Ignite your Muse, with Danika Dinsmore
You can find out more about the world of the White Forest and its curious faeries by following these links...
Website: http://thewhiteforest.com/
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/Iyx3c84tvAE
AND... Guess what! You could even get a free copy of The Ruins of Noe TODAY (Friday) at http://www.amazon.com/Ruins-Faerie-Tales-Forest-ebook/dp/B007Z91UNK/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC
or look for it any other day at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com
or look for it any other day at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com
But first, why not read and learn more about how the author--a wonderful teacher as well as a thoroughly enjoyable writer--ignites her muse. Over to you Danika...
Igniting
your muse
Oftentimes people think that they have to
form an idea in their head before getting it down on the page. In my workshops
I teach idea generation on the page. I think it’s not only more productive;
it’s more surprising.
Writing generates writing.
This may sound simplistic, but it’s
surprisingly magical and it tickles me every time I teach. For instance, I just
taught my Imaginary World workshop a few days ago. When the adult students sat
down, they had no idea what they were going to write about. This group in
particular did not have a lot of experience writing speculative fiction. That’s
why they were there.
After some initial discussion, I took them
through a series of writing exercises. Within 2 hours all had at least one
inspiring story idea that included a protagonist, a setting, a conflict, and
some basic scenes. All brand new ideas generated during the class. All worthy
of becoming fully-fledged novels.
That’s the magical part to me, that from
the ethers comes this unexpected idea. It takes hold, takes shape, and suddenly
it’s tangible and real.
Timed Writing Works!
I prefer timed exercises, but I know these
can be a challenge when you’re by yourself, especially if this idea is new to
you. If you don’t have a writers group, try it on your own with 5 minutes and
work your way up to 7 or 10 minutes.
HAND
WRITE your timed exercises. This is important. Also important is to keep writing without
stopping, without crossing out, without editing. Just keep
your pen moving no matter what. Even if the little editor in your head says
what you’re writing is really stupid. Ignore that guy.
I keep a different lined notebook for timed
exercises for each novel I’m working on. This gives me more room to brainstorm
outside the box. I go back later and read what I wrote, highlighting and making
notes on the juicy stuff.
How do I do it?
One of the simplest exercises I use (at any
time during the story creation process) is called “What if?” I often pair this
with “What happens when . . .” I have been using this technique, for
screenwriting as well as novel writing, for over 15 years. It works.
It’s what we call a “listing exercise” –
which just means that each idea/though starts with the same words.
FOR
EXAMPLE:
Say you’re at the very early stages of your
story. You know it’s a light Sci Fi. You know a woman broke up with her husband
and she’s travelling to another planet where memory erasing is legal. She wants
him out of her head. For good.
But say that’s ALL you know and you want to
know more. Start with a “What happens when . . .” and follow it up with a list:
what if . . . what if . . . what if . . .
Do this for a MINIMUM of 5 minutes. Keep
going if you’re on a roll. If one of the What If’s suddenly takes off on its
own inspired direction, go with it. When that idea runs out, START OVER with
another What if . . .
Keep writing, keep your pen moving, even if
the next thing you write is “What if I can’t think of anything more to write
about? What if the universe explodes? What if my cat feels neglected?”
Whatever. Keep going.
Here’s
a sample from one of my own exercises:
What
if she got to the first moon and ran into her ex?
What
if her ex got his memory erased first and she likes the new him and doesn’t
tell him he’s her ex husband?
What
if she goes to the wrong planet?
What
if her ship is abducted by aliens?
What
if her ex is some space commander and he rescues her? What if she falls in love
with him all over again because of this?
What
if on each moon she learns something about her ex which makes her not want to
get her memory erased at the end?
What
if the memory erasing goes wrong, only erases half of her memories of her ex
and it’s just the bad stuff OR she mixes him up with someone else, like an
Intergalactic terrorist?
What
if the memory erasing takes time, she gets it done, then falls in love with him
again, only to have her memory of him slowly disappear over time until he is a
stranger.
What
if she gets stranded on the first moon and finds herself in some outback
station living with 3 disgruntled divorcees?
I love the thought-process here. Some lines
are related, some are out of the blue, most probably won’t be used. From here,
though, I can select my favorite idea, set my timer for 7 minutes, and start
again: What happens when the aliens
abduct her? What if . . .
Go ahead, try it, and see where it take
you.
Danika
Dinsmore writes and teaches speculative fiction
with a focus on children’s literature. She blogs about the writing life and
posts “weekend workout” exercises every Friday at theaccidentalnovelist.com
Thank you Danika. I'm going to make a note of this exercise and use it at our writers' group next time we're looking for a writing prompt. It will be fun to see what we come up with. I think I'd pick the "each moon she learns something" version, but I wonder where it would go... What a neat idea!
Comments
Great blog! :-)