Archive for the ‘Inspiration Lounge’ Category

Hello fellow writers,   Today I have prepared am effective creative writing exercise to help you develop your characters…have fun with it

Take one of your book’s most important characters and concentrate on him / her when completing this creative writing exercise. Answer each of these questions deeply, expanding your responses where possible to include other questions that may arise. 

1. What do you know about this character now that s/he doesn’t know?
2. What is this character’s greatest personality flaw?
3. What do you know about this character that s/he would never admit?
4. What is this character’s greatest plus point?
5. What is this character’s favourite food and why?
6. What colour does this character like the best?
7. What songs does this character sing when no one else is around?
8. What is this character’s favourite film?
9. Does this character have a favourite item of clothing? How about a favourite pair of shoes shoes?
10.  What is this character’s secret dream?
11.  How many brothers and sisters does this character have?
12.  What is this character’s best achievement?
13.  Describe this character’s most embarrassing moment.
14.  What is this character’s deepest regret?
15.  What is this character’s greatest fear?
16.  Describe this character’s most devastating moment.
17.  What is this character’s greatest hope?
18.  Does this character have an obsession? If so, name it.
19.  What is this character’s worst nightmare?
20.  Describe this character’s mother.
21.  Describe this character’s father.
22.  Describe this character’s siblings or other close relatives.
23.  Describe this character’s bedroom. Include three loved items.
24.  What is this character’s date of birth? What traits does he/her have of his/her astrological sign?
25.  Describe a recurring dream or nightmare this character might have.
26.  How would a stranger describe this character?
27.  Who depends on this character? Why?
28.  How would a dear friend or relative describe this character?
29.  What is this character’s most noticeable physical attribute?
30.  Write one additional thing about your character….

Do you see how answering the questions about each of your characters in this creative writing exercise has opened doors where before there were only brick walls?  

If you complete this exercise with all your main characters, you’ll find that your book is completed in far less time, as you’ll feel like your characters are friends you’ve had for years.

For more creative writing exercises like this one, plus lots of amazing creative writing tuition log on to http://www.writeyourbookmasterclass.com and sign up to my 26-week writing, publishing and book marketing course…

Love & light

The Word Queen x

Today we’re going to focus on watering your seeds, so you can watch your ideas thrive.  

Now’s the time to gather your list of ideas and decide which ones you would like to explore further. It’s best not to pick a huge number at this stage, so whittle them down and select your three or four favourite.

Try not to look at these ideas just from your own personal tastes. Remember that your idea has to possess a commercial edge to work well in the big wide world out there. Will it impress publishers and agents? Would you feel proud telling the biggest publishing companies about it, and feel confident it would work?   Here are some ways you can decide exactly which idea to go for, out of your three of four pre-selected ones.  

Write A Press Release

Write a press release for each idea to check that the final book will sell well, even just as a concept. A press release is a one-page news story that elaborates on your book and proves that it is unique and worth looking at. Your press release gives your book a chance to get noticed. Any idea that can’t stand out on a press release is too risky to follow up.  

Ensure Your Idea Is Big Enough

By this I mean make sure that you can create enough gripping content to fill 250 – 500 pages, or however long you want your book to be. It’s easier for experienced authors to work this out than new ones.

After you’ve completed the two steps above you should now have one glistening idea in your head, which is THE ONE; the idea which is going to lead you to produce a best-selling book.

As we’re focusing on fiction books here, the next stage is to determine your characters. This is all part of the watering process, so that your idea grows and becomes stronger. Characters are what make a fiction book. They bring it to life and are the elements with which readers associate themselves the most. Sometimes they might see themselves in a particular character, or an element which is the same as their best friend.

Mentally focus on your idea as much as possible throughout each day. Think about it before you go to sleep at night and mull over it first thing in the morning. Focus is a remarkable thing. Think back to when you were a child. Did you ever play the game with the magnifying glass and the sun in the garden? When you held the magnifying glass so the sun reflected off it for a long enough period of time, the leaves underneath would start burning, right?

Well the same happens with our ideas and our focus. Focus on something for long enough and hard enough and doors open. In the case of a small idea, it then develops into a much bigger one with little or no effort on your part – all you need to do is hold it in your mind! Eventually your little idea sees will transform into a fully grown tree.

The Branches

The branches, or sub ideas of your main idea are just as important as thinking of the idea in the first place. Don’t get lazy at this stage, as otherwise the rest of the process would have been a waste of your time. Sub ideas can hold the jewel to real success.

Repeat the brainstorming exercise in step one, but this time using the same process to find sub ideas. Write your main idea at the top of a sheet of paper and for twenty minutes or so write down all the related ideas you can think of. These sub ideas are what can eventually help to make up your storyline, plot and theme.

To Conclude

Your ideas will grow as and when you allow them to. Use the power of your mind to focus on your ideas and watch them branch into different directions.

Love & Light,

The Word Queen xx

Where do ideas come from? Some might say the sky, others the ether, and a fraction from our angels or spiritual guides. I like to think that ideas are in the air. They float around in their invisible form, waiting to land in the right mind; a mind which is ready and open to receive.

In a more general sense ideas stem from our inspiration.

According to the dictionary inspiration is ‘a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul.’

Our inspiration tends to shine when we are relaxed, or zoned out of the task at hand. Perhaps your time is in the shower, brushing your teeth, on the verge of falling asleep, or driving along the motorway? It’s different for everyone.

Take a moment to close your eyes and consider what you were doing when your biggest and best ideas came to you. Next time you’re in that situation you will almost certainly expect to think of another idea and with that feeling of expectancy ideas will grow.

I tend to view ideas as seeds. First they are planted (that is when our minds are receptive to ideas), then they are watered and fed (that is us focussing on our ideas and giving them attention) and then they grow (that is us expanding and developing our ideas). Now the idea has transformed into a beautiful tree. The branches are sub-ideas leading off the main idea, the leaves are the idea details and the fruits are the results of those ideas.

Planting Our Idea Seed

One technique to planting an idea seed is via brainstorming, which I’ve described below:

Brainstorming - This involves letting your mind run away, as if you were completing a marathon. It’s all about perseverance! The best method of brainstorming is to write down everything that enters your head, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. The key is to not stop for a breath. Just keep on running. If you stop and wonder if that idea you have just made a note of will really work then the flow of ideas will stop just as easily as they started. Try brainstorming first thing in the morning when your mind is emptier and fresher.

Some Brainstorming Dos & Don’ts…  

DO use a new notebook and pen, or a tape recorder.

DON’T try to brainstorm when you are tired, hungry, stressed or ill.

DO make yourself comfortable before brainstorming. Find a quiet room, free of distractions.

DON’T worry if it seems you’re writing down wild and crazy things. Remember not to stop and critique anything during a brainstorming session.

DO take regular breaks of ten to fifteen minutes.

Other techniques to planting ideas are through dreams and asking questions, which we’ll explore in the next blog post.

Love & Light,

The Word Queen xx

However other writers have so many ideas that they can’t seem to concentrate on one of them for long enough to actually finish a project. So how does a writer pick up so many ideas? What goes on in their minds? 

There are five core characteristics of the mind that will help you beat writers block and tap into creativity at ease.

1. Our Natural Filter

There is a screening device situated at the base of our brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). This group of cells decides what we are conscious of by filtering out other information. It allows only vital and important sensory input into our conscious awareness.

For example, you are not aware of the clothes on your back until I mention them; or the temperature of the room, or the sound of the cars whizzing along the street. If this filter didn’t exist we’d go crazy having to acknowledge every colour, every sensation, every sound and every smell that crosses our path.

What makes the RAS so interesting is that when we shift our focus we become conscious of things which are normally blocked from our awareness. In this way we are able to grow aware of best-selling book ideas and relevant conversations. We also open ourselves up to the possibility of receiving inspiration in the strangest of places, such as in a supermarket, for example.

When you first started driving your car, you probably thought that not many people had the same model as you. But before long I’ll bet you began to see this model everywhere. It’s not that suddenly people rushed out to buy the same car as you. These cars were always there. What happened is that you focussed on it and your RAS allowed that information to filter through into your conscious and make it your reality.

Once you focus on writing and being inspired by new ideas, you will find yourself receiving countless ideas and achieving amazing levels of inspiration.

2. The Brain’s Total Recall

When the mind is stretched in a particular direction, it reaches into all other directions as well. It’s like a room with a light bulb in the middle. When the bulb gets brighter, it lights up a greater percentage of the room. As we exercise the mind, we connect with a greater portion of our brain.

For example, when Einstein got stuck on a difficult concept, he would go into another room and play his violin. When he returned to the problem, a solution would often spring to mind right away. Exercising his mind in a different way escalated his creativity for the work he was doing.  

4. The Multi-Tasker

Another fascinating advantage of the human mind is its ability to multi-task. People can talk on a hands-free mobile phone while driving a car on the motorway, eating a burger, handing a toy to the child in the backseat, listening to music and changing the radio station, switching lanes, following road signs, changing gears, eating the chips which came with the burger…You get my drift!

When it comes down to our basic bodily functions, the eyes blink to maintain moisture, the mouth chews our food, the salivary glands add moisture. At the same time various muscles contract in precise order so that the food particles sink into the stomach to begin the digestive process.

The body temperature is regulated, the heart pumps blood, the lungs inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Hair grows. The senses send constant feedback to the brain.

This is just a fraction of what’s taking place every second of every day of every week.

So now can you see how our mind is an extremely powerful machine?

5. Auto-Pilot To A Creative Flow

Your subconscious can do much more than your conscious, and with enough practice, this becomes automatic. When things move into the subconscious, there is no longer a need to think and then do. The doing just happens. For example, pianists can play a song and converse at the same time.

The more something is practiced the more likely that it will happen naturally. And with enough practice and dedicated focus, being creative and picking up the ideas all around you will happen naturally too.

The Right Mood To Write

Go within and ask yourself if you have ever said or thought any of the following about writing:

‘I wasn’t in the mood.’

‘I just didn’t feel inspired.’

‘I’m waiting for the right moment.’

It’s ok to admit to one or even all of the above because many people believe they must wait for creativity to show up before they can write. So they wait for the ‘right time’, or the ‘right mood’. Funnily enough, neither of these come by too often. 

What Is Creativity?

Creativity is Godlike, it could be described as mystical and it’s a big part of every writer’s life. Writing a book without it would be practically, if not totally, impossible. But even if you’re not creative (or you think you’re not) then it doesn’t matter because I’m going to reveal how to activate your creativity!

Left-Brain Or Right-Brain?

Each of us has a dominance towards the left or right hemispheres of the brain and creative people are naturally more right-brained. Take the test here: http://brain.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm

However, if you’re not one of these right-brained people, you don’t have to miss out! Creativity and the ability to stay in the flow of creativity can be stimulated through a range of exercises and at the end of this chapter I’ll share some of my favourites with you.

In The Flow

 

 Flow, that state in which the words literally pour from our fingers without effort, is caused by certain kinds of brain activation. Anyone can enjoy being in that state, regardless if you’re more left-brained or right-brained. As you start your book, a regular writing routine coupled with right-brain exercises will help you maintain your creative rhythm and keep you in the flow. 

Let’s look into ‘flow’ a little more closely because a clearer understanding of it will help you increase your ability to achieve it when you choose.

Mihaly Csikszentmiihalyi (pronounced ME-high CHICK-sent-me-high)

This psychologist called the perfect creative state “flow”. This can feel like someone is whispering in your ear, or like you’re channeling someone or something else, or even that you’re just writing down “what’s really happening”. This is the utopian writer’s state to be in!

‘Flow’ can be more accurately described as creative dissociation, which is a natural phenomenon in which some parts of the brain disengage or “split” away from others. It’s what happens when you suddenly realise you’ve got to point b) in your car but have no idea how you got there! Or when a friend is chatting away to you on the phone and you’ve drifted off into a daydream.

