I see movies in my head

Every author has a different way of writing and putting their ideas and characters on paper. I thought I'd share mine today and give you a little idea of how I view my world and characters.


In ancient times, the Egyptians flourished because of the Nile river, which kept their land fertile and abundant. Just think how difficult and hard life would've been without the Nile. As a writer, your need is very similar. In order to become a good writer (in my very own humble opinion), you need your own personal Nile river. You need to be able to keep a never ending 'river' of ideas. You could also call it inspiration, and that inspiration can come from anywhere and be anything. Alot of authors use music to help them create a steady, healthy flow of inspiration.


Most of the time, ideas come while I'm in the car listening to music and thinking about nothing in general. Inspiration often strikes me at work too, if I'm not already thinking about something. I think keeping a clear mind helps. Life often likes to take up alot of space in our minds, leaving little room for anything else. Music helps me "empty out the trash" in my head so that ideas have room to occupy my thoughts. 


However, I write while listening to music occasionally. The music has to match perfectly with the scene I'm writing, otherwise I get distracted and the writing process becomes slow and tedious. Writing itself is hard and requires alot of effort but I believe it should be fun and rewarding. There's nothing I love more than going back to a scene I wrote and completely falling in love with it. :)


But, what happens when I do get ideas? Like the title says, I basically see my ideas and characters as if they were in an actual movie. For example the book I'm currently writing, in order for me to write a scene, I have to be able to see that scene in my head first.  I literally have to see the characters acting out an imaginary "script", composing of ideas from my inspiration river, so that I can see where the story is going. This is a key element of writing for me, because without it, it becomes very difficult and near impossible for me to write. But once I have those moving pictures going, writing becomes easy and fun. I say easy, because I'm not stumbling around for ideas or wondering "what's going to happen next??" because I'm seeing it happen as I write it.


So hopefully you've enjoyed this peek into the window of my world. :)

I grew up wanting to be the heroine

Once upon a time...


Every great fairy tale starts with those four magical words so why not mine?  And I'm not talking about my book, but the life and tale of me.  Like most young girls, I grew up loving fairy tales.  I loved the stories and the tales of romance, adventure, bravery, more romance, far away lands, handsome princes and princesses who lived happily ever after.  My sisters and I would spend countless hours in front of the TV watching our favorite Disney movies, and then we'd act out the stories with boxes full of Barbie and Ken dolls.


Me and my sister loved creating our own stories whenever we played together.  My younger sister always played the part of the princess, or the lovely damsel in distress, while I was always the hero, or the prince, or in other words, the person who did all the work.  Sometimes I'd complain to my younger sister saying, "I never get to be the princess!  Why don't you be the prince?"  and my sister would reply, "Because you're good at it!"  And I would always relent because I loved her and I wanted her to be happy.  


As time moved on, there were instances that occurred in my life where I realized that I did want to be the hero.  I always imagined that I had the power to protect the ones I loved, even if it was only in my imagination.  This continued as I took karate lessons up until high school.  Then the feeling of being capable of being a protector felt more concrete to me, not something just imaginary.  I think that is a part of human nature each of us has in common.  We all wish to be more than what we are and to have a purpose to our lives.  


But what does this have to do with writing a book?


In my mind I'd created this nearly perfect female heroine, the person I'd always wished to be.  She was tall, thin and gorgeous.  She was my super hero because she could do anything and be anything.  I took her character and started creating a story for her where she could be the strong and courageous heroine.  I wanted to write a book, using her character, that could fulfill that desire in me, a story that could let me feel like I was the hero.  I wanted a story that would also leave every reader inspired and hopeful about their own lives.  This blog is about the process if this book but it may delve a little deeper than that.  I seemed to have shared more about myself than I'd planned! 


However, if you decide to embark on this journey with me, I hope it will become a blessing to you as I'm sure it will be for me.