NaNo, words flow, go, go, go! How do you get the words out?

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I can't believe NaNo is going so well for me this year. I have three youngin's and a busy life. I didn't even know if I should tackle NaNo this year; 1) because my past NaNo stories have turned out to be junk 2) I didn't know if I had the time. I hate to start something and not finish it.

But then I decided to do it; 1) because a friend talked me into it 2) I had an idea to write the back story and character sketches of my book instead of the book itself 3) we all can find time to do the things that we WANT to do. I knew I could find the time if I really tried.

I encourage anyone who is thinking about NaNo to do NaNo on in the way that will best suite you and your goals. Who cares if you don't make it to the full 50K? Who cares if you are writing a book about your book? Who cares if you're just brainstorming nothing in particular? The point is setting your goals and working towards them.

Writing a book about back story and characters seems "weird" but it has been really helpful.
1) I'm gaining a better understanding of what motivates my characters and how they effect each other.
2) I'm seeing my characters in a more well-rounded way. They are becoming real to me and I think that will help my story when I start to really write about them.
3) I'm able to connect the dots with some questions I had in my mind but didn't know how to work them out.
4) My inner editor is completely shut off. None of this is meant to be cut and pasted into my novel, so I can type freely with little to no road blocks.

When I do find that my creative process is slowing down, I know it's time to stop. One of the best ways I find to let the words flow is to visualize the scenes or thoughts that I want to write about, like I'm watching a movie in my head, before I start to type. The clearer movie-like picture I have in my head, the easier it is to let the words pour out.

OK, I'm going to go now and try to plunk out another couple thousand words. That is, if I can keep the cat off my key-board. Shooooo Sammy, shoooooo!

What about you? What helps you get the words out when you're writing?

Stairs to Nowhere

I was recently walking in downtown Raleigh when I came across these stairs that lead to nowhere. I had to take a picture. I love the way a sight like this starts my creative story wheels a-turning. Let me count the possible ways to find a story behind this image . . .

Why was the entrance covered up? What are they hiding? Is it a porthole to another world? Maybe there's a secret code or trigger that opens up an unseen door. . . ..

Or maybe this image is a metaphor for something in your life. I've got to admit, right now I feel like those stairs leading to a brick wall represents my writing efforts. (not to mention other areas in my life.)

What about you? What thoughts or stories are brought to mind by this picture? I'm curious.

Creative summer challenge: Embrace your inner Zonkey

Here's my challenge to you for the summer. Just m@ke art! You gotta check out Zonkey Street.com. It's a site, developed by Critter's creator, Ian Sands. His philosophy is that art is for everyone and need not be only the stuff you see hanging in a gallery. Art should be fun and enjoyed by all.

Here's the way Ian describes it:

"What is Zonkey Art?

Zonkey Art is any art that is public, collaborative and interactive.

Public: Art can be for everybody, not limited to a few people who enter the doors of a gallery. Zonkey art is accessible to anyone.

Collaborative: An artist doesn't have to work alone. Art can be created in pairs, or by small teams or even in large groups.

Interactive: Art doesn't have to be static. Anyone who comes in contact with Zonkey art should be able to add, subtract, move, share, comment, give, take, build, destroy, help, arrange or interact in some way.

Art for Everyone
By Anyone

Have you gotten involved? Create Zonkey Art and post it on
The Art of Zonkey Street Facebook Page!

So . . . you should do this! It's fun! And for writers, it can boost your creativity and help you find your muse. Check out Zonkey Street.com for idea's. (Critter is one of the featured Zonkey projects on the web-site!) But feel free to create your own idea.

Come on! I'm a Zonkey, he's a Zonkey . . . wouldn't you like to be a Zonkey too?

Starbucks and disgruntled dogs . . . Crazy momma say wha??

I interrupt this writerly rut for a creative moment: (dot, dot, dot, dot-de-dot, dot, dot.)

I normally go to the gym for an hour, after I drop the kids off at school. Today, however, was a perfect fall day. Sun: warm, but not hot, the leaves drifting aslant in the wind, at my favorite park. A prefect calm lake surrounded by calico leaves, dancing in the sky as well as dotting the path.

