When the story just takes over - by Nicola Morgan

Have you ever had the experience of something "just happening" in the book you're writing, something that you just have to find a way to deal with? This used to happen a lot to me and it felt rather wonderful, as though something was there, helping me write the story, something that was going to guide or drag me, something I needed to handle with a long rein. Sadly, this doesn't happen so much nowadays, as I think I've busified myself too much. But one day I'll get it back.

The most memorable time when it happened was when I was writing The Passionflower Massacre, which I confess remains my favourite of my books. There's a big chunk of me in that book. It's from the heart.

ANYway, quite early in the book, I found myself writing these sentences:

Before lunch, a message came for Matt to go back to the hostel. He didn’t come back to the raspberry fields. 

Matilda never saw Matt alive again.

What?? The gorgeous guy just vanishes? The one who was going to save Matilda? Just like that? What, as in dead?????? Nooooo! But he was gorgeous! Where's he gone? Why? Who did it? Is he dead? But I knew he was. But how and why and who and what would be the results? I had no idea.

Of course, I could have deleted it. But I didn't want to. It had been given to me. It sounded exciting. Twisty. Dark. Right.

So I went with it and followed the story and discovered what happened to gorgeous, doomed Matt. And why. And what it did to Matilda. I discovered that it had a part to play in the bursting, roasting strawberries and the ripening tomatoes and the deadly, rare, gorgeous passionflowers. He had to die.

Has this abolition of control happened to you? And isn't it a scary wonderful feeling when it does? I'll get that back, I hope.

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The Passionflower Massacre and Sleepwalking are to be republished in one pretty ebook on December 2nd! If you liked Wasted, I think you'll like these. Please give them a shot! Super-cheap as an intro offer. Free extracts of the PFM on my blog now.