Saturday, November 19, 2011

How Bad Do You Want It?

A member of my writers group shared a link to a blog for writers. I found the post very inspirational, and it underlines what I've found to be true about writing. Thanks *lizzie!

Enjoy!

How Bad Do You Want It?

Monday, October 3, 2011

Weekly Prompts

Donald Maass usually posts what he and the other agents at his agency are looking for each month--books they'd like to see proposals for. Not long ago, he started posting weekly "breakout novel" writing prompts.

I think they're worth checking out.

Prompts from the author of "Writing the Breakout Novel"

Look who's blogging . . . someplace else . . .

Yep, it's me. After months of being without a computer, I finally get my laptop back and what do I do? I blog on a site not my own. I don't terribly bad about that. It's my publisher's blog, and I was asked to contribute.

Harlequin Tumblr

My post is about the joys of staying at an adult resort. The topic is based on the location of my latest book ANYTIME. Click here for the book

Well, all I can say is: It's good to be back!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

For the Plotter In You

Okay, this almost made me break out my drool bucket . . . JK Rowling's plotting sheet.

I realize that quite a few people sit down and write without much pre-thought. I, on the other hand, have to think through every scene before I write it. Both methods are good ones--whatever gets you to THE END.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/73653

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

And . . . ACTION!

Another acting class finished, and this one was grueling. I'm playing Catherine in Proof. Yikes! If I have to say "It's mine. I wrote it." one more time, I'm more likely to say, "You're right. There's no way in hell I wrote this."

There are three things I'm focused on in class:
* My lines
* My emotion
* My action

I've discovered that when I focus on one, the others go bye-bye. LOL!

This week the instructor talked about how action can create emotion. I know that as writers we're taught at pattern:
Feeling--> Action --> Speech
I've always operated on the sidelines of that belief because many times I've done something without a clearn thought about what I was feeling until after I did it . . . especially when high emotion was concerned. And then I thought, "Wow. I guess I was angry."

I also think with the right action, mentioning the "feeling" is unnecessary.
Tori hurled the vase against the wall. "Get out!"

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Need a Book Cover

One thing I've noticed about books that are self-published is that the covers are often . . . lacking. I found this website and really like the covers. If you're thinking of self-publishing, you may want to check out this designer.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Emotional Realism

I just turned the channel to one of my favorite TV shows . . . Frasier. Niles was in the middle of an emotional crisis regarding the impending divorce from his wife. The scene where he breaks through his denial in a panic is priceless. It's also ironic.

I started a class tonight. Acting II. I took Acting I last year, and finally I'm back for more. Acting II is all about emotion. It's about tapping into, or conjuring, internal feelings and manifesting them through action. Notice I didn't say speech. Some people make the mistake of thinking acting is about delivering a line. It's not. It's about behavior.

And that's exactly why I'm taking this class. I want to refine the behaviors of the characters I create by tapping into the emotions that drive them.

In fiction circles, we talk a lot about GMC--Goal - Motivation - Conflict. In glass tonight, the instructor talked a lot about Objective and Obstacle(s). This scene-by-scene approach frames character study so that, even though I may know that my character's goal is to buy the hero's ranch, her objective in the current scene is to get him to notice her as a woman and not view her as just another ranch hand.

This,, of course is done through her actions. But it's the emotions that ensure we as writers chose the correct actions in the first place. Emotion is what enables us portray the actions in a way that makes a visceral connection with the reader . . . or not.

Have you ever read a scene in a book and thought, "No woman in her right mind would do that!" Frustrating, huh? Maybe the writer didn't have an accurate picture of the emotions coursing through the character at that time.

Emotional Realism

The assignment for the 20 of us that showed up tonight was to take 3 extreme emotions (as in: not anger but rage) and write down 5 ways our bodies react to that emotion when we feel it. In other words, 5 physical characteristics we display in that state. I'm thinking of selecting:
  • jubilance
  • contempt
  • despondency
although this list may change in a couple days. Especially when I have to act these things out in front of the class. Heck . . . maybe I should choose terror.

I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

On Finding Time . . .

Don't wait for circumstances to change before you start writing.

Start writing . . . and change your circumstances.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

So Emotional

Every year, I chose an aspect of fiction writing to study obsessively with the hopes of mastering in my own way--a way that adds depth to the stories I write.

Previous years have included:
* description
* plot
* characrer
* conflict

This year, I'm going to study: emotion. And not just character emotion, but the transfer of emotion to the reader. I'll post interesting findings and discoveries that I make along the way.

So, stay tuned.

* * *
Sure do miss this voice . . .