I passed up my usual water bottle for a Starbucks Vanilla Latte. Walking around a calm lake on a perfect autumn day . . . sipping my favorite latte . . . bliss! A surreal moment. A time to remember that life can be beautiful, despite the destruction all around us.

On to my point . . .

I was walking behind a woman who was walking a pure white yorkie. A beautiful dog. So cute. But he was looking at me, standing on his hind legs like a mini grizzly bear, and making a . . . I don't know what kind of sound. Half growl/ have whine. I'm not sure. I looked behind me, thinking another dog-walking person was behind me, attracting the attention of this yorkie. There was no one. Just me. The yorkie, hind-legging and unknown-noise-making at me. But why? I was just walking. Other dogs walked by the Yorkie. He just sniffed . . . and walked by. Regular dog stuff.

So, then the dog walker stepped by the wayside so that I could pass. As I did, she said (in th most fabulous British accent.), "It's the coffee cup."

All I could respond was, "Oh, is that what it was?" And laughed.

I wish I could have asked more. Why the coffee cup? But that would have been cruel to keep the dog in his over-active/alert state. So I moved on. Leaving me to ponder why a dog would care about a coffee cup. Was he angered? Amused? I had no idea. I spent the rest of my 2 mile hike wondering about the psyche of this dog. What caused him to react to my coffee cup?

If you know a reasonable answer.. . . I'd love to know. I'm perplexed.

However .. . I"m a writer at heart and I'd love to hear some creative answers. Why would a dog react to a coffee cup in such an animated way?

Had he once tasted the spilled spoils at a local Starbucks hangout . . . only to become addicted?

Was he raised in a poor litter . . . where they only chewed empty coffee cups instead of bones?

Does a coffee cup resemble an alien space phone and he's dying to call back to his canine race?

Are there zones in this park where animals go wonky when they enter it, leaving them crazed and delirious?

You tell me. Real life, or pure imagination. . . . what could cause a dog to act this way?

hmmmm . . . . . .

Random title and plot generators

OK, here's a couple things for fun. Who knows, you might even get something good out of it.

First is the random title generator. When I tried it there were some rediculous titles (obviously) but there were actually a few that I liked too. One was "Waves in the Ashes" If you go to the link, let me know what good titles came up for you.

Here's the link to the Random Title Generator

The random plot generator is hillarious. I'd be surprised if you get a really good idea out of this one, but who knows, perhaps this could be good for a creative writing exercise or just something to get your creative juices flowing.

Here's the link to the Random Plot Generator

Enjoy! :0)

Author, Rich Wallace on Voice: What are your favorite "voice" books?

Here's that mysterious word writers hear about all the time.

VOICE

It's a crucial element in a manuscript but it's a confusing term. It's hard to wrap our minds around of what "voice" really means. I've found it very helpful to listen to those in the "know" talk about their take on what "voice" is.

Last year about this time I got to hear editor, Martha Mihalik's explaination of "Voice"

This year I got to hear the perspective of a successful author, Rich Wallace. Rich had some awesome points and gave great examples as well.

If I were to boil down Rich's advice, I'd say that

VOICE = THE CHARACTERS UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE

How do your characters show their unique perspective of the world and their thoughts through the words that you choose?

Here was Rich's advice on developing "Voice":

1) Develop a unique eye that makes a scene different.
An example that I can think of from this is Judy Blundell's description of the moon from "What I Saw and How I Lied" A FAT CUSTARD MOON WAS SPLAT IN THE PURPLE SKY.
I think Judy nailed the "unique scenery description" with that one!

2) Research dialogue in specific regions in order to may your dialogue believable.
He uses author (I don't know if I copied her name correctly, so I will refrain from using it) as an example. This author drives around area's, gets out of her car and simply listens and looks for the local oddities that make the area unique. She'll go into bars and listen to how the locals talk to one another.

One of my personal recent examples would be Ingrid Law, author of SAVVY where just one sentence gives you a sense of the characters speech.
"I had liked it with a mighty kind of liking." Ch 1


3) Develop and eye for details that make a person unique.

Mr. Wallace used the example of Susan Orlean who developed a unique sense of personal details by traveling with a group of gospel singers.

