Cappuccinos and Goodbyes

By Anthony Ehlers

Rule One: The heart doesn’t like rules.

I almost didn’t submit my story, Cappuccinos and Goodbyes, for the Essentials/Mills&Boon Voice of Africa competition.

I didn’t think it fitted neatly into any of the Mills&Boon genres. It seemed moody and insular. It didn’t have a traditional happy ending. However, two good friends read it and urged me to enter.

Imagine how surprised I was when it made it as a Top 5 finalist. I was thrilled when the judges gave such wonderful feedback on the story. From the experience of writing this story, I learned something about myself and the process of writing. I share them here with you.

  • 1) Let it flow. I tend to over think or over plan my writing projects. With this story, I just sat down on my bed on a warm rainy Saturday night with my laptop. I let the story tell itself. It just flowed. I didn’t realise how the hours were passing. Four hours later, I had a draft. I was relaxed and comfortable in my role as the creator. It was a weird and new experience for a control freak like me. (I also realised why I don’t ever have a date on a Saturday night.)
  • 2) Trust your characters. I think authenticity comes from listening to your characters. My heroine, Suzanne, was trying to move on and was finding it hard to let go of the past. I could relate to that. I could get under her skin and write from a real place of hurting. She showed me her past when I asked her about her two most prized possessions – a book and photograph. These two objects allowed me to unlock her past. My hero, Eric, was a mysterious character from the moment he came walking along the rainy street. I allowed him to keep a lot of that mystery. I trusted his instinct to guard his heart, his secrets, his pain.
  • 3) Discover your theme as you go. One of the judges correctly identified the theme of this story as exploring a universal theme of “love and loss”. I didn’t set out to explore this theme when I fired up my laptop. I only saw the idea of the theme of the story after the first draft. Once I saw the theme emerge – like a ghost in the mist –I made the theme stronger in the narrative. It also helped me come up with a title for the story. I realised that this theme occurs a lot in my stories. Obviously, I identified with this theme as a person and a writer. The closer you are to your themes, the better for you.
  • 4) Music and Mood. A lot of this story was written while I was listening to music on my iPod. I’d read a biography on Stephenie Meyer. She talks about how certain music gets her in the mood. I thought this was a bit ‘precious’, but I was willing to try it. When I look back at the story, I can actually see how the artist I was listening to influenced the mood of my story. It must have subliminally influenced me. Many of the images, the setting and character traits in the story came from the lyrics and the music. What would I write, I wonder, if I listened to heavy metal?
  • 5) Quiet Time. Most of us don’t have enough time to write, to actually settle down for hours and hours of uninterrupted writing. It’s a luxury few of us can afford. Nevertheless, we need to cultivate quiet time. We need to be comfortable with time alone. We need to jealously guard the time we do carve out for ourselves. I enjoyed the time I spent alone with this story. I was actually a bit sad when I had to let go of it. Your stories are your friends. You must like them – no strike that, love them – if you want the reader to buy into their story. It’s that golden rule we sometimes forget: write what you want to write.

One final confession: I don’t know if this method would work with a novel. I don’t know if I’d have the courage to try it. There will be no harm in trying it.

For the first draft, don’t worry about plot, dialogue, and setting. Forget formula. Ignore genre. Don’t stifle original ideas by putting restrictions on yourself. Forget the rules. The heart doesn’t like them. Treat your writing like you’d approach a love affair – with blind faith, risk, excitement and a sense of adventure.

Anthony Ehlers’ story Cappuccinos and Goodbyes was a Top 5 finalist in the Essentials/Mills&Boon Voice of Africa (2010) competition. It is featured in the September issue of Essentials magazine.



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