The Experience Of Flow

Flow is always a positive experience; in fact, some people refer to it as ‘optimal experience.’ It’s a beautiful state and it’s what makes writing or any creative pursuit, so life enriching. Flow doesn’t just happen for writers. Athletes call it being ‘in the zone.’ Chess players, surgeons, dancers, programmers, and others also experience flow when they’re completely focused on doing the thing they love.

Though everybody’s experience is a little different, there are certain things many people report, including:

* Distortions in the experience of time – You realise that you’ve been writing for three hours when it felt like one.

* Euphoria

* A feeling of calm competence or enhanced creativity

* A “softening in the boundaries of the self,” or a sense of wholeness or spiritual unity

* Another mystical experience of some kind

How do I Achieve Flow?

According to Csikszentmihalyi:

“You can’t make flow happen. All you can do is learn to remove obstacles in its way.”

Removing obstacles is simple. The first rule is to keep writing. And the second rule is learn how to tap into your creative self by focusing on the right-brain.   

The Right-Brain/Left-Brain Myth

Neurologist Alice Flaherty argues that creativity is due to a balance of frontal and temporal lobe activity. In other words the trick is not to get out of your ‘left brain’ and into your right, but to increase activity in the right hemisphere (or reduce activity in the left) so it matches the activity on the other side.

Most people don’t realise that if you failed to use your left brain, you wouldn’t be able to write at all! The left brain produces language, and in many people the right brain is completely non-verbal.

To get out of the logical, left-side part of your brain and create more balance, you need to do some right-brained exercises. It is a good idea to get into the habit of doing right-brained exercises on a regular basis. Incorporate them into your life. And think of them as fun. As you start to balance your left brain and your right brain, flow and inspiration in your writing will become far more natural. Once you actively develop your creative spark then your perception of yourself will shift and you will radiate creativity.

Do you want to be the kind of writer who waits for inspiration, or do you want to be the kind of writer who takes action and makes inspiration come to you?

Right-Brain Exercises To Increase the Flow in Your Life

Being creative can feel hard sometimes. Perhaps you’re just not in the mood. It’s been a tough day. You’re tired. You don’t feel like writing. Luckily, there are lots of ways of stimulating your creativity and listed below are just a few things you can do to. I’d suggest using these at any stage in your writing. Either as a daily tool before you start, or a weekly exercise when you need inspiration or when feel blocked and you want to get unstuck:

• Meditation/yoga – The parts of the brain affected by flow are also active during meditation (see chapter ??? on meditation)
• Doodling
• Painting/drawing
• Scrapbooking
• Walking in nature
• Pick up a random book from your bookshelf and open it – it’s often uncanny what page it opens at, as if it’s a message for you.  Draw on the content to write.
• Knitting, beading, or crochet, even if you’re really bad at it! Think silly, because flow is a playful state. Many people find flow in quiet, repetitive tasks that they enjoy.
• Playing the piano
• Organising your photos
• Planting flowers
• Do something that’s a guilty pleasure.  
• Buy a few of those comic books you never buy anymore – do they help you achieve flow?

Every time you find yourself in flow, spend a while thinking about how it feels, and how you got there. And then, whatever it was, do it again as soon as possible!

To Conclude  

Saying you can’t get started with your book because you didn’t feel inspired is no longer an excuse! As the information in this chapter proves, anyone can enhance their creativity at any time. You don’t have to wait for it. Make it come to you. The more you focus on developing your creativity, the more creative you will become.

EXERCISES    Before you sit down to write next go for a stroll in the park, or in the woods. Notice how much easier the words seem to flow to you.   Love & Light

If you’re writing a book, or you’re thinking of doing so then there’s at least one daily exercise I’d suggest you engage in. Even if you don’t do any of the others I’ve ever suggested this one is golden. “So what is this mystery exercise…?”

Meditation!

Meditation stills the mind, and when this occurs all sorts of ideas are able to flow in. Writing is a hard craft and mentally fatiguing.

Getting into the habit of practising daily meditation can work wonders on taming that fatigue and purifying the ideas and knowledge that enter your head.

All you need to do is set aside a daily timeframe of say 15 minutes, get into a comfortable position (lying or sitting), then close your eyes and empty your mind of all thoughts. This is easier said than done for a beginner. You will find that all sorts of thoughts pop up and it can be very difficult not to dwell on them.