An example that I can think of is from "The book Without Words" by Avi

Ch 2 "Everything about Mistress Weebly was small: small body; small face; small gimlet eyes; small nose. Her smallness was emphasized by her being dressed in an overlarge, soiled gown of green that reached her ankles - sleeves pinched at her wrists, apron over all, wimple on her head. It was as if she had been dropped into a dirty sack and was spying out from it. Indeed, the womans only largeness was her curiosity."

I just love that one!!!


What about you? Do you have any authors in mind that have mastered any of these elements of voice?

What is Magic Fairy Dust Made of? Where does it come from?

What book characters have become real to you?

When the Good Fairy waves her magic wand, Fairy Dust flies and "POOF" Pinnochio becomes a real boy. Easy for her, right? Wave. Sparkle. Poof. But did you ever stop to think about where this Magic Fairy Dust comes from?

Well. . . I'll tell ya what. One thing that I've learned from this workshop is that this natural resource is not easily mined. Mined. That's right. The stuff that Magic Fairy dust is made of comes deep from the caverns that many do not dare to go and this Fairy dust isn't just handed over, you have to work for it. . . and in our very first morning session, Rich Wallace led us there. Let me explain:

This is where it started. From this cozy living room on a warm country morning, Rich led us into the depths of our memories; that dark forbidden place where Fairy Dust is born. The magic that can turn a paper character in to a flesh and blood person to whom we can relate.

Rich's advice to us was this: Use the emotional heat from your experience and give it to your characters.

You don't have to make every story a direct experience from your life. But you can add the feelings of anticipation, sadness, love, etc. pluck it out of your life and add it to whatever circumstance is in your story.

Rich also told us to put ourselves inside of each of your characters heads. Even the antagonist. Because to have a believable antagonist, he/she needs to seem real to the reader. So, instead of having just a skeletal villan, we need to put flesh and blood on his bones. Since we tend to hate our own antagonists and want the reader to hate him/her, we tend to only think of them as bad. But to give the antagonist more depth, Rich suggests that we ask ourselves this: "What do you like best about your antagonist?"

Rich led us through an exercise where we were to think of a life changing moment from our past. First we were to list details that we remember; emotions, those involved, sensory details, words spoken, etc.

Once we made our list of details, we went back and wrote the memory in story form. Then we each shared our memory with the group. This was like a therapy session. I think if Rich had not become a writer he may have very well made a good therapist. We all reconnected to that time in our life and the emotion showed in our voices. Many of us even cried.

Our final assignment was to take the emotion from that moment in our lives and start a new story that involved the emotions we had just dug up. (I'll share more about what I came up with in a later post.)

This was such an awesome exercise and it was interesting to hear how each of the other ladies processed their emotions.

But mining a memory and putting it into a story isn't easy. You may not want to go back and face certain emotional moments. You may not want to put those feelings into a story for fear of showing a more vulnerable side of yourself. You may even come out liking something about your antagonist and relating to him/her even though you really don't want to.

So. Next time you read a book where a character or scene moves you, one where you can relate and connect. . . I'd say that you'd better bet your bippy that the author had to face a struggle to mine those gems and graft them into the story.

It's not easy, but ohhhhh. . . the difference it makes!

For me, One of the most memorable characters that I've read lately is Katniss from "The Hunger Games" Even though I've never been in her situation, I feel like she was written in a way that I can relate and feel for her. I wanted to stay with her through the whole ride.

What are some of the most memorable characters that you've encountered?

I've been thinking of 100 different ways. . . .

Today's blog is brought to you by, STRUCTURES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN MORE THOUGHT


I've been thinking about trying a creative writing exercise. You know how artists will take an object like a coffee cup and draw that same object from different angles every day for a specified number of days?

Well, I was wondering if maybe I could benefit from a similar exercise as a writer. Maybe I should pick an object that I see everyday, like a tree or a building etc. and try to think of 100 different ways to describe that one object.

Has anyone ever tried that before? Anyone want to try it with me?

Now .. . . what object should I pick? hmmmmm . . . .

How I write when I'm not writing. Makes sense. Right?

It's been a rough few weeks. Long story short, 3 kids + colds + fevers + tummy bugs = not much time to write. Heck, I haven't even had time for sanity.

