Anna Adams Melinda Curtis
Susan Floyd Jennifer LaBrecque
There is glory in a great mistake.
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Need a Story Idea? What's your favorite fairy tale? Why does it appeal to you? Maybe it's the type of story you should write next. Not the fairy tale itself, but the essence of the idea that speaks to you.
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,you have to put up with the rain. Dolly Parton
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Have Idea, Need Hero/Heroine. You have the idea, now you need the protagonists. What characteristics make the best hero for your story? What kind of man couldn't possibly be your hero? meld these two beings into one and you have internal conflict.
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How Unexpected! If you find yourself writing a scene and thinking you've seen this many times before, approach the situation as if the worst possible outcome has occurred. For instance, if you're writing a secret baby story and you don't want to write your heroine worrying about what would happen if the hero found out - let her ask the hero how he'd feel if he discovered a woman had hidden his child from him. How does his answer make her feel? Write the scene that way.
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Stuck in a Scene? Open a new file. Step into your heroine's shoes. What does she want right now? From this moment and this place in time? Don't think. Just write until you run out of words. Now turn yourself into the hero and ask yourself the same question. Now you're a writer again (see how easy that was?). Look over your new file and ask yourself where you can go with this scene.
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When all Else Fails. You've been staring at your monitor for the past hour because the scene you're working on just won't move. Don't punish your book or yourself by turning off the computer. Open a new file and write the scene you've been longing to reach - love scene, dark moment, the scene where the heroine tells the hero why no one else will do for her.
(updated monthly...check back soon!)