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WFMAD Day 11 – choices

Writing anything requires that you make thousands upon thousands of choices for your characters. This is why it can feel like so much fun to start a book, but once you are a hundred pages into it, you are ready to pitch it onto a bonfire. If you made a wrong turn on the path of choices, you can find yourself hip deep in tangled plot with no easy way out.

One of the common mistakes I make in early drafts is to let all of the rotten things that happen to my characters come from the outside. I think I do this because I like my characters, or maybe because, in an early draft, I don’t know them well enough.

I’ve found that letting my characters mess up leads to all kinds of fresh plot paths and story energy.

You can probably see where I’m going with this.

Ready….

Today’s advice: It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to be good. Yet. But you must get something down on the page today.

Set…

Today’s prompt: Put your character in an ordinary scene: babysitting, making lunch, texting friends, whatever, and allow her to make the absolute worst decisions possible for the scene. You’ll need to motivate her decision – let your mind run free. Make it a spectacular screw-up with ugly consequences.

TUESDAY EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS PROMPT!

Someone leaves a half-full bottle of tequila at the bottom of your driveway. Write about who left it and why.
(This is based on something that happened to me yesterday. Honest.)

 


TUESDAY SUPER-SPECTACULAR EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS PROMPT!

Combine the two prompts above.

Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!

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What the WFMAD Day is it? Day 10 maybe?

Thanks to all the kind souls who gently pointed out that I got my days messed up last week. This is August the 10th (June the 71st for some) so we’ve been working on the Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge for ten days now. Only 21 days to go.

I spent all day and half the night Saturday staining the cedar boards for the exterior of my writing cottage. Yesterday, we finally took a fun day at the Sterling Renaissance Festival.

Yes, turkey legs were devoured.


And there was much kissing and making of the merry. Huzzah!

Ready….

Today’s advice: "I write in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved which a cow enjoys on giving milk. " H.L. Mencken

Set…

Today’s prompt: I’m going to give you a magic phrase. Write about whatever that phrase conjures up for either you or a character.

Imagine you (or your character) are alone …. at night. You select the setting. Think about your (character’s) emotional state BEFORE you scroll down to the phrase. Visualize what you are wearing, what is feels to wear that. What can you hear? Smell? Magnify your emotional state, ramp it up. Why are you feeling this way?

Do you have all these details in mind? Has the dog been let out, kids are busy, phone and email are turned off?

Then you can scroll down for your phrase….

Scrolling……

Keep scrolling……

Almost there!………….

Magic phrase = HEAT LIGHTNING


Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!

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WFMAD Day 8 – Daring to dream big

Thank you, Chicago Tribune, for the lovely review of The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School!

I’m off on an adventure this morning, one that will absolutely stoke my dreams. What are you doing to feed your dreams this month?

Ready….

Today’s advice: You won’t do it, unless you dream it first.

Set…

Today’s prompt: There are two parts to this one. Indulge yourself and write for more than fifteen minutes!

Part 1: What crazy, ridiculous huge life-changing thing would you do if you were guaranteed it would be successful?

Part 2: What crazy, ridiculous huge life-changing thing would your character do if s/he were guaranteed it would be successful? What fear is holding her/him back from trying? Show the tension between the character’s dream and fear in a scene with a person who brings out the worst in your character.


Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!

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WFMAD Day 7 – blueberries with Laurie

Summer Saturday mornings are the perfect time for Proustian reminiscing and free association. I had blueberries for breakfast, which made me think about the awesome book Blueberries for Sal (thank you, Penguin, for reissuing it) which made me think about eating blueberries for breakfast with my children in Maine, which made me think about the breakfasts I ate as a child.

Is writing easy?

I know it’s been a week, and it’s summer, and you will have even more excuses than usual about why you can’t write this weekend. And the truth? You don’t have to. No one is forcing you to do this, not even me. But if you are serious about your writing, you need to show up and do the work. No excuses.

Is writing hard?

Ready….

Today’s advice: "We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us." Marcel Proust. 

Set…

Today’s prompt: Write about a particular breakfast you ate as a child. You probably can remember your breakfasts in general, so start there and develop the memory with a little fictional flair so you wind up with a detailed, nuanced scene. Write it in picture book or novel format.


Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!

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WFMAD Day 7 – with help from the Creature With Fangs

Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far in our Write Fifteen Minutes A  Day Challenge! You are well on your way to developing a habit that will bring you joy for many years.

(Don’t know what we’re talking about? Read this post. Yes, you can join late – the more, the merrier!)

Some research indicates that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. If you started WFMAD seven days ago, you are already one-third of the way there.

Before we start writing, I’d like everyone in the Forest to sing "Happy Birthday!" to my awesome niece Tiffany who turns 18 years old today!!!!

::waits while confetti settles…. steals another piece of cake while waiting::

Well done!

Ready….

Today’s advice: This comes courtesy of Dave Matthews. (BH and I saw him in concert on Tuesday night.) In the song, Lying In The Hands of God, he sings, "Now the floor is the ceiling. If you never flew, why would you, cut the wings off a butterfly? Fly…."

Set…

Today’s prompt: This comes courtesy of my Creature With Fangs. My husband was trying to repair our dishwasher this morning. He had to stick his head into the maw of the machine to change a worn gasket. Our dog decided to help the best way she knew how, by licking the back of his head. He shooed her away and resumed his task. She tried to "help" again. And again.

This got me thinking about perspective. Hence, today’s prompt.

Take a scene you’ve already written. It should have two characters in some kind of conflict, or one character struggling with something. (If you don’t want to use your own WIP for this, take a scene from the book you are reading right now.)

Insert an animal into the scene and rewrite it from the animal’s POV. The goal is for you to see the scene from a fresh perspective, one that is wildly different from that of the human characters. For my taste, I’d say avoid all lolcats cutesiness, but if it makes you happy, go for it. Just make sure that the POV of your critter narrator is strong, fresh, and convincing.


Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!