Today we have a guest post from the wonderful Virginia Bergin, author of H2O. I asked her to give me 10 things she’s learned about herself through writing, this was what she had to say.
Gosh, Erin . . . 10 things I’ve learned about myself through writing . . . TEN things?! I’ll try . . .
I don’t write. This is going to sound nuts, but I’ve learned that the less ‘I’ involved in my writing, the better. I don’t write with my head – or at least not my conscious mind. It doesn’t even feel quite right to say I write with my heart. It feels as though the stories exist already, and it’s just my job to shut myself up and let them happen. Really! So ‘I’ don’t write – but ‘I’ do edit; that’s when my conscious mind takes a stern look at what’s on the page and starts chopping and tinkering and generally messing things up until it fixes them. Hopefully.
I’m a worrier. You name it, I worry about it. If I know something I’ve written isn’t quite right it really, really, really, really, really, really, really (x100) troubles me because . . .
I’m a bit of a perfectionist – when it comes to writing. Sadly, this doesn’t extend to other areas of my life. You should see the state my flat is in. It is The Kingdom of Grubbiness and Dust. It doesn’t exactly help that . . .
I’m not a juggler. I find it really hard to switch in and out of writing mode and do other things. I need acres of uninterrupted, dedicated writing time.
I’m not as lazy as I thought. I’ve always hated alarm clocks and being in a rush in the morning. REALLY hated it (x100, again). Through writing I’ve discovered that those first minutes of the day are when I solve problems. If I wake up slowly and quietly, plot knots magically untangle themselves. I also enjoy staring into space and napping. I’m sure they’re essential to the writing too.
I’m a learning junkie. I’ve always wished I was the kind of person who could really study a subject in depth, but I’m the kind of person who can find something interesting about almost anything and likes to learn a little bit about a lot of things – probably because . . .
I’ve got a magpie mind. I steal bits of information, ideas, images and observations from anywhere and everywhere, anyone and everyone, then forget it ever happened. I’m a thief, I suppose, but I hardly ever even know what I’ve stolen, or from where, or how I have used it.
I am full of self-doubt (and I wish I wasn’t). I’m used to showing work to other people, but having a book published means there’s suddenly A LOT of other people. So far, I’ve been avoiding reading reviews of H2O wherever possible because if they’re good it’s overwhelming, and if they’re bad it’s crushing. I’ve got to learn to tough up and chill out and get a grip and, and, and.
I’m seriously silly. I laugh at myself a lot, and whenever I try to write something totally serious, comedy always creeps in. I can’t help it. I think it could be some kind of nervous reaction, but I’m learning to work with it and accept it – which reminds me:
I don’t know myself. Although I’d say you can learn a lot about yourself and about what you think and feel about things through writing, there are always surprises – especially when you’re exploring not what you think and feel, but what a character thinks and feels. To write convincingly, I think you need to find empathy and understanding for all your characters – even the ‘nasty’ ones – so I think I’ll always be learning new things about myself through writing.
Erin . . . this has got to have been the toughest, most personal question EVER. Thank you for asking it, and now I think I’ll go and worry about my answers . . .
Virginia Bergin is the author of the young adult novel, H2O, a story about what happens when a totally ordinary (and utterly unique, because everyone is) teenager finds herself in a global apocalypse. Virginia works as a writer for TV, eLearning and corporate projects. Most recently, she has been working in online education, creating interactive courses for The Open University. She lives in Bristol, England.
In H2O, Virginia crafts a tale of desperation and survival about a world in chaos. Anyone who’s been touched by rain or tap water is dead. With a fascinatingly unique premise, a heroine that takes daunting risks and slim chances of survival, H2O’s fast-paced, unputdownable mystery and emotional survivor’s story will appeal to readers who enjoyed The Fifth Wave and The Hunger Games.
H2O by Virginia Bergin
Release Date: Oct. 7
Keep Reading!
Leave a Reply