I started my book over. Why? Because I was struggling with the middle because I lacked something in the beginning. I had a map, pieces and parts, but my anchors were not drilled down into the plot. Where were my anchors? Floating out there in the vast wasteland of Rachel Hauck’s imagination. Er, I mean the beautiful tundra, wild and free, of Rachel’s mind. A-hem. There are some components of this story that are just hard for me. I’ve never been a cooking show host. Never even been on TV. Well, once, when I was five, on a Tulsa kiddy show. I kept changing seats with the kid next to me. Or was she the one moving all around? Focus! Focus! Anyway, I remained on the surface of the story […]
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Brainstorming Craziness
I decided to take a week to writer and pray in Kansas City at the International House of Prayer. I have some friends here and thought a change of pace and setting would be inspiring. Plus. I wanted to be in an atmosphere where people prayed 24×7. Church, we do not pray enough. Seriously. I’ll be first in line to say, “I need to pray more.” I wanted to accomplish a good bit of writing and have learned some lessons about get-a-way writing retreats. More on that later. Wednesday, I was stuck. So stuck, I was starting to be worried and bothered. My last two books, I managed NOT to lose any sleep and was believing I’d broken through into a new place of confidence in my writing. But, when […]
Read the RestButt in Chair
Martha, Rachel Hauck said “butt.” Okay now that we got that out of the way. . . Writing is very hard work. Fun. Exciting. There’s nothing like holding your hard work, in hand, printed and bound. But, the labor is much like giving birth. Being creative is fun. Dreaming up ideas and imagining scenarios, talking with our potential characters. Then comes the hard work. Writing. As I talked about last week, it’s a lot like dating on e-Harmony. The person on the other end of the phone or computer is not the person sitting across from you at dinner. Same with characters. Your heroine was so lively and fun in your head, but on the page she’s snippy, snide and unlikable. Here’s the biggest writing tip you’ll ever get. Ready? […]
Read the RestWriting is like dating on e-Harmony
I spend a lot of time “dating” my characters. I ask questions, delve into their back story. I write bios, dream up their greatest fears and secret dreams. I consider the lies they believe about themselves, life and God. I figure out eye and hair color, height and fashion sense. What car do they drive and why? Where do they live? Alone? With a friend? With family? Whose died? How many broken hearts? Any major disasters that still drills holes in their hearts? With Susie May, I figure out the characters’ basic story journey. We answer story questions. I send them to college, give them a career. Sighing with satisfaction, I begin writing. “This story rocks” Half way into page one, I’m bogged down in story sludge.”This story stinks!” I’ve […]
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