What if...?

Possibly the greatest two words in your arsenal as a writer. Together they inspire endless opportunities to spark your creativity and make your novel the best it can be. They are the writer's best friends, and magic weapon. Seriously.
So today I pushed my computer back, and pulled out my red, college rule notebook labeled SITU. I opened up to the first clean, white page and scrawled at the top, "What if...?" Then I let my imagination go. I asked as many what if questions I could think of, some crazy, some brilliantly great. They go along the lines of this:

• What if the Captain kills Lark?
• What if the "good" king was really evil?
• What if someone lost a limb?
• What if someone dies on the journey to the castle?

Plus about a page and a half more of rambling what if questions. Then I flipped the page, and wrote in big letters at the top: What is expected?

•  It's expected that they will win all their battles. But what if they don't? What if they all get captured? What if Cooper gets captured, and simply disappears from the book? But that leaves a loose end for the reader...
• It's expected that Captain and Lark will fall in love. And they will.
• It's expected that they'll live happily ever after. But what if Cap become alcoholic and abusive?
• It's expected that the Cap is good. But what if he's an assassin? What if he's a traitor?

Next page: What's unexpected? And you get the point. This generated so many fantastic ideas. I encourage you all to harness the power of "What if". If you haven't already, sit down and try it. Do it with every story you're writing, and before you start writing a new story. It won't disappoint.
The trick is to write down EVERYTHING that comes to mind. Every silly, crazy, questionable answer that dares to peek it's head in. Slap it down on the paper, and don't think about it again until you're done writing. Some of my seemingly most stupid ideas have grown into amazing twists and turns that make my story all that much better.
I hope you guys take this, and use it to the best of your abilities. In your hands I've placed a great weapon, a wonderful thing that will help transform your writing. You can take it and use it to better yourself and your stories, or you can leave it sitting there in the dust. Your choice.


(I thank K.M. Weiland, who first gave me the inspiration to use this writing tool. Thank you for placing the weapon in my hands. :))

Author Review: K.M. Weiland

Hey guys! First off, no writing office tips today, my camera isn't working. Be looking for it sometime this week though. :) Now, onto our author review.

Lately I've been loving K.M. Weiland. I'm subscribed to her monthly newsletters offering great tips for writers. (you can sign up for these fantastic emails here, and receive a free e-book. Yay!) But just yesterday actually I bought the Kindle edition of her book Outlining your Novel: Map your Way to Success. I zoomed through it that day, and loved every minute of it. I started it again today, following her ingenious steps to outlining your novel, many of which I will be sharing with you in my following posts. But not in the way she does. Seriously, go buy that book.
Also yesterday I downloaded one of her historical fiction books, Behold the Dawn, which is absolutely fantastic. Katie has an amazing way of phrasing her words, pacing the action, and making you simply fall in love with her characters. There's the right amount of intense action, humor, romance and mystery to make any reader drool. And flip through those pages as fast as they can. I don't think you guys realize the sacrifice I'm making to step away from the book and write this blog post. :)
There's so much I can learn from her, by just reading the way she writes. She inspires me to publish a book of my own someday, and entertains me in the meantime with her fantastical stories. So if you guys haven't already, check out her blog, sign up for her emails, and pick up a copy of one of her books. You'll be glad you did. She doesn't disappoint.

Updates

Hey everyone. So, I'm going to make a promise to you guys. A sincere and real promise. I'm going to start posting on this blog. Want to know where this came from? Because I've decided to start to seriously write. Like, everyday.
Update on my writing life:
Reverie is taking a break for a little bit until I feel ready to tackle the challenge it's going to give me. I've started working on a new book. It does not have an official title yet, but my working title for it is SITU. Which is what the book is about. You'd understand if you read it. I may also refer to it as my baby, or "The Lark Story", which is the main character's name. Lark. Anyway, we're starting from square one with this book. Together.
I also wanted to warn you guys, there will be a couple posts up today. One about creating a writing space that is effective and fits you and your writing style, and a second book review/author review on a book written by K.M. Weiland. She's fantastic. More details soon. :)

Writer's Block (or SCSS)

Yeah, so, I'm a slacker. BUT, I started writing my book again! And...I have writer's block. Here's an excerpt of my "Junk Writing" I was just doing.

