Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop

It's Tuesday which means it's time for another installment of the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop! Each week, an author from the group poses three questions for several romance authors to answer. Follow us and you'll get insight into our writers' minds! Be sure to like our page on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/RomanceWritersWeekly and stay tuned. There's going to be a HUGE give-away toward the end of this month!

This week's great questions come from author Tessa Gray. Thanks, Tessa. I enjoyed these.

1.   Do any characters you've written into your books remind you of yourself? Explain which ones and why.

It's sometimes hard to keep bits of ourselves out of our writing. Sometimes we do it purposefully and other times, for me, it sneaks in. In my August debut, THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS, I have a character named Alexandra (Alex) who is quite a bit like me. For instance she has a "touch" of OCD (some days I have more than a "touch") and she loves T.J. Maxx (so do I). Alex also occasionally falls for the bad boys and likes men in uniforms, especially cops. Enough said.
 

2.   Was there a teacher or mentor in your life who helped nurture your writing?

 

I had three--one in junior high, one in high school and one in college. Don Sharp was my English teacher at Pipkin Junior High. Mr. Sharp was entertaining, nurturing and pushed me to become a reporter for the school newspaper. Several of my articles were published and I was hooked.

 

In high school, Laura Fleetwood was my English and literature teacher. She had a lovely, easy, conversational way about her with an ability to draw the students in. I remember she had us put our desks in a circle which I thought was cool. Mrs. Fleetwood also had a section on mythology which I loved.

 

My college professor, Jo Van Arkel, was amazing. I told her once that she could make a rock creative. She gave us several observation exercises which were very helpful and she had us write and write some more. I always made "A's" and received encouraging comments on my papers. During one of my expository writing classes, she made a comment that I remember almost verbatim. "I'm not exaggerating to suggest that this article could be published in a major women's magazine." I've never forgotten that. I was in my mid-to-late twenties and a single mom. I just held onto her encouragement--and that essay--for years but never sent it in.

 

3. Every author has that moment when they doubt their ability to write. When that happens to you, how do you pull yourself up by the bootstraps and continue? What do you do to inspire YOURSELF?    

 

I think this happens to every author. On many days we're filled with self-doubt. Isn't that why Hemingway drank?! What I usually do is either reread things I've written in the past to boost my confidence or I'll read a book. Reading others' work always gives me confidence and courage. It's not that I think I'm better than those authors, but I see exactly how they string sentences together to create a story and reading someone else's book always makes me ready to get back to my own storytelling.

 

Please leave a comment, and after you're finished, be sure and check out answers from the next writer on the hop. She's the lovely, talented actor-turned-writer Kim Handysides  http://kimhandysides.com

An Observation Exercise for Writer's Block

Recently, I saw a writer post that she hadn't written a word in six months. Not a word. Since my muse is usually in overtime skitting from project to project, it's hard for me to to believe writer's block exists, but it apparently does.

This writer said she had situational depression. While I don't know her, I tried to be helpful and suggested the following observation exercise which I learned in a college writing class. Thanks to my favorite writing professor, Jo Van Arkel, for this valuable lesson.

Choose a location--any location (inside or out)--and take your laptop or pen and pad with you. Then, using your senses write down EVERYTHING you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.

Don't leave anything out. Scribble away and clean it up later. I promise this will get the words flowing. I even had to use shorthand to keep up with all of my senses and fast-paced surrounding!

For my assignment, I chose to go to a downtown bus stop. Soon, I was among intriguing people (hey, be nice) and the smell of popcorn from a nearby movie theatre that is long gone. I also smelled exhaust from passing cars and heard breaks screeching and cars humming. I could feel the cold concrete bench under my behind, the wind on my face, and saw birds swirl overhead. I took notice of everyone's clothes, perfume, hairstyle, and some very worn shoes. Then, I listened for dialogue. Yes, I happily eavesdropped.

While I don't remember the conversations, I do remember a story emerged between strangers. This suprised me and delighted my professor. I had planned to sit there for an hour, and as the windy day turned to dusk, I begrudgingly left my hard chair behind hours later. After all, I now had several handwritten pages to type.

This observation exercise is an easy, helpful way to get the words flowing. It also helps with realistic dialogue, new characters, and hones your senses.  After 20 years, I still remember it fondly as one of my favorite writing exercises. Try it and let me know how it goes.