Spattering words, a nothingness pushed forth,
rang in my ears and flew out the door,
all that’s left is the droning of sound,
from mouths speaking nothing
but words spewed aground.
You want me to listen,
so get your facts straight,
instead of pure nothing
filled with all hate.
God’s gentle nudging grew words from your lips,
and sang to my heart, then to my finger tips,
now life is filled with meaning profound,
from mouths sprinkling something
so rich with sweet sound.
You want me to listen,
you got your facts straight,
instead of pure nothing,
you weren’t filled with hate.
Tag: Creative Writing
The What If…
On March 8, 2022 I wrote an article for this blog on starting your story/book/novel. Well, that was a general overview of starting your writing journey. Here in this article I am going to be more specific. There are many ways in which one can start a story. One way I’m going to touch on today is the ‘what if’ statement.
Let’s say you want to write a story but you don’t know where to begin. Start with a ‘what if’ statement. It doesn’t have to be complex; it just needs to catch attention.
Examples:
- What if a girl is at the beach with her friends and finds a locket dated from the early 1900’s, and on the inside is a photo of her great grandmother and another man who is not the girl’s great grandfather.
- What if a young man (in his 20’s) is at work and receives a message that his wife has fallen ill, but the thing is he has no wife.
- What if three male friends are walking in the woods taking a short cut to another friend’s house. On the way only two of them are carrying on a conversation while the third friend stays silent and listening. One of the other two turn to the third to get his opinion on something only to find he’s not there.
- What if a man in his thirties who lives in an apartment steps out and is on his way down the hall to go out to his car but stops short at the open door to his neighbor’s apartment. There’s blood on the threshold and on the arm of the couch just to the left of the open door.
- What if an uninvited stranger walks into your party, singles you out, and tells you, “He’s here.” But you don’t know who ‘he’ is.
Feel free to steal the above ideas. Maybe one of these will help you come up with a ‘what if’ of your own. Have fun with them. The idea is to create a ‘what if’ statement that creates questions. Once you have a ‘what if’ statement you want to use, continue building on it. You’d be surprised how your mind will start spewing out idea after idea that will expand on that one ‘what if’ statement.
The Path by L. M. Montes
In morning’s mist I stroll,
along a path that widens,
then narrows to grab hold,
my whole as if I’m hiding,
be strong and be so bold,
in life there is no sliding,
splendor is never seen,
if we cease to try our road,
like an outstretched hand so keen,
we grasp or dump the load,
so take my hand and ever lean,
with help success will bode.
More on Dialogue
- Begin a new paragraph every time a new person speaks. If you don’t do this, the reader gets confused about who is supposed to be speaking. You don’t want that. You want your readers’ minds to be engrossed in the story, not outside the story.
- Remember to use quotation marks whenever someone speaks. Doing this will differentiate between someone speaking out loud and what is going on inside the character’s mind, narration, or description. Here again, you don’t want confused readers.
- Just a reminder here: use dialogue tags (see previous article entitled Dialogue Tags from July 28, 2022 for more details).
Your Fans
What keeps you motivated to continue writing? There are many motivators, but what I am focusing on at the moment are your fans. I don’t merely mean readers. I mean true blue, unadulterated fans. Those individuals who love your work. They love it so much they will come back for more. They throw complements at you telling you they LOVE your stories and to PLEASE write more. They chomp at the bit waiting.
What this does is feed your mind and continues to sprinkle a positive light on it. We all love complements, don’t we? So use this to make your writing better. And as you’re writing, you’ll be focused on how can I make this even better?
In a nutshell, your fans keep you on your toes, and they make you a better writer.
Likeable Characters
Have you ever finished reading a book of fiction and were disappointed it ended? And was part of that disappointment because you were going to miss the characters? You actually liked the characters so much you didn’t want the story to end. You enjoyed your time with them. Why do you think you liked them so much?
The answer is very simple. The author did a fantastic job creating them. But how were they able to be that effective in their creation? It lies in the attention to detail. It goes beyond physical appearance. Go deep within your characters, their minds: how they think, feel, react to certain things, mannerisms. Study other people around you and make notes in a journal. What do you like and dislike about them? Make a list of habits and choose some for your character to have.
Also, consistency is a huge key to creating believable characters. Don’t have them be unafraid of spiders in one chapter and afraid of them in the next. Don’t give them one habit in the first part of the book and it not be their habit in another part of the book. That will only serve to frustrate the reader, and they’ll put the book/story down.
You won’t know if your readers will like your characters or not, but if you do your job and pay attention to detail, the chances of them having such an impact on the reader will go up.
The Fruit out of Reach
There are days I hesitate to sit down to write because I feel apprehensive as to whether or not I will have the words to continue the chapter I am working on. It’s as though I’m standing in front of a fruit tree staring up at the perfect piece of fruit. If only I could access it. But, how to do that? Ah-ha! a ladder you say? What if there is no ladder? Then what?
So, I sit down to write anyway. The screen is staring back at me. Ideas are filling my brain, but which option do I choose? Should I have my character do this? Or that? Maybe another option would be better. The perfect scene is there. I just can’t access it because the way to go about reaching it isn’t available. So I start to wonder if I will ever think of what to do.
Then I wonder if I’m thinking to much about it. Maybe the idea will present itself if I stop trying so hard. So I start writing something…anything…and see what happens. Tip, tip, tip…my fingers fly over the key board. All at once, the ideas flow. A wind picks up and the fruit starts falling from the tree on its own. And that perfect piece of fruit that I wasn’t able to reach before? Well, it just landed in my hands. The direction of where I wanted my chapter to go just presented itself on its own. Yes!!!
Seriously though, I have days like that. There are also some days my mind doesn’t want to write anything. That’s ok. It’s your minds way of prompting you to do something else so it can come up with creative story ideas while you rest it. Remember the movie,
Field of Dreams? Kevin Costner’s character was told to build the field and they would come. So, give your mind a rest and the imagination will stir.
The Observer
As a kid people always told me how quiet I was (I still am). It surprised me (and still does) that some have a problem with that. The truth is, being quiet is part of my personality. If there is something to say, I’ll say it. I’m not the only quiet human. There are others. But there are times when I’m not. I like to be goofy and joke around, just not all the time.
What I’ve noticed though, after my dad pointed this out, when I am quiet, I am observing other people. How they talk, their mannerisms, their physical attributes, their speech patterns, everything; I take in everything. Here again, that’s how I have always been. Does this mean I observe everything around me? No. LOL. My husband is good at that. We compliment each other in that way.
If you are creating characters, be mindful of them (their mannerisms, physical attributes, language, etc.). Observe other people and write down what you observe in a character journal so you can use that information later when creating a scene/chapter in your story/novel. Or if you’re in the process of creating a character, those observations can come in handy.
People Inspiration
If you are an author, whether you are experienced or not, sometimes talking to someone you trust (implicitly) about your story ideas can help you tremendously. I know that’s very simple advice, and maybe you already knew that. But it’s a good reminder. I never would have come up with the story I did for my first book had I not confided in my creative writing professor. Sometimes we need that nudge. So, if you are on the fence about a piece of writing you are working on, hash it out with a trusted friend.
Hanging by His Hand by L. M. Montes
The present is but a wave
creeping toward the shore,
then in a breath it’s gone–
backwards evermore.
In life our friends and family,
warm our hearts and stay,
in our minds and in our soul,
then gone to our dismay.
Time’s wind blows at vicious speeds,
our memories we take hold,
that is all we have one day,
when we are growing old.
Alone we feel when most are gone,
as to the grave they go,
where does one lean in nothingness,
no one is there, you know.
But Christ is here and looking down,
and sees our pain that stands,
His love surrounds and comforts,
as you’re hanging by His hand.
by L. M. Montes
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 