Vacation Collectables:
Mug = $8.50
T-Shirt = 19.99
Getting a peek at the world from someone else's eyes = PRICELESS
World View is one major building block that determines the "voice" of you book. Sometimes it's hard to put ourselves in our characters shoes and see the world through a different set of eyes. Vacations are a great way to exercise our ability to see things in a new way.
Heck! We're already out of our comfort zone. These are perfect times to keep our eyes and ears open to the unique phrases and outlooks of those around us.
What's it like to a kid?
An adult?
The people under the umbrella next to you from a different country?
How do they see things differently than you?
Here's an exercise. Think of a character from the book you're writing (or have already written) If they were to see the shells below, what would they look like to that character?
(The shells above, looked like crayons to my four year old)
To my six year old: This Shell became a "seat" for a rubber ball that was washed up on the beach. She named the rubber ball Pearl.
My two year old could have cared less about the shells. She only had eyes for the seagulls and shouted "Want bird! Want catch bird!"
and me: The beach normally relaxes me, but as a mother of 3 young children, the ocean looked menacing; a great animal that could pull my children in and devour them. The beach: A vast expanse full of strangers where my children could wander away and get lost. Even my own world view has changed in light of my current role as mother.
One beach, four different perspectives seen through the eyes of our personal world views. . . .
Which brings to mind another creative exercise for your novel. Find the scenes where you have more than one character in a setting. Does that scene adequately show the varying responses of your characters based upon their personality?
Vacations can be a great place to expand your understanding of how other people see the world. And the best part is . . . . it's a collectible that doesn't need dusting!
and me: The beach normally relaxes me, but as a mother of 3 young children, the ocean looked menacing; a great animal that could pull my children in and devour them. The beach: A vast expanse full of strangers where my children could wander away and get lost. Even my own world view has changed in light of my current role as mother.
One beach, four different perspectives seen through the eyes of our personal world views. . . .
Which brings to mind another creative exercise for your novel. Find the scenes where you have more than one character in a setting. Does that scene adequately show the varying responses of your characters based upon their personality?
Vacations can be a great place to expand your understanding of how other people see the world. And the best part is . . . . it's a collectible that doesn't need dusting!
9 comments:
Christy,
After using my vacation to blog, it was totally fun to look at your blog and see how you used your's. I will remember the one about the sea shells and about using your life events- both excellent reminders.
How in the world do you have time to blog, write, and raise 3 kids?? I find that one good blog takes me several hours to write. How about you? Thanks for stopping by and visiting mine, carol
aside from the gray watery monster looking to grab your children, it sounds like you had a wonderful vacation!
Hey Carol! I use my blog mostly as free-style writing, so generally a blog post doesn't take me more than 5-10 minutes to post. I write mostly early in the morning or late at night when the kids are in bed. If I have a longer post that I really want to think about before I write, then I either wait for night or I just save it as a draft and work on it on and off through the day.
Writing is what I do to keep myself sane. I am a stay at home mom. I love spending time with the kids, but the housework drives me nutts! Writing helps divert my angst against my domestic responsibilities. I also think about what I can write while I'm doing the mindless and tedious chores that I have to do every day. So, in my case, the question isn't how do I have time to write, it's "how can I stay sane and productive if I don't make time to write!" :0) If I don't write, I'll fall apart.
Maggie, LOL! Yes, gray watery monsters tend to dampen the fun, but it turned out OK anyway. :0)
Christy
What a busy lady you are! grin...
I've never been a beach gal (I love the mountains)...
But to answer your question:
If my MC saw the shells you posted...
The first two would look like earrings...
The second one...she would hold it up next to her nose and say it looked like a little nose...
Lilfix (blueboards)
Hey Brenda! Thanks for coming over to my side of blogland and playing along! :0) Your MC sounds like a cutie! :0) Especially the part about the little nose. LOL!
Christy
Great insights. I'm going on vacation next week: Painting Conference in Orlando Tuesday through Friday, then cruise to the Bahamas Friday through Monday. It's my first cruise and my sister's third (she's going with me for both). So, it'll be nice to pay attention to my reactions to being at sea and hers. I'm still a little apprehensive. I'm also going to use this to go back and look at my characters. Thanks.
Wow: those look like crayons to your four-year-old? To me, they look like pasta -- all of them.
Can you tell I'm trying to diet?
Sigh. I'd prefer a different world view.
Kathy, have fun on your trip!
Mary, I think you and I share the same world view! :0)
yep, Christy, I remember well the days of writing to keep myself sane. I was also a stay at home mom (still am, if a high school senior counts- that's all who is left now!)
So, maybe I'm overly stressing about my blogs. Your's look great for 5-10 minutes of work! I still think about writing when I'm mowing the lawn, folding wash, driving, etc.... thanks for taking the time to stop in and visit. Liked your new blogs about descriptions; you picked some of my favorite authors. carol
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