Liz Falkner: August 2006

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Get the creative juices flowing

What gets your creative juices flowing? When I've hit a block, my primary action is to read a book in my TBR pile. There's nothing like curling up with a great story to motivate me to write. Living in the pages of an engaging tale - YUM! I love it.

Here are some other ideas I've used to get the creative juices flowing again:

Write a poem.
Write anything for a set amount of time. Start with a minute or five minutes. Write whatever comes to mind. Don't edit.
Write a letter. With the popularity of email, letter writing as decreased greatly. What better way to keep in practice?
Random drawing. Become a kid again.
Look at a photo and describe it.
Take a walk. This benefit is two-fold. Gets the creativity going and makes you exercise at the same time. Like I always say, once you get out there you have to get back home.
Practice yoga. I love yoga. Focusing on your movements and breathing really forces the clutter from your mind.
Sleep. Think about your story right before going to sleep. I've used this a lot. Most times when I awake, I'll know what needs to happen next.

What are some things that work for you?

posted by Liz @ 8:38 AM 4 comments

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Trusting your Character

I'm revising my heroine--a do-over if you will. I'm removing her wimpy tendencies and letting her be herself which is an act-now-think-about-it-later woman. She takes risks and doesn't allow herself to be held within boundaries. Guess what? I actually like her better. No big surprise, huh? I liked her before, but she really appears to have come alive now. I saw her in my mind previously, but now it's like any moment she's going to sit down beside me. Here's how our conversation would go if she walked into my office right now....

Me: Why do you look like you've been hit by lightening?
Her: It's the heat. I love living in Texas, but seriously, I should marry a rich man so I can have a summer house in Colorado. My hair does not like humidity. Hey, is there some place around here I can buy a wig? Ooh, maybe a short one. I'd look like Halle.
Me: In a dream world perhaps. What's in your hand?
Her: A ticket a cop gave me for speeding.
Me: Were you?
Her: Girl please. I drive a Mustang. I mean, if they don't want people to drive fast, why make the speedometer go past 70? And why make sportscars? If you can't speed on the highway, where do police expect you to speed?

I thought about some of my favorite heroines before I began toughening my girl up. And the ones I love long after the story ended are those with gutsy heroines.

So how did my girl end up a wimp? Good question. The answer? I didn't trust her. I tried to "fit" her into my plot. In other words, I clipped her wings and didn't allow her to fly.

Now I'm trusting her to do her own thing. I'm just along for the ride...however, if I end up hanging on to the bumper of her Mustang as she does wheelies in the middle of nowhere...I'm clipping her wings again.

posted by Liz @ 7:40 AM 2 comments

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Plotting

Guess what? I've sent a query off and am working on completing my plot for another novella. To me, plotting is like washing dishes. You don't like it, but you gotta do it, right? Otherwise, dirty dishes will run you out of your home. Same way with a weak plot. Well, you won't run from home, but you might drop kick that book right out the window. Let's just say, I don't want to be the author of the book that comes sailing out of your window to bonk an unsuspecting pedestrian on the head.

posted by Liz @ 9:22 AM 0 comments

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Home: Southern State, United States
About Me: I'm shy...seriously!
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