Every now and then a writer needs inspiration. I know I do. Rather than sitting at your computer with a blank stare, try the following.

       Read other Books.

If you write History, read history books, and learn mannerisms, dialect, dress, all of which can produce realistic dialogue.  If it’s Romance you are interested in, then read the books from the  best romance authors, and learn  how they convey love, passion, devotion, or the opposite –deceit, betrayal, and disloyalty. The same goes for writing Mysteries, Science Fiction, or Horror.  I find after reading a book, I can’t wait to return to my own writing desk.

        Listen to MUSIC

Music always inspires me—especially from an artist I admire.  Sometimes, all I want to hear is Classical; like Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which pulls me emotionally into a creative state, or any Piano Concerto by Chopin or Mozart that I can listen to for hours on end. Many times, I go back to the music of years past, and play my favorite ballads or the music of the swing era.

READ OTHER BLOGS.

One of the most important incentives is the BLOG of others who write about everything and anything relevant to life. I am amazed at how many Blog authors have a natural talent of finding interesting subjects to write about.  They help me find a new positive attitude when I am at a loss for inspiration.  Blogs offer you the opportunity to see how others think, and how to develop a fresh look at your craft.  They improve my style; my presentation; and are helpful in guiding me to write something my readers will enjoy.

“There is always Room at the Top”   Daniel Webster”              READ QUOTES

If I am writing a paranormal book, I look for quotes that touch on this subject.  If it is a contemporary book, I look for quotes that touch on life today.   There are many ways to find quotes to inspire your writing, you can Google it, or do as I did and purchase a book of Quotations. .

OTHER WAYS TO INSPIRE:

Magazines—On-line articles that take on a new meaning. Take a walk on the beach— dip your feet in the water and return to nature. Remember your dreams and jot them down. Read the  newspapers for interesting articles, and ask google for information on how others inspire themselves.

Happy writing, Paula

      “Every person’s feelings have a front-door and a side-door by which they may be entered”

(Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.)

WERE YOU EVER TOLD: “YOU DID NOT BRING  CHARACTERS TO LIFE?”

I was, and it was the biggest let-down I could ever imagine. My first reaction was: if I could not bring life to my characters, why am I writing?  I put the rejected manuscript in a drawer, hidden in shame. After weeks of disappointment, I took the manuscript out of the drawer and   re-read my draft.  That is when I realized, although I felt the emotions and feelings of my characters, I neglected to reflect those feelings in my writing.

It was evident I had to learn the difference between emotions and feelings. I found a wonderful Article written by David Corbett, in Writers’ Digest.

Emotion is created through action generated by the character. Sometimes it is an action not expected of your character.  Sometimes the character is experiencing multiple emotions in the scene you are creating.  One thing I did learn is to ask myself what is the obvious response my character might have, and then what other emotion is possible. His advice: To make your characters more real, give them unexpected reactions to the scene playing out.  In writing a mystery, the character may exhibit misdirected emotions to overlook the obvious.

Feelings require mental examination of the thoughts and motives of your characters. You can create empathy for your character with feelings.  Is it right or wrong to feel this way? Would a stronger person feel the same?  Is it the only response for the character?  Is the response worse or better than the response to other situations?  Allow your readers enough information to process the meaning of what happened and make a plan how to proceed.  Start with an unexpected element, or a surprise, and find a physical analogy for it.

Using both together, I learned that I can create a character that changes from the beginning to the end of my story. Further, he advises that through the thoughts and actions of the characters, the reader is also taken along the same path of self-awareness as the characters.

With this information, I re-wrote my manuscript, hoping to succeed in bringing my characters to life and not having to experience the same discouraging review again.

I thank David Corbett, author of “The Art of Character, for his informative piece.

Happy Writing,

Paula

A LESSON LEARNED

My husband was an “I can do it” person and tackled many home repairs–resulting in unforeseen difficulties.  I believed that he should have had a working knowledge before starting any task.

In writing my first novel, I prided myself on using proper grammar, sentence structure and choice of words.  I reviewed every chapter, carefully checking grammar and punctuation.  It took almost one year to complete.  Then, I sent it for publication, and ordered a few books for my family and friends at the same time.

A proof was sent, and I approved it, confident I had done a good job of editing. The books arrived.  It was exciting to see my name printed in bold on the glossy cover, and to know my story unfolded within the pages. I opened the book, and was shocked when I found misspellings, commas where they did not belong, and incorrect hyphenated words, on many of the pages.

Sometime later, recalling the errors in my first novel, I diligently used the features in Word to check spelling and grammar in editing my second book. Again, I was satisfied with the corrections. But I wanted to be certain it was ready for publication, so I asked a friend to proofread the manuscript, and was perplexed when she discovered more mistakes.

Difficult as it is, I was forced to admit that I was not capable of writing without errors. I realized the fault did not lie in the program from Word.  And it did not lie in the friend who read my draft.   The fault is mine and mine alone.  Why? Because I believed all that could be done, was done, and never re-read the proof before publication.

I, who believed, I was proficient, needed professional help! I found it in the following Websites.

1. MASTER WRITER. For Songwriting and Creative Writing. Need a collection of words for every occasion, happy, sad, triumphant, weak, strong, phrases, rhymes, sayings, and much more. No matter whether you are writing a song, poem, novel or screenplay, this will help you. This was the first software I downloaded. Master Writer offers a free Trial.  Try it!
2. AUTO-CRIT: Editing software for Writers. It takes the guesswork out of the editing process.  Their or There, lie, or Lie,–it’s all there to help you become a better writer. Sentences too long or too short–words repeated too often?  Auto-Crit is the only software that customizes your work to a specific genre, whether it is Sci-Fi, Mystery, Young Adult, or Movie.
3. PRO-WRITING AID: An Editing tool for Academic, Business, Content, Technical, Web, and Fiction Writers. Upload your document, and the summary report denotes overused words, readability, grammar errors, clichés, diction, and improvements to your style of writing. Tell Pro-Writing Aid whether it is for Technical, Creative, Business or General, writing, and this software advises how to improve your style such as use of passive and hidden verbs.

Happy Writing,

Paula