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Sometimes when we enter the “zone,” things pop up in our stories that we don’t quite know what to do with. They skew the story we’ve planned into uncharted territory. Being able to allow the story to unfold on its … Continue reading
Tag Archives: timed writing
Plots come easy at times. At others it’s almost impossible to pull one out into the light. One of the best places to find ideas for plots is our own lives. When we mine with is familiar, and then twist … Continue reading
We need good, strong, flexible writing muscles to sustain us through the creation of our stories. But stretching our writing muscles isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s not like we can go to the local gym and hop on … Continue reading
To follow up on asking “What If?” that we talked about last week, here’s another exercise that will truly expand your imagination. And it all came about because I asked “What if…?” one day when I was changing batteries in … Continue reading
Unexpected twists come from asking, “What If?” It’s amazing where those two little words can take you. What if this had happened? What if this hand’t happened? What if he said…? What if she wore…? What if the weather…? Once … Continue reading
Unexpected twists can come from just about anything. It’s the element of mystery contained in the twist that makes our creativity jump on the bandwagon. Then our stories really start to rise. Try this: Write Over the Hump You find … Continue reading
Coming across the unexpected can get our creativity jumping. Nothing shakes up complacency like a unexpected surprise. Nothing makes your readers sit up and take notice like the unexpected. Try this little exercise. Write Over the Hump You are paging … Continue reading
Tension (aka suspense) is vital no matter what genre we write. Without tension, our writing feels flat and boring, even if the prose is beautiful. Those who write in the mystery/suspense/thriller genres have a bit easier row to hoe, since … Continue reading
Here’s one you can use as is about your friend, or substitute your character. It’s another way to twist the way you look at your characters to help you find the weird, the wonderful, the wacky, the unique. You can … Continue reading
Juxtaposing opposite concepts often leads us into new territory. Opposites both attract and repel. Built-in tension! Learning to use opposing concepts to delineate and define the themes in our writing lifts our stories to a higher level. Write Over the … Continue reading