Fortunately there are many guided meditations out there, which make the process far simpler. Usually the person speaking helps you relax your body by having you focus on the various parts each in turn. Next they might lead you down a spiral staircase counting backwards from ten to one. But remember that all meditations vary. Some are set outside, maybe on the beach, in a boat upon a relaxing lake, or surrounded by the sounds of nature. Others might involve descending in an elevator, focussing on a bright white light, or feeling the suns energy radiate through your crown charka.

Meditation doesn’t have any core goal. Instead it is a technique, or a tool if you like. Writers use meditation to improve their writing, or to develop interesting ideas.

Meditating doesn’t have to mean sitting cross-legged in the middle of a field chanting mantras and looking like an oddball. Many people still believe that to meditate you have to be a zen monk, or some kind of spiritual master. But that is not the case. Anyone can meditate and writers who meditate tend to come up with better ideas, plus they are able to stay more focused on what really matters – getting their book written.

How To Meditate

Sit on the sofa, or on the floor if you prefer, and close your eyes. Inhale deeply through your nose and as you exhale through your mouth visualise and repeat the number three, three times. Repeat this once more, but as you exhale visualise and repeat the number two three times. And one more time, visualising and repeating the number one three times on the exhale. This should be enough to instigate the process of relaxation. Then simply still your mind and try to refrain from allowing thoughts to enter. At first you will find this very difficult. The trick is to build up the amount of time you spend meditating each day gradually.

Don’t expect to meditate for half an hour on your first attempt. If you can manage just five minutes at first, that’s perfect. Once you have mastered five minutes you can then aim for eight minutes and from there on, all the way up to half an hour. I’d recommend finding the time to meditate every single day until your book is fully written. The benefits meditation provides to us and our minds is simply amazing and since I started meditating two years ago, I now do so three times a day without fail.

Before meditating ask yourself a question you need the answer to about your book. Try to be specific as the real power of this exercise is in the question itself. For example, you might have the general idea for your book decided, but you are wondering how it is going to begin. Ask yourself this question ‘please reveal to me the best way of starting my book.’ There’s no need to say this question out loud. It’s fine to say it to yourself. Once you’ve asked the question try and forget about it. Don’t dwell on it or consciously search for the answer. The answer will come and probably when you least expect it. I have found that answers enter my head at the most unlikely of times, completely out of the blue. Cool hey?!

Happy meditating!

Love & Light

The Word Queen xx

Have any other writers out there literally dreamt up the plots of their novels?

The reason I pose this question today is because that’s exactly what’s been happening to me during the last couple of weeks. It’s really quite incredible.

I’ve set myself a tough goal for the next fortnight – to have the second draft of my teen fiction book, The Path, rewritten, edited and polished to perfection by July 1st. It’s a big goal, especially since two thirds of the entire book is changing!

I’m doing ok so far. I’m a little over halfway through and I have about seven days left to go. But this dreaming revelation has made it a whole lot easier.

When I hit a brick wall with the storyline I simply fall asleep and BAM – the next part of the plot comes to me in dream-form!

I remember reading way back that an author of the 1900s (his name escapes me now) used this tactic to write his whole book. Apparently he’d set the alarm to go off every 40 minutes. He’d keep a notepad and pen on his bedside table and write down whatever he dreamt about…cool hey?!

I’m loving the new discovery and I have to say, the ideas that have arrived to my mind in this state are way better than any ideas I could have imagined in my conscious, awake mind.

So if you’re struggling with the plot of your novel, perhaps try the dream method. If nothing else, at least it’s a good excuse to sleep more !

And if YOU’VE dreamt up any part of YOUR novel, we’d love to hear from you…

Love & Light
The Word Queen
xxx

This website focuses mainly on how to write a book and how to bring that book to life… As The Word Queen I offer a range of services to help you get there. But I thought you might pick up some extra inspiration from this guy, who uses some wonderful analagy to describe the art of novel writing. I’m not sure about his cobblers wax tip, but have a listen and see what you think…!

Hope you enjoy it,

With Love
The Word Queen XX