What do you do to relax to get away from it all? Some people enjoy outdoor activities such as swimming, exercise, boating, fishing, hiking, traveling, sightseeing, just to name a few. I love doing all of those things, but what I LOVE most of all, what I enjoy most often above all other things to do, is writing. Yes, writing is my passion.
Why do I love it so much? When I was a kid, my teachers always complained to my mom that I was a daydreamer. Hahaha, well, they saw it as a detriment, but it wasn’t and isn’t. Even now I daydream, because that’s what writers do. So, for relaxation I write. As I’m writing, I can open my mind up to anything and everything and make it come to life (inside my head). It releases those endorphins, those feel good chemicals inside your brain that, when released, gives you that peaceful feeling of satisfaction.
There are other writerly activities that are just as fun. I keep a writer’s notebook for every novel I’m working on. If all I do is write in that notebook, that’s fine. It’s still progress. Sometimes I need a boost, so I’ll go for a walk. This is where I do much of my idea generating. Everyone has their idea generating avenues, that’s mine.
So, again I ask, what do you do for relaxation? I would love to hear all about.
Let’s all take a step back and pray for everyone around the world. Whether they are sick with the Coronavirus or with another virus, disease or sickness, everyone needs prayers. Our Lord Jesus Christ watches out for us all. We are in His hands, He is trustworthy and true.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Bless everyone everywhere. Give them strength to get through this difficult time and heal their ills, wounds, and sicknesses. Keep them in Your tender care and shield them from all evil.
Tora is a headstrong career driven woman who sets out to find the truth about her parents and discovers a family secret going back to the Magi. What is this secret?
Sometimes we all feel like we’re floating along. The wind is blowing but your boat is going nowhere. It’s stagnate. You put your oars in the water and stroke, but instead of moving along, you go in circles. Life is funny. At times we think there is nothing out there for us. You want to write a novel, short stories, and/or poetry, but you don’t know how to get started or how to expand on what you already have. I’ve been down that road. Let me tell you, I wanted to be an author, but I had so much to learn. The problem was I wanted it NOW. Well, life doesn’t happen that way. Some things are a process and believe me writing is a process. What I learned though over the years of writing my first book was that it isn’t necessarily the finished product that is the most important. It’s important, yes, but there is another aspect to it that is even more precious. It’s the journey, the writing you do everyday, the process itself, the getting from point A to point B in your manuscript/story that plays a certain kind of music in your insides. THAT is what matters most. The finished product, when you hold it in front of you, speaks volumes. You end up saying to yourself, “It was all worth every time consuming minute.”
No matter where we are on our writing journey, there is something we all struggle with. Whether it’s one thing or a compilation of a few things, it’s there sticking up out of nowhere. Recently, one of my followers on Twitter posed this question. What do you struggle with in your writing? I couldn’t honestly answer this question because I don’t usually struggle with any one thing in particular, and what I struggle with varies at different points in my writing. What do you do with it? How do you work with it?
Sometimes the problem has to do with not knowing when you should use dialogue and when you shouldn’t. I don’t think there is any one right answer for this. I use dialogue when the story calls for it. When I am writing I get this ‘itch’. This ‘itch’ is a strong feeling dialogue is needed or description or exposition is called for. For me it’s a feeling of just knowing. This doesn’t mean I am right every time. I do go back and realize later that I need to cut back on something. That’s okay. It really is up to you as the author when you use a device and when you don’t. It’s your story.
Character arc is another big one. How are we going to show our protagonists growth from beginning to end? Yes. Yes. This is huge. To make the story and your character believable there needs to be growth in this character from beginning to end. What in the story itself causes your protagonist’s grow? The story movement depends on how your character acts, reacts, makes choices, etc… Are your characters afraid and unsure of themselves from beginning to end? I hope not. They may be apprehensive at the beginning, but by the end of the story they should be braver or brave enough to bring down the antagonist. Larry Brooks, in his book Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing devotes a whole part to character. In fact it’s number 2 out of the 6 core competencies. I highly recommend this book.
The summer of 2009 stands out to me because I looked out from the Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois to see the above clipper ship. The crisp white of the sails and the clear blue sky brought forth that WOW feeling. Prior to that moment there was another WOW that stands out in my mind. It also involves a ship. It was the summer of 2002. We were vacationing in the east. We hit Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; Washington D.C.; just to name a few. It was in Norfolk when I saw this aircraft carrier coming into port. The size alone commanded a presence. Sailors stood at attention on the outline of the entire flight deck around the ship. I wanted to be there. I wanted to know that feeling of standing on that deck. I didn’t know at the time that I would get that chance three years later. It was everything I thought it would be.
There are many moments in our lives that give us that feeling of WOW. Do you “collect” them? If you’re a writer you do. Use these moments in your writing. Have fun with them by embellishing them. One thing you can do is center a story around them. You are at the helm. Your mind wants to go on tangents. Let it. Let it run freely among the memories of your imagination.
