Science Fiction & Fantasy author
Go find a hat, either one you have not worn for a very long time or one that belongs to someone else. This is a magic hat. Put it on and sit until you feel the magic vibrate around and through you. Give it color, sensation, dimension; imagine that magic flowing into you, inspiring you. Sit until you can feel the flow. Then hold on to your bootstraps (figuratively, of course) and write.
I am fully aware that the most popular word processing program out there is Microsoft Word, but my loyalty goes to Corel WordPerfect. I like the way the program is laid out and some features just simply don’t exist in the same way in Word. Reveal codes, for example: I love being able to look at each code spelled out and easy to read and delete as I please or not (a simple toggle switch). I can change formats without finding myself suddenly back in a particular format when I was certain I had changed from outline to word processing or from columns to no column.
The two programs did become very similar over the years (though my favorite features never left WP); however, the version I have now in WP is far different from the new Word which I am still figuring out. I have used both for nearly the same length of time: close to thirty years. But when I work in WP (which I do for everything personal and most especially for my fiction writing), I just sit easy. If I am not familiar with some feature, I can figure it out because I understand WP’s logic. This is not the same with Word, which, though I said I have been using it for years at work, still makes me stumble about.
Recently, my WP began freezing every time I saved my work. I would write a thousand words, go to save and find myself in permanent freeze and no access to all I had written. Heartbreaking, as it happened repeatedly, though I did get smart and save after each page, so I could at least see what I had written and could hand copy it. After a few days I switched my files over to Word so I could work on my book, but I wasn’t happy about it. I assumed it was an update to my computer operating software (Vista) that brought about the problem and since my version of WP was at least ten years old, I thought it was time to up grade. I ordered WordPerfect X5 and couldn’t wait for it to arrive. Now I am not so sure I had the source of the problem correct as the new version suffered from the same problem.
So there were a few days that I was quite frustrated. I tried looking for updates, I researched on the web finding the problem actually began back in 2006, though it did not hit me until this past September. I found suggested solutions, but none worked. Then, a few days ago, I decided to try again. I experimented and used “save as” instead of the icon for “save.” It worked just fine. And two days ago an update came through for WP X5. Now I am back to saving using the icon without freezing. Now that is a quick fix. I love WordPerfect.
Today you will write about discomfort. What does it feel like? Get real descriptive. Most importantly, get uncomfortable. Sit on your seat awkwardly, twist your body around and hold it in place until you are uncomfortable. Don’t eat if your hungry. Hold your arm straight up from your shoulder until it cramps, and then write about how it feels. Don’t imagine; use your own experience to get into the details. If you already have a cold, flu, arthritis, backache, then you are ahead of the game (for once it brings you benefits). Go for the sensation, the imagery of pain, stuffy headedness, tight muscles, stiffness, a sinus headache.
Write about a dream, but not just any dream. Pick one of those that kept sliding into odd, even unrelated scenes that as the dreamer you just accepted. Explore the strangeness of this dream following all its remembered impressions, actions and reactions.
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| Write the twisty dream. |
If you don’t recall all the details, let your mind slide around what you do remember and pull at it until you have seized everything you can from the dream.
If you are one of those who don’t remember your dreams, imagine an image and carry into some foggy focus, let it slip into another image and then another as you track each flight of fancy.
The one thing I ask that you do different with your dream is create a string of connections that holds each event to the next, smooth out the quirky, extra-stair-steps startle effect of the twisting dream. Let take on a sort of logic of its own that may not have been there when you actually dreamed it.
Find two very different images that you wouldn’t normally imagine together, such as done with the movie Cowboys and Alien.
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| Prompt |
Once you have the two ideas, imagine them together. For example, alligators and song birds don’t at first seem to belong in the same closed space, but they certainly bring to mind a quick image, perhaps one with the alligators eating songbirds, their feathers strewn about in the mayhem of the gory scene. On the other hand, it could be paradise if these two could reside in close company. Maybe you would prefer unicorns and moles. At first I thought of moles as little furry animals underground, but what if they were actual moles on the skin that would erupt and destroy the pristine white coat of the unicorn, a symptom of a serious disease.
Use whatever images you bring together to inspire you to create a scene or event.
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| Memo: Got your ideas right here |
Other than when reading, I never have the time to give one task all my attention. During this time of year, it is especially difficult. Until school ends, I simply must be doing more than one thing at a time (and actually several things at once): emailing a colleague about a meeting, sorting assignments, prepping one computer for presentation while I am waiting for a program to install on another, getting items together to discuss with a student. Sometimes the thing I am trying to do in tandem with other tasks is related to writing when I don’t have access to a computer. While I shower, I work through scenes I want to draft or redraft, but my shower is not computer friendly. As soon as I am out, I do nothing but worry about losing all my ideas before I can find the time to write them down because more than likely I am getting ready for school or for bed and no time is available. So while my brain was busy planning that amazing plot twist or clarifying a character’s motives, it was doing so with the sure danger that I will not be able to write it down and even worse won’t get the chance until after I get back from work. I often review my ideas over and over hoping to imbed the kernels of particular value while I am blow drying my hair, putting on makeup and getting dressed, but it never works. Faint echoes are all I am left with when I am finally able to seize the moment to jot them down.
Yesterday, I was getting ready and began thinking through two scenes I need to add to the first novel in my Students of Jump series. One can’t type with wet hands, and it would be tough in the bathroom even it I tried. However, there on the counter was my iPhone. It has the app Dragon Dictation, but I haven’t made an effort to use it. Knowing I was going to lose all my fast approaching ideas, I grabbed the phone and activated that app. I dictated about a paragraph, took a glance at it through somewhat soapy eyes only to find it had only caught the first six words which did not include “entropy scram” (In this scene…). I tried three more times without any worthwhile results. Out went that idea. I think the exhaust fan combined with running water just did not work well with this app. But iPhones come with a voice memo app. I gave that a try. And two scenes later all my meteoric flashes of insight and inspiration were recorded and easy to access. What was especially nice was I stopped more than once to think a bit, pausing the recording, and when I had my idea ready, I was able to return to recording. I did that at least three times. Four minutes of notes on my next two scenes all tied up and clearly enunciated rather than my scribbled writing.
Ahh, but then another flash of inspiration came to me. I have two blogs to write and since I am feeling creative… So on went that little app again which shortly recorded two blog post ideas and my new writing prompt for the week. I knew I would not be writing them for at least another day and, of course, would not remember the details my mind was so rich with at that time. Even when I do find a moment to write a note, I tend to just jot down a sentence or two rather than the long list of points I wanted to make. But every word that came to me as the muse whispered in my ear was on that recording, no recall necessary. I didn’t even have to consider if I would be able to make out my writing which becomes quite messy when I am hurried. This very post was the first of the two ideas I dictated.
Alright, this is not a genius idea. Many people employ a recorder for catching To Do’s or notes to the secretary or self. But I haven’t. So for those who have this method available to them and often don’t have the time to sit down and do the work when they think about it, try it. I am sold. My ideas are not going to drift out of my memory or be scribbled on a tablet leaving me wondering what I was so excited about. My stream of thought was flowing, and the app was busy recording: nothing between me and my inspiration.