What's On My Desk? - Sarah Morgan

In theory I should be able to write anywhere as long as I have a pen and a pad. Certainly there are occasions when I scribble on notebooks or scraps of paper – while I’m waiting to pick the children up from school; in the dark in the cinema when an idea suddenly comes to me (boy was that difficult to decipher!) but generally I write better when I’m at my desk.

So what do I need for my perfect working day?

My laptop - which is not connected to the internet. I would like to say that if I worked in a chocolate factory I would never sample the products, but I know I would. If I work on a computer connected to the internet, I use the internet. I can’t resist the temptation to check my emails – just in case Hugh Jackman is trying to contact me urgently or JK Rowling’s publisher has decided I’m the Next Big Thing (I will be the Next Big Thing if I don’t take the chocolate biscuits off my desk :) )

My iPod – I don’t always write to music, but sometimes I do. I use music to create atmosphere. At the moment I’m trying to finish a Christmas story and the only way I can feel Christmassy in March is to play Christmas music. If I fill the room with Christmas music, my family will probably leave home in protest so my iPod is the ideal solution.

Dictionary and thesaurus – of course these days there are brilliant computer programmes available (something else to offer distraction) but I still love the ancient, well-thumbed thesaurus I was given at the start of my writing career.

My favourite mug – usually I drink from a giant, brightly coloured mug. It makes me feel happy. But at the moment I’m writing a Christmas book, so I’ve swapped it for a mug covered in penguins and lots of snow.

Sticky note pads and a pen – yes, although I’m using the laptop, I still scribble all the time when I’m writing. I know that lots of writers use sticky notes. I find them invaluable. If I think of one line of dialogue that I’ll want to use later on, or even a plot twist, I’ll scribble it on the note and stick it on the wall. Then I know I’m not going to forget about it. When I first started writing I used pads, but there were so many occasions where I overlooked something I’d written down, I switched tactics. Sticky notes are there until you remove them (which I try and remember to do before guests arrive. My gorgeous, tolerant husband once asked me mildly if I thought it might be wise to take down the one that said ‘this marriage is a sham’ before we had family over :) )

My mobile phone – when I’m writing I often unplug my main phone during the day so that I’m not disturbed (I find it really hard to ignore the phone if it rings), but I want to be able to take calls from close family, so I keep my mobile switched on so I’m connected, but not too connected.....

That’s it. That’s what I need. What do you need to help you work?
Sarah
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Beginnings - Sarah Morgan

Thanks to Lee for inviting me over here today.

The more I read – and write – the more convinced I become of the importance of beginnings. First impressions count, even more so when there are now so many books vying for our attention. So how do you select a book from the hundreds of new ones that are released every month? What makes you put one back on the shelf but take another to the checkout, or ‘browse the book’ online but then click on something different? When I’m choosing a book I read the back cover copy and I always, always read the first page. Those first few lines are important to me. They tell me a lot about the style of the story and the voice of the author. Sometimes when I ask someone about a book they’ll say ‘I haven’t got into it yet’ or ‘it’s a bit slow’. What they’re really saying, of course, is that the book hasn’t gripped them. And for an author, that’s dangerous. Maybe that reader will stay with the story regardless, but what if they don’t? They might decide that life is too short to stick with a book they’re not excited about reading and put it aside in favour of another one that grabs them right from the beginning. And then you’ve lost them...

I keep all this in mind when I’m writing my own books and try to remember that the first few pages may be my only chance to hook a new reader. This is especially true when writing in a short format like Harlequin Presents. Every word has to count.

So what makes that first chapter special?

For me, it’s being plunged straight into the action. Whether it’s emotional, physical or both, something important needs to be happening, right from the first page. The reader needs to be sucked straight into the story. If it’s a Harlequin Presents then there’s going to be plenty of passion and I don’t necessarily mean the lip-locking variety (although maybe that too!) – I’m really talking about high emotion. The book needs to begin with a situation that is urgent and really matters right now to the hero and heroine – a point of change in their lives.

The books I’ve enjoyed reading most have been the ones that have me rooting for the main characters right from the beginning. What about you? What makes you buy a book?

Sarah
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http://www.sarahmorgan.com/