I'm itching to read, and work on revisions, but it has been hard. I've done a little here and there, but not enough to satisfy.

However, I have found that even though I haven't been revising, I have found some time to work on new ideas while I'm trying to go to sleep. During that time between wakefulness and sleep I've been able to work on some new book ideas. My stories work best when they have time to mull over in my mind. Right before I fall asleep is one of the best times for this for me. Sometimes I ask myself "what if" questions. Sometimes I walk through an idea and imagine myself as the protagonist and try to put myself is his/her shoes: what do I smell? what do things look like? What would I need in that situation? What happens next? What do I wish I had. Sometimes I think about backstory.

Not to mention, I've had some great dreams! Not necessarily "great" meaning "happy" rather, "great" as in, wow! I could use that in a book!

So, lately most of my writing has taken the form of "thinking" and jotting down enough that I don't forget. Sometimes I feel bad about not having more time to really focus on writing, but maybe the "thinking" time may be more beneficial for my creativity than I realize. Life brings "stuff" and we have to learn to roll with the punches. Right? So, for now, I'm going to make the most of the time that I have. Even if it's simply that hazy time between wakefullness and dreams. Heck! I'm even putting my dreams to good use.

What ways to you "write" when you're not "writing?"

Custard moons, Fairy-work frost and other great descriptions

Sometimes I come across a description or a phrase that I adore and then I have to write it down. Actually, if you must know the truth, I get downright giddy when I come across a perfect description. I came across a gem of a description in WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED by Judy Blundell:

Chapter 15
"A fat custard moon was splat in the purple sky . . . "

There are so many reasons why I love this description:

1) is that this is the most creative way I may have ever seen the moon described.

2) it fits the voice of the character who is 15 years old. Perhaps if the protagonist was an old man, the moon would have looked more like an alkaseltzer tab that just fell into the cup or something like that.

3) it gives a great visual w/o using too many adjectives. From this small amount of words I'm imagining a full moon on a hazy night. The sides of the moon aren't crips and distinct, but more soft and rounded. And it's late sunset. all that from 10 words.

This reminds me of a phrase used by Mark Twain where he describes a frost as "Fairy-work frost" What a concise and creative way to describe a sparkling, intricate design on a window pane.

~giggle~ excuse me. I'm just getting all giddy talking about it. I LOVE this stuff!

4) It sets the scene for what's about to happen. The soft dreaminess of the scene reflects the converstation that's about to take place.

5) this type of description challenges me to look at the world in a different way. Last night as I tried to fall sleep, I didn't count sheep. Instead, I thought of creative ways to describe common objects in a similar fashion to Blundell's moon description. You should try it too. It's harder than you may think. Blundell and Twain make it seem easy.

Go ahead. Do it. Pick an everyday object. A tree. The street. A building. The sun. How can you describe it using the pattern used by Blundell and Twain.

Here's a couple that I came up with:

"The ragdoll willow flopped in the storm."
"Pixie-winged blossoms rode on the breeze."

What things do you get excited about when you read?

Wonder Writer Powers, ACTIVATE: Form of a human camera lens

That's right. the secret is out. Writers have Super Powers!

One such power is the ability to turn ourselves into a human camera lens.

One camera, one setting, one moment of time can be artistically altered to create a mood or capture a desired effect.

The author is the camera lens to the reader, only we get to pick the settings. The way you describe your character should also come through not just in descriptive narrative, but also in the way your character views the world around him/her.

Let's take this chance to flex our literary Super Skills shall we? Stretch, bend, fly around the room. There. I think we're all warmed up now.

Let's try this exercise together. The two photographs pictured are of the same scene the same general moment in time, only the photo's appear different because of the angle and camera settings that I used.

Now, here's the exercise, and please feel free to post your ideas in the comments below. There are no wrong answers. We're just brainstorming here.

1) Imagine that you have two characters looking at the same scene. Character 1 (We'll call her Snickergiggle) She see's the seen as picture in the top photo.

Character 2 (we'll call him Grumbleschnitz) He views the scene as pictured in the bottom photo.

2) Now, brainstorm. Why do they see each scene as they do? What events, idea's or circumstances influence how they see the world around them? What are they feeling? Why does one notice people and the sides of balconies, while the other notices the slants of light breaking through the clouds? Why does one see things lighter and the other darker?

3) this last step is for the brave only. Do not attempt this step if you are not properly stretched and hydrated. Now, tell me . . . what kind of descriptions could be used to describe this beach scene based on the viewpoint of the character. . . How would they describe the water, the clouds, the waves . . . etc. How could these pictures be described, not just to tell us about the scenery, but also to give us information about the character as well.

On your mark, get set . . . . GO!

My Supernatural encounter with poultry: Is there a Duck whisperer out there?

There's the Virgin Mary's image on a piece of toast,
Fecal matter in the shape of Abraham Lincoln . . . and now we have wax duck-bills . . .


Candles flickering, wax melting and spilling over the side of my silver decorative candle plate until a perfect waxen image gels on my ceramic cook-top stove. No human help is required. This form comes together on its own. A duck bill with a perfect crack down the center that puts me in mind of a smiling Donald Duck! It is true. I've been contacted by the great poultry of the beyond. But what are they trying to tell me? Is there a duck whisperer out there? Anyone who can make contact with dearly departed fowl?

How much do you think this supernatural phenomena will sell on e-bay? ;0D Baby wants a vacation.

The 12 Days of Christmas Writers version: Let's write it together!

OK. So, let's work on this together. The 12 days of Christmas writers version. What should be included. Some of my thoughts . . . .


On the 1st day of Christmas my writing buddies gave to me . . .

A lattee that is sugar free . .. .

On the 2nd day of Christmas my writing buddies gave to me . . .

2 Sharpenend pencils
and a lattee that is sugar free . . . .


OK peeps. What else needs to go in the writers 12 days of Christmas? I'll post the final version when it's complete.

One Last idea generator before NaNo WriMo starts

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

It's just hours away until NaNo WriMo starts so I'm going to fit in one more idea generator. This works weather you have an outline or not. It can even work for any project, not just NaNo.

I must admit, those of you who don't have a plan make me nervous. Not becuase I don't think you are capable of it. I realize some people work better that way. It's just the VERY thought of looking at 50,000 words in 30 days w/o a plan makes me ~twitch~ and my eyeballs go all cattywhompus; one big, one small, mouth open and drooling. (note to self: look into therapy for control issues) See the guy in the countdown ticker above? That's what I look like.

The only way I can get my eyeballs back to normal is to blog about writing plans.

So, w/o further ado . . . . Here's one more way to create an idea roadmap for your manuscript (NaNo or NotMo):

1) Find a book that you love and that you have already read.

2) Skim through each chapter (or selected chapters) and note the general story components that occur in that chapter.

Example:
The Hunger Games
Chapter 1

*Introduce two characters that bring out two extreme sides of the protagonists personality (such as her mother brings out her tough, angry side, while her sister brings out her softer nurturing side)

* Show backstory that shows us the relationship w/ these characters and examples of the extreme dualilty of protagonists personality.

etc. etc.


or in chapter 13 of the Hunger Games there is an unexpected source of help for the protagonist. That made me think hmmmmmm. . . . "Is there a person in my story that can be an unexpected source of help in my story?"

I'm not sure yet, but as I'm writing, I'll keep that mysterious "unexpected source of help" in mind.

You never know what you may come up with. Your "favorite" book doesn't even have to be the same kind of book as the one that you are writing. I broke down The Hunger Games, which is sci-fi, but the book I"m working on is a current day slice of life type-of-story. I'm surprised at how much I was able to adapt to my outline despite the difference in genre's.

Good luck!

I'm going to go see if my eyeballs are straight now.

Plant an idea . . . and watch it grow: Generating an idea

Need to generate an idea for a story or a chapter? Try looking through some quotes and see if any set your mind to wandering. Do any quotes create a vivid picture in your head? If so, STOP! Don't pass that idea by. Pick it up, dig up some soil, put that sucker in the ground, add some water and watch it grow.

Quotes can also help you focus on a chapter as well. Perhaps one quote may capture an idea that you want to convey in order to give direction to a specific chapter.

Here's some quotes that created pictures in my mind as I was preparing for NaNo WriMo. I'm going to use the premise behind the quotes in specific chapters:

“It is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell, in order to equal the ox” Benjamin Franklin


“We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.” Mao Tse-Tung quotes



“Up high, the flies are playing,

And frolicking, and swaying.

The frog thinks: Dance! I know

You'll end up here below.” Wilhelm Busch quotes


What kind of story idea's do you get from these quotes?

What are some of your favorite quotes?

My life as a teenage time traveler

1964
I should've taken the dogs for a walk. Instead I tampered with the laws of time and space. The good news is. . . I got pictures! :0) the bad news is that I ran into some relatives and it's questionable if I will continue to exist. My nose is starting to disappear as I type.

Anyway, while I still have some time left, I thought I'd post some pictures of my trip. Due to this whole "yearbook" picture blog thing that's been going on, I decided to have my yearbook photo taken in various years.

1974
somewhere in the process of transport to 1974, my chin exploded and doubled in size. (note to self: don't listen to Red Hot chilli Peppers on an i-pod in the midst of time travel. random body part explosions may occur.)

1962
This year left me with a little bit of that time-warp glow. It almost looks like a beard, doesn't it? No wonder I couldn't get a date. Not even with that FABULOUS hair-do!

This is me in 1968 and this little flippy-bob is like totally far out!

This is me in 1958
This was a good year. I learned to bake bread, type and do the jitter bug.

Note to readers: if you choose to travel through time, remember not to "bump" into your old self (very messy.) or alter history in any way. You might erase yourself on accident.

go to yearbookyourself.com if you'd like to take a trip through time too.

Well, I guess I should go back to 1964 and see if I can get my nose back.

Evil puppet-master sock-nappers and other sock theories

First I will address the obvious:
*Yes those are a picture of our family socks
*Yes I took the picture
and
*Yes I realize that posting picture of my socks most likely indicates that I have some sort of blogging dependency problem. I will tackle that issue once my friends and family successfully carry out an intervention. (but they have to catch me first)

Now. Take a good look at the picture above. Notice anything? Like maybe NONE of those socks have a match!!!!!! Where did they all go? This is just one load.

Sure, recently I discovered that my 6 year old was using socks for Barbie dresses and sleeping bags but that only accounts for a handful of our missing footwear. What about the others?

I wonder if there are some evil puppet-masters that go around sock-napping freshly washed footwear in order to exploit them for their shows. Or maybe my house is a safe haven for disgruntled socks everywhere. Take a look at the picture. Maybe one of these socks ran away from your house and have sought refuge here. Perhaps I shall start taking individual sock pictures and putting them on milk cartons and junk-mail post-cards. MISSING SOCK!

Strangely enough, a friend brought to my attention (thanks John!) that there are web-sites like everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=24013 that explore the explanation of missing socks. Some of these include wormholes, communism, sock gnomes and my personal favorite is here in quotes.

"Quantum Theory of Socks"


Socks — Schröedinger's Special Theory of Socks stipulates that not only do socks in a washing machine exist in all possible states for socks, but they also exist in all possible states for other objects. Theoretically, you have a jumbo jet, the remaining members of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, and Friends, the Lindbergh baby, and God knows what else floating around in your washing machine. It's not really that difficult how to understand that if you suddenly leap into the washing room and yell "Boo!", the ur-laundry will suddenly have to resolve itself into socks. Which means that some of your socks will get it wrong, as the universe can be kind of slow on the uptake sometimes. So don't be surprised when in addition to suddenly missing socks, you also have three of some socks (of which you had two only a few hours previous) and some unidentifiable objects. This is why so many theoretical physicists are also raging alcoholics.

Now it's your turn. What's your theory?

Tales from the Conference: Writers are really Good Fairies! Good Fairy 101.

Remember in the movie Pinocchio when the Good Fairy floats through the window in her sparkly blue gown with her handy-dandy magic wand in tow? And POOF! She turns Pinocchio into a real boy.

Guess what!? That's us! Writers have a magical power. The power to breathe life into our characters.

My first break-out session at last weeks SCBWI Carolina's conference was with author, Stephanie Green. Her session was titled CPR FOR WRITERS.

