimondaines, and the appearance of the mysterious Isabelle de Florian’s grandson leads Cat in search of the reasons why Isabelle kept her Paris apartment a secret, and why she left her entire estate to Cat. As Cat unravels the story, she too begins her own journey, realizing that the secrets in the apartment may finally unfasten the future.

Praise for Ella Carey:

"Ella Carey creates an almost impossibly romantic atmosphere."Rachel Edwards, Review of Australian Fiction.

I am so looking forward to the release of The Paris Time-Capsule. Ella Carey is one of the most talented writers I have ever worked with. Roll on release day!' Melanie Milburne, USA Today best selling author

For more information please visit www.theparistimecapsule.com 

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BUY LINKS:

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    Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Paris Time Capsule

by Ella Carey

Giveaway ends April 30, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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