Pondering A Story: Creativity

What feeds your creativity? Or, rather, what do you do to get into a creative frame of mind? Welcome to the blog and today’s post, where, once again I slip into avoiding talking about my manuscript. LOL

I have been talking these last few weeks about how to begin a story. If you have been with me this whole time, you’ll remember I said this planning it out is new to me. Thus, using Randy Ingermanson’s Ten steps of design found on his website www.advancedfictionwriting.com is taking me longer than I thought it would. Six weeks into it, and I’m still revising steps 4 and 5. Good news is I’m actually writing real scenes, now. But, I can no longer share on here, because I have deviated so much from Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method that I can no longer call it his. Let me explain.

Step 5 is when I’m supposed to write a character synopsis for each major character. This basically means, write the story from each main character’s point of view. He suggests one page for each main character and about a half a page for each minor one. Yeah, well, Mercy’s was 6 pages and Gabriel’s was 5. You can see they are quite gabby. I set down and over a couple of weeks, wrote these out. Then, I looked at them and realized they didn’t match up. Also, when I started to expand them into scenes, the characters had different things to say.

Step 6 says to take that one page synopsis and expand to a 4 page one. I’m thinking, “Yeah, I think I need help.”

Step 7 says to expand your info about your characters into full-fledged charts on them. Um, yeah, cause I’m not there yet.

Step 8 is make a list of scenes. Ingermanson suggests using a spread sheet. Step 9 is expanding the spread sheet. Step 10 is actually beginning to write the first draft. Again, I’m way behind. Or, am I?

I’m a mom who homeschools. As such, when my girls or I get sick, just about everything stops. If we are well, we’re schooling during the day. Last week, we all got sick. Needless to say, my energy lagged. I’m not so sure I’ve found it, even now. So what can I do to get my creativity up and moving again?

Prayer. Bible reading. Finding another way to express myself creatively. I listen and play music. Then, I read more Bible and pray some more. For the first time in a week, I was able to truly write this morning. And, that’s what it’s all about. When the Lord gives it to me, I’ll write. When He doesn’t, I won’t. So, while I’ll be going back to Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, I won’t be religious about it, because some rules are meant to be put aside for the time being.

A friend once told me that she wanted her daughter to learn to play a musical instrument by ear before taking lessons. Once her daughter could play the instrument by ear, she learned to read the music. I think writing can be that way, as well. Have fun with it. Write to see what works and what doesn’t. Then, pull out the rules and work with them. Once it loses it’s fun, put it away for a while. And remember, above all, true inspiration can only come from the one who created you.

So, this post is my last in the “Pondering A Story” series. Feel free to try Randy Ingermanson’s method, and let me know how it works for you. I’ll continue working on steps 4 and 5 until I’m ready for the rest. In the meantime, I need to push my girls and myself to “get on the ball” as my mama used to say. Summer’s coming, and there’s a lot to be doing before school is out in June. :)

Thanks for being with me today. I look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy the pretty weather while you can, and remember the one who made you.

Be blessed.