Why Do Writers Write?

Why do writers write?

I suspect there are as many answers to that question as there are writers. Everyone has their own reasons. Me? I write for the same reason I read books and watch movies--it allows me to visit imaginary worlds I wouldn’t be able to reach any other way.

For example, my daughter loves dragons. She wishes they were real. Sometimes, she wishes she could be one. She’s even come up with a pretty good idea for a story about dragons. I keep telling her to write these ideas down. Perhaps she’ll never get around to writing the story, but putting the ideas on paper might make her dragon populated world seem more real to her. At least that’s how it works for me. I write because it makes my imaginary worlds seem real.

This mindset is what got me started on my writing journey in the first place. The Goblet of Fire (the fourth story in the Harry Potter pantheon) movie reminded me so much of my college years that I longed to return to those days, but the only way that was going to happen was if I sat down and wrote a story about it myself. In the process, I discovered how much I love writing fantasy, and things just kind of took off from there.

Some people consider writing to be therapeutic. I think of it as an alternative way to visit foreign lands/worlds/universes. Not only is it cheaper than flying/disapparating/teleporting, but I don’t have to pack any suitcases either.

Why do you write?

ChemistKen

I Love It When A (Writing) Plan Comes Together

“I love it when a plan comes together.”

 John “Hannibal” Smith – leader of the A-Team. 

Okay, so maybe I watched a few episodes of the A-Team back in the day. Don’t judge me. I know you watched them too.

When I’m working on a story, there’s no better feeling than when a scene comes together. Miscellaneous plot threads suddenly coalesce into something beautiful. The solution to the plot hole that’s been bothering me for months unexpectedly presents itself. A simple shift in the way I view a scene transforms it from a dull, has-to-be-there-for-the-plot-to-work event into an exciting sequence that carries its own weight and adds to the story.

We writers spend much of our time waiting for these moments. At least I do. It’s those occasional bursts of exhilaration that keep me going during those dark days when I suspect my manuscript should be tossed into the fire. Unfortunately, I never know when these sudden insights are going to strike, so I force myself to sit down in front of the computer and bang away at the keyboard, hour after hour, day after day, waiting for that one aha! moment that improves the story and fires me up for the next round of writing.

So what can we do to help cultivate these sudden insights? Find a CP who isn’t shy about suggesting alternate ways of doing things. And then, even if you’re sure their suggestion couldn’t possibly work, let the idea simmer in your head for awhile. You might be surprised at what develops once your brain is looking at things from another direction.

A couple of years ago, my very first CP, Sheryl (who now does copyediting, BTW), read a chapter of mine where the MC briefly recalled a past event in his life. It was probably only one or two sentences in length, but Sheryl wrote “I want to see this” in the margins and told me I needed to add that event as a separate scene. I was against adding another scene to an already long story, but the comment got me thinking in a new direction and eventually I rewrote the entire chapter to focus around that event. The resulting chapter was vastly superior to the original, but I never would have thought of it if my CP hadn’t made the original suggestion.

For this reason, when I crit someone else’s work, I’m always throwing in suggestions for how the author might do things differently. Not that there was necessarily anything wrong with the way they did it, but the possibility that my suggestion will point the author into new directions always makes it worth doing.

So where do you get most of your aha! moments?

Inspiration - Part II

Last week I posted a picture of an old church I use as inspiration for writing, but I have another source of inspiration I'd like to share. My garden.



I took these pictures this morning. As you can see, the arrival of fall has converted my brightly colored garden into a dreary mess. While most people (like my wife) would find this depressing, I have to admit that seeing my garden like this fills me with a certain joy. It's not that I'm into death and decay or anything. But this picture reminds me that it's fall - my favorite time of year - with long, mysterious nights, leaves blowing eerily across the yard, and the feeling that everything we took for granted over the summer is fading away. It reminds me of graveyards and old stone buildings and empty castles. It what I think living in and around Hogwarts must feel like.

As long as I'm working on my Hogwarts book, or any subsequent books (which will almost surely include castles and magic), October and November will always be my most inspirational (and productive) times of the year

I've spent enough time talking. Time to get back to my story. Novermber will be over soon!