So much goes on during the holidays, and it’s either good, bad, or in between. One year I was rushing around to get all of my Christmas shopping done. It was evening, so it was dark not to mention busy. The traffic standstill gave me a headache, but I had to get things done. I’m sure you can identify. I was in Toys’R’Us, which was crowded to the max, and it was my last stop. Dinner was next, so I was on the homeward stretch. I paid for my purchases, put my things in my car, and went to KFC to pick up my dinner. I was in the drive through waiting to give my order, when I reached for my purse and discovered it wasn’t there. Now, those of you who have discovered your purse or wallet missing while in public, can relate to this. My blood ran cold and my heart stopped. I still had over $400 in it. I got out of line and retraced my “steps”. I went back to Toys’R’Us to the exact parking spot I had just vacated. My cart was there but my purse wasn’t (I burst out into tears). However, there was a car in the spot I had been parked in and the people were still in it (A mom and her teenage daughter). I knocked on their window and inquired about my purse. THEY HAD IT!!!! What luck. They had my purse and were looking at my driver’s license to see whose purse it was. The woman gave me back my purse, and, upon seeing my distress, got out of her car and gave me a big hug.
Sometimes in our writing the story, process, characters and what have you can be just busy with so much “going on”. You can see the story in your head and it’s all coming at you at once. What does one do with such a rush of information that is out of order and disorganized? It almost seems as though you’ll forget this valuable information if you don’t rush to get it down. All I can say is, RELAX. Take the information that is rushing through your head. Do a free write and get it all down on paper or computer screen, then go back and organize it. When you organize it, prioritize it. What piece of information, according to your project, should get more attention? Work from most important to least important.
What do I mean by importance? All of your story elements are important and the importance of each depends on what you are working on each day, so this will change daily. Those of you who like to write by the seat of your pants have your own way of staying organized without planning ahead. Those of you who plan everything out in advance will do just that. Every writer’s process for writing is different, which is why I’m not going into detail here. I will say this though, what I do is keep a binder with dividers. Some sections are identified according what the story is.
In a nutshell don’t let the bombardment of your story fluster you. Take it in. Inhale it. Relax and place the information where you want it.
You can take a piece of something intoxicatingly boring and mundane and give it that creative flare. I call it “dressing it up”. Take the pictures above for example. Yes, I agree. They go on forever, or so it appears. Some would see beauty in them; some would see lack of an appeal. I see both actually. I didn’t grow up in an environment such as this, so the vast open plains give me a sense of beauty and allure. But there isn’t a whole lot to them. They’re just a road that goes on for miles, some hills, a sparse amount of trees, grass, and sky.
Now, take these same views, turn out the sun, and watch the stars come out. Now that is truly jaw dropping. Here there are no city lights to drown out the night’s sky. Here it is pitch black outside at night. You can get a blanket, lay it out, lay down and gaze up at the stars for hours. Better yet, the moon. I once saw a harvest moon out in the open like this. I was driving at night on I-70 through the state of Kansas. I looked out my driver side window and saw the biggest moon I’ve ever seen in my life. Talk about spectacular. I wanted to reach out and grab it, it was so huge and close.
In writing, we want to capture these beautiful scenes on paper. We want to capture the boring ones too. Either way, we writers can spice it up if it’s lacking or keep it as is. That’s one of the things I love about writing. We create and it’s anything goes. If your imagination sees it, your hand can write it (or type it).
The first draft of your manuscript can be rather turbulent. I get it. Really I do. When it’s finished, you look it over and think, “Uh oh, I don’t like this at all.” Two things you can do here. You can either chuck it altogether, or you can use it. Whatever you do, DON’T CHUCK IT. Why? I say this because, even if you don’t use some of it, part of it you will/can use. You can also use the whole thing but polish it up some or a lot. Only you know your story, so only you know how to fix it. In the end, you will have learned more as a writer, and your story will have grown and developed in ways you would not have imagined. If need be, walk away from it for a while. Take a break, think of other things. Then, go back to it.
I remember when I lost part of my manuscript when I was transferring if from my desktop to my new laptop. I was blindsided and distraught. I put the whole thing down and vowed I wouldn’t go back to it. Eventually, I did go back to it, and I made it better. The ideas flowed, big changes were made, and the story became more clear as it relates to where I wanted to go with it. So something bad can turn into a blessing if you let it.
Time is out there. The thing of it is this, where do we find it? There are days, sometimes too many of them in a row, when we have no time to do everything we want or need to do. Are we spreading ourselves too thin? Are we choosing less important tasks over more important ones? Are we spending too much time on something that doesn’t need it? Maybe. Whatever then answer is, learn to focus yourself. Pace yourself. There are times when things slow down and we have all the time in the world. This is when the waters are the calmest. We can wade and relax. Meditate if need be. We should be doing this in the rough times too because it helps in gaining focus.
I think it has much to do with the “Oh no!” effect. This is when everything in your life comes rushing at you at one time. Your schedule changes. Everyone wants something. How should times like that be handled? In my estimation it’s different for everyone simply because we are all different. What I do is focus first and foremost on the most important events that need to get done. Then go from there. Sometimes we just need to say no to somethings. Others will live on if you are not the one doing whatever it is you were asked to do. If you’re a writer, write. Let that be your most important task. Fit it in even if you only get 500 words done. At least you’d be doing it.
