Tuesday's Inspiration - More free writing - pumping your characters

The book Discovering the Writer Within talks about using your free writing to write bout someone you know, giving the person you know a real look about actions and reactions. My take is to do this with a character. Sometimes this is done by writing it down but most often I do this by thinking about the character. Take the young woman who occupies the center stage in my current WIP.

What do I know about her beyond the basics and that's where free thinking or writing comes into play. She is a Leo, a Fire sign and she has a tendency to act first and react second. Because she is young she ahsn't learned the controls an older Leo would have learned. So this impetuosity is what I want to explore. She hates to wait.

During this session, I began to think about what disaster her leaping into action might cause. What would be the cause? Boredom and feeling as though something must happen. I explore this avenue for a time and the situation begins to come to a head. She acts im her usual way and then the question becomes What are the consequences of her action? This adds more depth to the scene I'm developing and brings her character into focus. By doing this with no real plan I've come up with a scene that adds depth to her character, that advances the plot and brings a complication to the hero.

From there I can free think or write what happens with the hero, also a Leo but one who has a different emotional reaction to events.

So use a bit of free writing or free thinking to go beyond your story and who knows what might develop with your characters and your story.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Using the past - recollections

Write the past. An interesting idea put forth in Discovering The Writer Within, Interested me because sometimes I use it unconsciously and sometimes consciously. When working on a story or just trying to prime the pump I often look to the past. Part of my past is remembered things. These remembered events and impressions can add a lot to a story. What parts of these remembrances does one need to recall.

First are the senses and memories of them can conjure ways to add depth to a story. Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. To these add your own reactions to an event. We've all been afraid. We've all had the first kiss and many other first. Some times things occur again and again. When working on a scene with your characters remember those times when a similar act happened in your life. Doesn't mean you have to write this step by step but if that's what it takes to get it down on paper go with the flow. Much of what you free write to add your memories to the incident you're writing will be taken out but there will be passages that give you that "Oh Yes" feeling.

During this session of memory don't think about your story just go with the impressions of what happened to you during that time. I've often used a memory to evoke what I was feeling and put it into a scene. So when you're having a rough time with an event in your characters' lives, draw on your own memories and sit dow and just write what you recall. Don't stop to worry about the words you've chosen or the punctuation and grammar. Once you revise these words is the time to do that.