Hey all! Welcome back~
I come bearing my second vacation post~
Well, one thing I noticed about authors is that they tend to steal good ideas from each other. Many of us read acclaimed books with the sharp eyes of expert analysts, and many more of us seek to mimic eloquent writing - with good reason! If you do such exercises, don't ever stop. Many benefits will come from this sort of practice.
I come bearing my second vacation post~
~ ~ ~
Well, one thing I noticed about authors is that they tend to steal good ideas from each other. Many of us read acclaimed books with the sharp eyes of expert analysts, and many more of us seek to mimic eloquent writing - with good reason! If you do such exercises, don't ever stop. Many benefits will come from this sort of practice.
However, I suggest that you deviate from the stereotypical scenes - gang confrontations in a city at night, a spy aboard an enemy ship, or the romantic evening on the beach - with original ideas. In other words, instead of gaining inspiration for your writing only from other pieces of writing written by other authors with "extraordinary" lives, pay more attention to your life, and let what you see become the basis for your writing. As you do so, whether you think your life is boring or not, you might be surprised with the results.
Step 1.) Be suspicious of everything. I tend to notice the most details when I'm wary of an attack, and I've learned that (thank you, military friends) looking for exits, counting heads, and watching for displays of aggression or suspicious persons really helps me to take in more than I would've if I were just walking through a grocery store, trying to buy milk and eggs.
Step 2.) Look up. The most boring of buildings (aka. Walmart) tend to have the most interesting ceilings and skylights. So far, I've never written a story that includes a battle up in the rungs and supports beams of a supermarket, but I'd still like to…so no one else steal my idea~ x)
Step 3.) Pretend that you are a main character. Hold your head up when you walk, put away your cellphone, and meet the eyes of everyone you pass with a half-smile. If you're at the library for school, find stacks of resources and delve into them with the determination of an expert informant or researcher. If you're doing yard work, press hard enough to get yourself into a sweat or let out a crazy battle cry. (Screw what your neighbors think. The mortal foe, that dreaded and terrible dandelion root, must die.) If you need to take a test, approach the exam with a proud readiness to present your skills, skills which you have accumulated over the year. Best life and be prepared to see how inspirational your life is.
Step 4.) Carry a camera…everywhere… Every so often, you'll find an awesome-looking stranger that would be absolutely inspiration for a character you have…aaand… *click* Pro tip: get a sibling to stand to the side of the person you want to take a picture of so as not to look stalkerish, even though - let's face it - every author is.
Step 5.) Deal with paper cuts, bruises, skinned knees, etc. as if they were gunshots or knife-slashes. Obviously, this goes several ways. You could clutch a millimeter-long cut and scream the dead back to life, or you could get bloodied up pretty bad in a bike fall and neglect to care…at all. Either way, you'll be inspired to treat the wounds of your characters with better life-accuracy reasonable tolerance.
Step 6.) Don't take physical contact for granted. "Is there pain behind that weak hug or merely aversion to touch?" "How on earth does he have such a strong handshake?" "Why is she choosing to touch my shoulder now, even though I told her that I didn't care that I just failed my Latin test?" Also, think about the sensation itself. (Inner stalker emerging in three, two, one…) Calloused hands, reddened knuckles, a sweaty grip, a tight build, an uninterested pat, or an "accidental" brush against a muscular shoulder can all awaken curiosity, disgust, admiration, and, most of all, inspiration in you.
Step 7.) Don't sleep for a night. Just…try it (though, I only recommend that you do so once). Something magical and lonely always happens on a sleepless night. Always. Pick a rainy night or a muggy one and open your bedroom window, or, if you'd rather be extreme, grab a glass o milk and a piece of toast and read and write all night by a fire.
Anyway.
If you don't happen to be an author and are reading this, yeah, we're a crazy bunch.
But you: authors.
Do these things, and I hope you'll find that you need not consult other authors (or…now that I think about it…ANY media source) to find drama. Your life is adventurous enough; you only must discover how to see it as adventurous.
So.
Tell me. Ever made a "dull" moment exciting? The comment box is below!
Write on!
Clove
P.S. Favorite part of day 2 on vacation: trying to golf and failing (my ball went into the ocean). :") Worst part of day 2 on vacation: my mom dropped gummyworms in the sand~! O.O It was worse than the BP Oil Spill. x)
Step 3.) Pretend that you are a main character. Hold your head up when you walk, put away your cellphone, and meet the eyes of everyone you pass with a half-smile. If you're at the library for school, find stacks of resources and delve into them with the determination of an expert informant or researcher. If you're doing yard work, press hard enough to get yourself into a sweat or let out a crazy battle cry. (Screw what your neighbors think. The mortal foe, that dreaded and terrible dandelion root, must die.) If you need to take a test, approach the exam with a proud readiness to present your skills, skills which you have accumulated over the year. Best life and be prepared to see how inspirational your life is.
Step 4.) Carry a camera…everywhere… Every so often, you'll find an awesome-looking stranger that would be absolutely inspiration for a character you have…aaand… *click* Pro tip: get a sibling to stand to the side of the person you want to take a picture of so as not to look stalkerish, even though - let's face it - every author is.
Step 5.) Deal with paper cuts, bruises, skinned knees, etc. as if they were gunshots or knife-slashes. Obviously, this goes several ways. You could clutch a millimeter-long cut and scream the dead back to life, or you could get bloodied up pretty bad in a bike fall and neglect to care…at all. Either way, you'll be inspired to treat the wounds of your characters with better life-accuracy reasonable tolerance.
Step 6.) Don't take physical contact for granted. "Is there pain behind that weak hug or merely aversion to touch?" "How on earth does he have such a strong handshake?" "Why is she choosing to touch my shoulder now, even though I told her that I didn't care that I just failed my Latin test?" Also, think about the sensation itself. (Inner stalker emerging in three, two, one…) Calloused hands, reddened knuckles, a sweaty grip, a tight build, an uninterested pat, or an "accidental" brush against a muscular shoulder can all awaken curiosity, disgust, admiration, and, most of all, inspiration in you.
Step 7.) Don't sleep for a night. Just…try it (though, I only recommend that you do so once). Something magical and lonely always happens on a sleepless night. Always. Pick a rainy night or a muggy one and open your bedroom window, or, if you'd rather be extreme, grab a glass o milk and a piece of toast and read and write all night by a fire.
Anyway.
If you don't happen to be an author and are reading this, yeah, we're a crazy bunch.
But you: authors.
Do these things, and I hope you'll find that you need not consult other authors (or…now that I think about it…ANY media source) to find drama. Your life is adventurous enough; you only must discover how to see it as adventurous.
So.
Tell me. Ever made a "dull" moment exciting? The comment box is below!
~ ~ ~
Write on!
Clove
P.S. Favorite part of day 2 on vacation: trying to golf and failing (my ball went into the ocean). :") Worst part of day 2 on vacation: my mom dropped gummyworms in the sand~! O.O It was worse than the BP Oil Spill. x)
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