I have writer’s block. Well, half writers block. I can write anything but my story. I’m just stuck on this chapter! I’ll write a few sentences, then get stuck. Write a few more, then get stuck. It’s a good thing revision exists, because this book will need some revising for sure! Haha! I just don’t really know what’s going to happen next I guess… I mean, I know that Taren needs to start his search, but I don’t want to go into that so soon! Also, I need to introduce Arlynn. The problem with her though, is that she never has anyone to talk to! She’s just lonely, and, well, kinda mundane at the moment. Holy fish! I can’t do this!

Alright, we have a few problems here. Let's see if we can solve them.

First of all, I have writers block. How do you address writers block? Let's take my own advice here from my book Write! How to Create a Fantasy Novel.

I just write. It doesn’t matter what I write, I just write. Whatever comes to mind, I put it on paper. This is telling the back of your brain that you want to write.

Okay, so I tried that. Problem was, IT WAS TOO EASY! Now you're asking, "Well, isn't that a good thing?" Yeah, normally. But I still can't write my book. So now we've determined it's not usual writer's block. I call it "Stuck on a certain section syndrome" or SCSS for short. Mostly this happens when you don't exactly know where you're trying to go with your story. I know the basics, but what exactly happens between the time Taren has his dreams and the time he starts on his search? That's the part I have to make up, and right now the creative aren't exactly flowing as much I need them to be...

Second problem: I need to introduce the character Arlynn and give the reader a sense of what she's like. Or do I? Yeah, it's a good idea to introduce her. But does the reader need to know what she's like yet? No! Also, I've decided that she's so hard to "introduce" in the way I'm thinking of it, because she has SO MANY LAYERS! I mean, when I person first meets you, they learn the basics. But it probably takes them a few years to get to know you! Solution to this problem: Introduce her throughout the book. I also realized that mostly this book is on Taren, and it's sequel (yes, it's sequel...) is more about Arlynn. We can save all that soul searching for a later book. Sounds like procrastinating, I know. But it's not. It's artfully telling your story. Not saying you should always follow my example, I'm saying you should follow your heart. :)

Third problem: No dialogue? Yeah, that's boring... Solution? I...don't know! Haha! Sorry 'bout that one. I'll do some reading and make a post about what I find.

So, to sum it up, I have three problems, 1) SCSS 2) Problem introducing character and 3) No dialogue. My solution? Skip to the next part of the book! That's what revision's for, right? Right.

Long time, no write

Hey! Yes, I'm finished with my characters. Finally. :) Actually, now I've started on my rough draft. I would tell you some profound insight on sentence structure (which is what I had planned) but I've got to go clean my room. Once I'm done I'll do that. ;) Yeah, more procrastinating. That seems to be my thing, eh?

Still putting it off

I've been finding excuses all week to get away from developing characters. Well, that's all going to change today. I am going to finish my characters!! :D I'm going to sit down at the computer, and not get off until I know EVERYTHING about all of my characters! Wish me luck, I'll need it.
Edit: It's killing me! I really want to go read the comics! Just 3 more characters. :| Almost there.

Procrastination

Yup. I'm doing it. I've been developing a character for over an HOUR! Almost done... Just 2 more questions! And then I can move on to Taren. *groans* One thing that writers won't tell you: There are some parts of writing that really, really suck. I mean, I love developing characters! In my mind... Getting it all down onto paper is a bit tedious. :P Well, I guess I'd better go get it all finished. *sighs* Tomorrow I'll start actually writing the story. YAY! :) Also, below is a nifty form I use for developing characters. If you want to use it, go ahead!

Name:

Nickname (if any):

Physical features:

• Hair color and length:
• Eyes:
• Height:
• Build:
• Other:

Age:

Gender:

Type of being:

Family members:

Friends:

House & room:

Pets:

Personality:

Ways of speaking:

Items in his/her pockets or purse:

Hobbies:

Talents:

Powers (if any):

Fears:

Faults:

Good points:

What he/she wants most:

Give a brief summary of their history:

Anything and everything else you want to include: