Brainstorm these questions

What are you trying to achieve? The entire plot or what a character would say in a certain situation? From developing a plot line to creating character quotations, these are good starting points to brainstorm. What requirements (or limits) should your thoughts stay within?

Who will read your work? Will these ideas go into your novel or blog post? You know your audience. They will keep you within the boundaries of your characters and prevent you from diverting from their goals. Have traits of your protagonist in mind beforehand. This will keep you focused as you develop your story. How will one-character mesh with your other characters? Brainstorm these questions.

Getting to the Heart of Your Story: The Character Brainstorming Worksheet

“The most compelling stories, the ones we think about long after we close the book and the ones that people tell their friends about, use plot to push the characters to their limits–because that is where change occurs. Human beings are built to resist change. We’re comfortable with what we know, even if what we know is hurting us. In other words, we’re afraid of the unknown. Partly, that’s why we read, because we want to reduce the number of things that we don’t know by living vicariously through characters we care about who are pushed into solving unfamiliar problems that nevertheless having meaning in their own lives. Note that statement. Let’s break it down.” More…

“I honestly think brainstorming effectively is half the battle of writing a great novel. It’s a crucial skill and a hugely powerful technique for novelists, and has gotten me out of countless story-sinkholes over the years.” More…

Brainstorming is about letting go and letting your creative thoughts come forth.

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you, but it is a powerful extension of your business or blog. More…

Tell everyone about your stories. More…

Need more help brainstorming your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Keep Writing – Keep In Motion

Down at the train yard it takes five people to push an empty boxcar into motion. But once the car is in motion, it only takes one person to keep it moving. Writing seems to be that way when you’re motivated.

Creative writing takes a lot of effort to start, but what is the secret for staying in motion?

As I have mentioned before I draft my stories using a pencil and a spiral notebook. This way to put down my ideas quick while before the text dissipates. Later, I will put that draft into the computer. First, I lock the door to prevent interruptions, make sure I have refreshment handy (water, pop, tea, snacks), banish my demanding cat to the basement, and sit down at the computer.

But what happens when my clumsy typing skills take me out of creative mode?

I prevent that by using Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) speech recognition software and speak into a microphone to transfer my creative thoughts to text. This took time getting used to. However, the efforts paid off as I increased my writing output. Using DNS I can deliver my stories three times faster than I can type them. I am not a trained typist so I use the hunt and peck method and often end up with a bunch of gibberish underlined with red lines. When I go back to correct the misspelled words, I forget which word I intended to use. Worse, my spelling is not stellar. I spell phonetically, but the correction mode guesses my intention and may give the wrong word. It takes several tries to get the right spelling. When that happens, I will stop my story creation mode to look words up in the dictionary, or even worse, come up with a synonym.

Is Dragon Naturally Speaking or any Speech Recognition Software Easy to Use?

The negative part of using DNS is the time required to ‘train’ the software to understand me without the software misunderstanding my voice. But as the instructions state, it ‘gets smarter as it learns the words and phrases you use the most, spelling even difficult words and proper names correctly.’ In the beginning, I had to go back and repeat words to get the program to react and type. If I wasn’t paying attention, the software typed a group of words that were not what I said. Then while editing I didn’t remember what I meant and had to sound out words so the software will type the right words. If I have words or names are not in the software’s dictionary, there is an area where you can train the software to recognize strange words or names. After that initial phase, the software got to know my voice and has made my story creation easier.

In the long run, despite the hassles I had in the beginning, DNS allows me to stay in creative motion. Keep writing. Don’t stop.

More on My Way to Keep My Writing in Motion

How to Keep Writing Your Book

Just Keep Writing!

Motivation Tips that Actually Work: 6 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Writing and Keep Writing

Writing My Novel: Keep on Writing

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you, but it is a powerful extension of your business or blog. More…

Tell everyone about your stories. More…

Need more help brainstorming your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Get Your Readers Hooked Like a Fish Hooked on a Lure and Real Them In

How are you going to get your readers hooked after reading the first few pages of your story? Sharpen your writing skills by creating a great opening line that describes either the character’s situation or the setting that effects your character. This is to get your reader to read the next sentence and the next sentence… Now, let’s get them on to the next page.

The reader is more interested in the way you lay down your story, to keep them reading. There is not enough time to go through your entire plot in such a small allotted time. Yes, you’ve written a great story. Your characters will make your story shine. And your characters will change in a big way to the resolution. You know they will be pleased to read through the final climax and settle in with the resolution.

All well and good. But how are you going to lead them past the first few pages while they make a snap judgment about your story? Again, it’s in the way you craft your words. Give your readers a clear view of your story, and you as an author, so they will know your story is well worth their time reading.

Now, your readers are past your initial creative process of your characters. We then take your characters, dressed them up to be worth knowing and caring for. Show your characters worthiness and shove them up to your readers so they can judge if their story is worth pursuing.

Remember. Your taking your reader with you as you guide them through your story. Is the beginning crafted so that your readers will commit after the launch? Again, it’s in the way you present your art.

Immediately put your story context in your readers’ mind. Paint the picture to start your story and how that picture effects the characters, then move the story along beyond the opening scene. Will your readers become fascinated in the beginning or walk away and put your book down? Get your readers hooked after the first few pages, and move on.

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you, but it is a powerful extension of your business or blog. More…

Tell everyone about your stories and get them hooked. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Write From Your Knowledge, Vague Or Otherwise

I am working on book 3 in the Santa Keeper series (Elsie’s Secret Life). This story will take place in the early 1960s. I have spent long hours online and in the library studying the people of the era. I’ve also interviewed people who remember what life was like in the 1960s.

The book starts out in 1963 in Chicago. I’ve researched Chicago maps, buildings, famous landmarks, and transportation from that year. I’ve also learned about hair and clothing styles, food and the book publishing industry where my story will focus on. Then there are well-known people of 1963 like President John Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline and how they lived. I may decide to add those people. And since there will be a murder investigation, I will need to understand law enforcement procedures.

The major character will contract the Alzheimer’s disease that will impact the family. There are references to mystical, magical and enchanted objects. All this raps around a treasure hunt complete with clues and red herrings.

The Topics are Wide and Varying

“First, it starts with a trigger, something that causes an initial connection between the customer and with your brand. This “trigger” creates a projection of your company narrative which in turn creates a “memory” for your customer. At this point, you’ll either induce some sort of good feeling for your customer, or they’ll forget about you. People don’t remember what you told them, they remember how you made them feel. If you can’t make your customer feel strongly about your brand it’s highly unlikely they will remember you and move on.” More…

This brings me back to the writer’s advice – ‘write what you know.’ I have a vague knowledge of these topics I will write. But then I realized I had a lot to learn. After research, I ‘know’ more about these subjects.

‘Write what you know’ isn’t about writing with the knowledge you have. It’s about relating your personal life experiences in your writing to create an emotional response in the reader. Can you describe and convey the emotions you have experienced? Can you write about sadness, fear, anger, and the other emotions?

Elsie will experience excitement and elation when her dream of becoming a published writer is within her grasp. She becomes shocked and fearful when someone she knows becomes murdered. She experiences confusion and isolation, love and passion, temptation and rejection and overwhelming sadness.

Research for this book meant digging up facts and figure. I also dug into my own emotional well to pull out and share my life experiences and emotions. That is the most exhausting research of all. By the day I have exhausted my brain.

More on Writing What We Know

You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

Should We Only “Write What We Know

Write What You Know — Because You Know More than You Think!

“Write what you know” – the most misunderstood piece of good advice, ever. – write-what-you-know-nil-the-most-misunderstood-piece-of-good-advice-ever.

A book in itself is unlikely to make or break you, but it is a powerful extension of your business or blog. More…

Tell everyone about your stories. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Don’t Forget Your Joy In Your Writing

Though writing is my joy, creating stories devours most of my energy and emotion. Only another writer can appreciate the complete involvement in writing. In the 1946 book “Confessions of a Story Writer” Paul Gallico wrote:

“It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader. If you do not believe in the characters or the story you are doing at that moment with all your mind, strength, and will, if you don’t feel joy and excitement while writing it, then you’re wasting good white paper, even if it sells, because there are other ways in which a writer can bring in the rent money besides writing bad or phony stories.”

How do you gain strength as a writer? I’d like to know. Where do you find your passion? The next question: Does that passion consume you? Do you become drained? And once your energy is drained, how do you get that energy and passion back?

As a reader, I have raced through favorite books in a matter of hours eating up the nuggets of intrigue, romance, or mystery with the same pleasure I experience consuming dark, smooth chocolate and, well, let’s stop there. When finished, I want more.

Let’s Get Back to Writing

Now this, does the reader truly appreciate the effort, time, energy, emotion, struggle and vulnerability you pour out into your books? For me, I ask, what do I want in return for my work? Why do I write, bleed onto the page, when it leaves me so exposed to possible criticism, ridicule, scorn or invasion of privacy? Oh, and let’s not forget about rejection.

Is this because I have no choice?

I have tried not to write. But I can’t stop. Stories and characters, plots and situations, settings, time frames and new worlds pop into my head constantly and demand to be heard. I carry a small notebook everywhere I go to capture the ideas before they escape to be replaced by new ones.

Couldn’t I just ignore them? If I did, what else is there to look forward to? Wikipedia defines imagination as “the innate ability and process of inventing partial or complete personal realms within the mind. It has also been proposed that the whole of human cognition is based upon imagination.”

I write because I love it. Whether readers love it or not is their choice. Paul Gallico wanted to establish contact with his readers. I do too because I have the desire to release the images in my mind and share them with my readers. This pouring out of my thoughts to someone else is a risk – like trying to establish new friendships. I might get lucky and find new friends or I might get rejected. But, I continue to write.

 47 Mind Hacks for Writers

Tell everyone about your stories. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site