I couldn't help but imagine my characters running around as little paper dolls looking up at the first bright light of evening (aka my computer screen) crying out "I want to be a real _______ (girl, boy, bad guy, etc.)" And with my trusty pen I point, aim and POOF! My paper dolls inflate like a balloon, their flesh fill out and voila! The Characters are no longer flat. They have been given life!

So, here's Good Fairy 101. Giving shape and life to your paper dolls:

Stephanie's major point was "motivation with emotion." Motivation is everything and it has to be strong and sincere.

ie: if your character wants to be popular. . . Why does she want to be popular? What is her motivation and the emotion behind the motivation. She has to have a good reason in order to be believable.

Stephanie gave a great writing exercise to help us conjure up emotions from our own childhood so we can use them in our writing. She suggested that we take 20 minutes (or whatever allotted time we choose) and write down memories from our childhood. Dig deep, try to find things forgotten and associate the emotions that go with those memories. Even things that may have seemed insignificant. You might be surprised at the results.

I was surprised to remember Christmas time, my cousin always brought a gift, year after year, with a tag labeled "To: Aunt Cecil"

I never met aunt Cecil. Aunt Cecil never can to our family gathering, yet my cousin always brought a gift. This Aunt Cecil was always a quiet mystery to me. Who was she? Why didn't she come? This wasn't an major part of my life, but it still stirred a great deal of curiosity within me. An air of mystery at Christmas time.

So, if you're ever having writers block, or are just in the mood for a writing exercise, this is a lot of fun!

hmmm. . . I think I need to go shopping for a tiara and a pen that looks like a magic wand. After all, a Good fairy isn't complete w/o such accessories! :0)

I can hear our paper dolls crying out to us now!

Happy Good Fairying!

Seeing Through the Eyes of a Child: Object and Word Association

As parents or adults, we love to hear the cute ways kids use words in unusual ways. They use words in the way that they understand them. They have yet to learn appropriate context. As writers this gives us opportunity to relearn our world. Break out of the box of appropriate context.

Some recent examples from my house:

My 4 year old uses the word "timber" in place of "fall". ie: "I timbered off the chair."
No, we are not a family of lumber jacks. I have no idea where she got this.


My 2 year old calls polka dots "bubbles"
When I pull out a polka dot dress or shirt she gushes "Oohhhh! I like bubbles!" When I try to tell her they are polka dots, she adamantly exclaims, "No! Bubbles!"

And the other night my 4 year old prayed that her older sister would get 100 percent on her spelling test. Instead it came out "Dear God, please help my sister get 100 tents on her spelling test."


So, here's your creative challenge for the day. Try to think about the words and objects that you encounter throughout your day. How could a child precieve them?

Or please! Share some of your "cute" kid association stories to help get us in a creative frame of mind.

Setting your imagination free! Creative exercise. What turns your creative wheels?

These pictures were snapped a couple of years ago in the early spring. I pass by this location often and I am always compelled to the scene. I've never known why. I get the same feeling whenever I go into an antique store or see any run-down barn.

Most people would see this as an eyesore. But to me, there's something that draws me in. I don't want to live in one, but I sure like to look at it.

Then, earlier this week I was reading a blog post by Kathleen Duey. She posted a picture of some ruins from a trip where she could see one of her characters "shivering" (if I remember correctly.)

Reading her post was like switching on a light! I figured out why I'm so drawn to these locations. Old places: ruins, run down barns, antiques -- they trigger my imagination. There is a story that my mind wants me to see. There are stories in these old places and wheels in my mind start turning, wanting to speculate what might have happened.

I sat down, concentrated on the pictures and let my imagination go free. What was my creativity trying to show me?

This is what I came up with:

olden times scene:
I see a young girl, barefoot with golden pigtails and an aproned frock. Her brother is in overalls putting down his work pale and chasing a frog. Avoiding chores due to the carefree abandon inherent to childhood.

Modern scene: A runaway teen seeks shelter on a rainy evening, but when she enters the abandoned barn, she finds much more . . . . .

There. Whew! My brain feels so much better now.

So, answer me this

what kind of places set your creative wheels to turning? And/Or What do you see in my pictures?