Getting in the mood to write...
For me writing is an emotional experience, not something I can just do because I have to (or think I should) it's something I do when I'm driven to do it and need to do it and really FEEL like doing it.
When I started writing this novel I was driven by the idea of creating my own story out of the many ideas floating in my head, and that was good for while... But 5 months into it I've discovered other ways of getting myself to that place where the ideas just flow, and I've found ways to feed that flow.
First I should say that my writing is character driven, each chapter is from the perspective of a character and each character develops a bit more in each chapter as he/she interacts with the other characters in that novel.
Music is very important - I have a whole soundtrack to my novel, different songs for different scenes and a certain sound or group goes along with a specific character. So if I want to write for a character, I put on that CD and tap into the feeling of that character.
People watching - Many of my characters are inspired by a combination of people I know or actors/characters I have connected with/admired/ in movies and T.V. shows and many are also inspired by the feeling I get from animals. Sometimes the character is not really inspired by any individual per se, but that genre of character.
Fantasy - I fantasize with dialogue in my head, imagining scenes that my characters will have and how they might respond to each other. Sometimes I do this in bed, sometimes while driving, and lately I've begun writing it down free-style in a journal. Often I've kept an idea and written it out in more detail, but many times it's just me playing with where I might want to go and sometimes for the sake of the plot, I just can't make that dialogue happen at any point in the story. But I still think it's a good exercise because it makes me experiment with the character... and explore possibilities I might not have gone to had I not played around. Plus it's fun. :)
Blog Writing - Speaking on something from the perspective of a characters has helped me to jump from "I just dropped the kids off at school, worked out, put in laundry" to "In character writing non-stop". By writing free form in the blog, I am able to shift gears and get into character and remember what it is this character is all about.
Prayer and Meditation - This is something new I'm trying. When I get stuck, distracted, need to focus, I just lay quietly and ask the Spirit to touch me and flow through me. Many times I have had some quite inspirational ideas come to me and thinking about a plot point where I was stuck, I suddenly see something I never did.
Reading the newspaper, listening to sermons, catching up on the latest technology - all of these have given me ideas to add to my novel in many ways... I think even interacting with my kids has given me ideas. In short, I'm just always open to anything that might apply to someone in my book in some way...
Freestyle writing: Recently I've started a notebook where I write dialogue only, no names or what they're doing, just the talking. It helps me to get into the characters and keep a record of what I'm thinking rather than just losing it to free thought.
Doing any of these things has helped me to get in the emotional spot I need to be in to write creatively without being held back...
Julia
When I started writing this novel I was driven by the idea of creating my own story out of the many ideas floating in my head, and that was good for while... But 5 months into it I've discovered other ways of getting myself to that place where the ideas just flow, and I've found ways to feed that flow.
First I should say that my writing is character driven, each chapter is from the perspective of a character and each character develops a bit more in each chapter as he/she interacts with the other characters in that novel.
Music is very important - I have a whole soundtrack to my novel, different songs for different scenes and a certain sound or group goes along with a specific character. So if I want to write for a character, I put on that CD and tap into the feeling of that character.
People watching - Many of my characters are inspired by a combination of people I know or actors/characters I have connected with/admired/ in movies and T.V. shows and many are also inspired by the feeling I get from animals. Sometimes the character is not really inspired by any individual per se, but that genre of character.
Fantasy - I fantasize with dialogue in my head, imagining scenes that my characters will have and how they might respond to each other. Sometimes I do this in bed, sometimes while driving, and lately I've begun writing it down free-style in a journal. Often I've kept an idea and written it out in more detail, but many times it's just me playing with where I might want to go and sometimes for the sake of the plot, I just can't make that dialogue happen at any point in the story. But I still think it's a good exercise because it makes me experiment with the character... and explore possibilities I might not have gone to had I not played around. Plus it's fun. :)
Blog Writing - Speaking on something from the perspective of a characters has helped me to jump from "I just dropped the kids off at school, worked out, put in laundry" to "In character writing non-stop". By writing free form in the blog, I am able to shift gears and get into character and remember what it is this character is all about.
Prayer and Meditation - This is something new I'm trying. When I get stuck, distracted, need to focus, I just lay quietly and ask the Spirit to touch me and flow through me. Many times I have had some quite inspirational ideas come to me and thinking about a plot point where I was stuck, I suddenly see something I never did.
Reading the newspaper, listening to sermons, catching up on the latest technology - all of these have given me ideas to add to my novel in many ways... I think even interacting with my kids has given me ideas. In short, I'm just always open to anything that might apply to someone in my book in some way...
Freestyle writing: Recently I've started a notebook where I write dialogue only, no names or what they're doing, just the talking. It helps me to get into the characters and keep a record of what I'm thinking rather than just losing it to free thought.
Doing any of these things has helped me to get in the emotional spot I need to be in to write creatively without being held back...
Julia
posted by Julia | 10:27 AM
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