Tuning In

Yesterday I had a headache, so I was laying down on our loveseat, about to drift off into sleep, when it hit me. My hero needs to be much more involved in encouraging my heroine to believe her dreams.

Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? It happens to me all the time. Around two o'clock in the morning, I find myself reaching for my cell phone on the nightstand and typing out somewhat-incoherent notes to myself so I won't forget the flow of ideas. By the way, more than once have I awakened in the morning to realize that these notes were totally unreadable. Guess I need to work on my sleep typing skills.

I used to think quality writing was mostly about the skill writing well. But the longer I've worked to craft these stories, I've realized there's so much more to it than that. To craft a truly great story, we have to learn to listen, tuning in to the stories around us.

Source: mixedplateblog.com via Gilt Edged on Pinterest


 Stories are all around us. As writers, God has gifted us with the ability to see beyond the surface layers of the world. I often catch myself daydreaming and wondering about other people's stories. I used to think that was just my personality, but when I grew connected with other writers, I realized it really is a "writer" thing.

Don't let the rest of the world stamp that impulse out of you. Just as we tend to lose our childlike creativity as adults, we also tend to lose our sense of imagination. We get caught up in the have-to's and responsibilities of the day. We must work so hard to keep these things from snuffing out our desire, our interest in the deeper story.

Sometimes this means taking a time out from life to take some deep breaths, put on a Billie Holiday song, and dance around the living room. Sometimes it may mean eavesdropping at Panera. Sometimes it may simply mean listening to the whispers of your own heart, the whispers of God's voice to you.

But whatever it takes, we have to come to a place of tuning in to the story behind the story. These deeper layers shape our writing voice, our plot, and even the various shades of our characters' motives and goals. It's so easy to skip past this aspect of writing because it seems "fun," and we often feel like we just have to push through writing-exhaustion to get that elusive word count. Yes, sometimes we do. But other times, the thing that's keeping us back from development in our story is actually our own need to take a step back and let the story, the characters, breathe. 

Learn to privilege the whispers of dreams and imagination. If you get an idea in the middle of church, that's okay. Scribble it down. If you're half asleep when inspiration comes, don't roll over and hope you'll remember the idea in the morning. The more we feed the muse, the creative voice in our hearts, the stronger it will be.

So I encourage you to give it a try today. When a creative idea breaks through your mind, interrupting what you're "supposed" to be doing, welcome it. Doing this consistently will help us remember the joy of story.

That Lightbulb Moment

I'm having a hard time concentrating. That's because there's a lovely-smelling soy candle burning beside me that transports my mind to Hawaii, and because there's a little icon on Cara Putman's face looking at me from the "recently downloaded" file folder at the bottom of my screen. Speaking of Cara Putman, her newest novel, A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island, released this week, and if you haven't already done so, you should splurge and go buy yourself a copy. The setting is fabulous, and Cara's a great writer. A review will be forthcoming once I finish the story!

Isn't the cartoon at the right hilarious? I was looking for the perfect brainstorming clip art, and let's just say it found me. Something about the largeness of this guy's head gives me the giggles.

Today I thought I'd ask your input on something I've been struggling with all afternoon. Brainstorming! In the past, I've always been blessed to have about seven book ideas in cue mentally at all times, so I've never really had to fish for a new concept. But I'm trying to push myself and branch out a bit, and let's just say, coming up with something from scratch is hard! Have you all experienced this? Here are some pointers I've found either work well for me, or I've heard work well for other people:

1) Don't try so hard. This is a big thing for me. When I'm fretting over finding a perfect idea, my creativity takes a hike. If I casually think about stories while, say, I'm driving or taking a walk (or buying unnecessary shoes), it seems that the ideas flow so much easier.

2) Look to news stories for inspiration. I haven't tried this one myself, but in a workshop I once attended, James Scott Bell explained that he got the inspiration behind the opening scene of one of his books (I think it was Try Dying) from a real news story that he found very moving.

3) If you know the setting or target audience, familiarize yourself with it. If you're going to write YA, check out YA websites. If you're writing historical, try to visit historical sites near your town that might jog your creativity.

4) When all else fails, just sit down and write. Doesn't matter if it's good. Doesn't matter if you use those exact sentences. If you write long enough, you'll likely stumble into something great, and you'll also have already coached yourself to write past the doldrums.

5) Talk through your ideas with a critique partner, a good friend, or a chatty Starbucks barista. Sometimes working through something verbally is the best way to get things flowing in your mind.

I want to hear from you! How do you get ideas for your books, and how to you go beyond writer's block on those days when your creativity seems to be stuck?

Edit Later, Spell Check Now.

I am a firm believer in waiting to make major edits until I am done writing something. Editing usually takes on a multitude of levels, so trying to critique my work on all of these levels at once while I am writing it leads to one frustrated perfectionist. I can't get anything done. I make myself reread everything I have already written before I start writing something new. I decided to quit that approach around page 36.

Now, I have been enjoying writing my novel with my inner critique light turned off. My creativity has definitely been cultivated by this effort, because every time the practical side of my brain wants to say "that's not feasible," the creative side of my brain says, "I will come up with a way to make it feasible."

That said, I have also found it incredibly helpful to try to make accurate word choices and use proper spelling as I go about writing my manuscript.

For instance, who knew "catapult" was spelled with two a's? Not me. Until about four minutes ago.

While Spellcheck software might catch most of the spelling errors we make, it cannot help us remember the alternative, clearer wording we almost chose.

I have found that it's worth the extra second or two to pick the best wording and Google questionable spelling (as well as grammar) as I go along. Otherwise, the errors could be lost until they find themselves in the hands of an unsuspecting reader.

Do you participate in the editing process during or after writing? Perhaps a little bit of both?What strategies have you found that work well to help you cultivate creativity while also keeping your format, style, and grammar in line?