Seven MORE things I'd like my readers to know about me by Vanessa Carnevale

1. My ideas usually take a long time to develop. I wish this wasn’t the case but I’ve written four books now, and the ideas for each of them developed over time. Generating a story idea feels a bit like putting puzzle pieces together, only to have several key pieces missing until finally, it all comes together in my mind and then a gut feeling tells me it’s the right story to work on.

2. While I’m working on a book, I know the direction my story is heading, but I don’t always know exactly how it will end. This can feel a little uncomfortable but I’ve learnt to trust the process and I know it’ll work out eventually. I’ve been known to rewrite my story endings, so I don’t always get them perfect straight away. Sometimes I’ll rewrite several times until I get things just right!

3. I prefer to write in the morning and throughout the day rather than at night. That’s because I find it hard to fall asleep after writing because I keep thinking about the story and the characters! I normally write at home but have also been known to write in the car (on my phone) while waiting for my son at soccer training! I’m all about fitting the words in as best I can!

4. The quickest time I’ve taken to write a first draft of a book is six weeks. This was my debut novel which I put off writing for years. However once I sat down to write it (without an outline) it poured out of me! It needed a lot of revising but it was lovely to be able to spend such a concentrated amount of time working on a draft without stopping.

5. While I didn’t outline or plot my first novel, I have outlined subsequent novels. I usually have a general outline and then pause to plot and move things around as I progress with my draft. I use a program called Scrivener that makes moving scenes around very easy!

6. I usually listen to instrumental music while I work on a draft, and once I choose a playlist I stick to it for that particular book. For my first book I listened to Ed Sheeran, the second, the soundtrack to P.S. I Love You, the third, Coldplay, and the fourth, Elton John!

7. When I read over a completed draft after I’ve rested a manuscript (deadlines permitting!) I am often surprised by what I’ve written. I tend to forget about scenes once I’ve written them so I’m sometimes surprised by what I find on the page, especially when scenes that didn’t make me feel emotional at the time of writing them, cause me to shed a tear when reading them later