You’ll never hear us say writing is easy around the My Book Therapy campus. No siree, Bob. Writing is hard. It’s work. Here’s what gets me. I have a great idea, I see it all—beginning, middle and end, then I sit down to write and my inspiration vanishes. The story feels too slow. Too muddy. Too awkward. The things I thought the protagonist wanted now don’t work. Or seem trite. I can’t find the layers. Everyone sounds like Gumby and Pokey. After sixteen books, the pit of despair in the middle of my stomach isn’t as deep, isn’t as fierce. But still, about 30K into a book with a deadline looming, I’m wondering how this book is going to pull together. In the end, they always do. Yay, God. I […]
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Showers of Creativity Part Four: Go Forth and Create
We’re at the end of the month and you’ve come through three weeks of discovery and planning to give the world the best of YOU that you can offer. That’s quite an accomplishment. I have no doubt the world will be a better place for it. When this series ends and I’m not showing up in your email inbox every weekend, the tendency will be to “get back to normal”. No worries. The thought crosses nearly everyone’s mind. But what will you choose to do when that thought comes? After all, you’ve worked hard over these last few weeks in attempts to wax creative. You deserve a rest, right? Ummm, no. Here’s the thing. If the train isn’t moving, wouldn’t that be a dandy time to jump off and go […]
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Using Dialog and Prose to Create the Setting
Last night I sat in a small circle of writers disguising themselves as readers. As we discussed the book of the month, one of the reader-writers said, “The dialog and language really drew me in. It was part of the setting, really.” That hooked me right there. Not to read the book because, well, I wrote the book, but as a blog topic! Using Dialog and Prose to Create the Setting. I never thought of it before but word choice, dialog, the arrangement of words can really help put the reader in the mind set of the PLACE the story is being told. The era. The region. The social class. Education. Even values and belief systems. We’ve all heard word choice is key to the author’s voice. We’ve also learned […]
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Showers of Creativity, Part Three: Develop Your Creativity
Hopefully, over these last couple of weekends, you’ve discovered and embraced your area of creative genius. There’s no greater feeling than knowing you are operating in your areas of giftedness. The question now is do you want to make the greatest impact you possibly can in the world? If so, you need to use your time and resources pursuing those things. In other words, I’m not gifted in the area of voice. I can sometimes carry a tune… if that tune is in a book that I’m moving from one room to the other. My contribution to the world will not be in song. So, if I really, truly want to make a difference, it simply would be a waste of time for me to take voice lessons. I’m not […]
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