Inspiration... that rebel

If you are forcing it, inspiration will always be the next exit, always be just a little out of reach.

Inspiration is not the child who waits to be put in time out after digging up your beautiful rose bush. It is not the teenager who calls you to let you know they snuck out and won't be home in time for breakfast.

Inspiration is the child who looked around the yard before grabbing your pruning shears.
Inspiratios is the teen who checked your bedroom door and waited to hear snoring before giving the dog a treat and slipping out the back door.

It is is thought that hits you at the worst possible moment - you know the one - when you are three quarters of the way through your current draft and everything is flowing well, but you know one little derailment could throw everything out of whack? Yup! That's when inspiration will strike.

It will be the dream that you can't get out of your mind even though you are already too overwhelmed with your non-writer life to do anything about it. It is the seemingly random thought that will strike on the drive home when you can't stop to jot it down.

Inspiration is the rebel that dares you to write and at the same time, dares you not to, because it knows as well as you, that if you accept the dare, the laundry won't get done. The dishes will sit in the sink. You will miss your favorite television show, and manage to go to sleep just as the sun is rising.

That's just the way inspiration likes it, that rebel. And as a writer, it is those moments we strive for, we crave, because they let us know there will be one more story to tell, one more chance to write, one more opportunity to speak for the characters trapped in our heads.

Don't go searching for inspiration. It will find you. . . when it's ready.

Pitcharama Entry: White Lies

Manuscript Title: White Lies

Author: Andrea Aten

Age group: YA

Genre: contemporary fantasy

Word count: 71,000

250 word blurb:

For 16-year-old Dylan Lord, lying wasn’t a problem until Jack walked into her life. Now lying can be deadly.

 

Each lie Dylan tells and every lie she hears causes her physical pain. The bigger the lie means a larger cut will appear on her body, but she isn’t the only one getting hurt. Jack has the same exact cuts. And even though he is there to teach her to tell and find the truth, there’s a problem. They aren’t being completely honest with each other.

 

An innocent “I’m fine,” shatters her world. As a gash rips open across her stomach, she knows immediately nothing is fine. One look at Jack tells her he knows it too. And there’s more at stake than one lie. Feeders, people who specialize in spreading lies, are in town with the sole purpose of stopping Dylan from becoming a full-fledged Fide. They will go to any length win. From messing with her feelings for Jack, to destroying her family, nothing is out of bounds when it comes to stopping Dylan from finding the truth.

 

Dylan can’t cope with this. She doesn’t want to be a walking lie detector, but she has to try. Not all lies can be covered with Band-Aids. The lies she hasn’t healed are spreading towards her heart, and she can see she’s not the only one suffering. Jack’s in pain as well. If she doesn’t hear the truth soon, she won’t be the only one who dies.

Truth:

Words are a lens to focus one’s mind. - Ayn Rand

Simplicity

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
― Stephen King

I first read this quote several years ago when I only had the dream of writing a novel. I had started several stories - but never finished them. Real life or substandard concepts or mediocre characters got in my way. Those ideas still sit in a filing cabinet - waiting for a day when maybe the muse will strike. Then again, maybe it won't.

 

But as I revisited this quote, I think I finally get it. It is as simple as that...however it took me a while to get it. How can I expect to become a better writer if I exist only within my limits. By reading others, I can experience their craft on multiple levels.

 

First, I read as a reader. I read as a person who loves to read. I get immersed in the story. I laugh and cry with the characters and, in some cases, I'm not afraid to admit it, weep when I hit the end knowing there isn't another page to turn.

 

Then I read as a writer. I look at the way they create plot, build characters, raise conflict and draw the reader in. I look at those crucial opening pages. I look at where they break chapters and if I'm reading a series, I look at how they try to hook me into reading the next, or how they fail.

 

Finally, I read as a critic. I wonder what would I do to change this story? How could I have written the character differently? Did I like the setting? Did I even get the setting? Did I get a full picture of the characters or just a marble outline...

 

I never try to make it "better" because I know how it feels when someone is messing with my babies - my novels - but the critic in me needs to see what I could do to change the story - and in so doing, I get to see how I can change my own story.

 

So it all starts with reading. And speaking of which, I have a book calling my name.

Until next time

Absences make...

I know, it's been way too long since I've posted anything, and for that I apologize. Apparently, this academic year decided it would be fun to pretend it was a tilt-a-whirl and see who would still be on the ride come June. Right now, it feels like the ride is winning, I'm sorry to say.

Not that my students haven't been wonderful, but that the year can't seem to make up its mind about pace. It felt like yesterday I was getting ready for Thanksgiving, not Christmas or even Easter. But in truth, I am getting ready for Keystones and finals. *Gasp!!*

So to rededicated myself, at least marginally to my blog, I have decided to post words that help me write, keep me inspired, and make me want to continue on, regardless of what the ride of life might think in opposition.

I hope you enjoy pondering them as much as I do!

Until next time, which I vow, here and now, will be much sooner!

"A good writer possesses

not only his own spirit

but also the spirit of his friends."
Friedrich Nietzsche