Sunday, July 13, 2014

Consequences

Lately, I haven't had as much time for my writing as I'd like. The last couple weeks, I've had nearly none. Mostly, I've had no brain power to write.

Luckily, the things that had been taking up my time are mostly finished. Over the last half year, writing had been feeling more like a chore than something I love. I finished up my MFA program in November, and while I had been exited to dive into my next novel, the motivation vanished after an intense last semester. But these last two weeks, while I didn't have time to write, I started to actually miss it. Finally, I'm anxious to spend time getting to know my characters and have fun with words on the page.

Okay, now to what this post is really about. Last night I had a dream that I was giving someone some writing advice. I told the person to look deeply at consequences her characters faces. As the plot moves forward, the actions of the characters and the consequences should keep escalating. Hannah flirts with another boy. She feels guilty. She kisses another boy and tells her boyfriend. They fight, but don't break up. She continues to see other boy. Her boyfriend leaves her.

It's not any special type of advice, but I realized that it's exactly what I need to apply to plotting out my current WIP. I guess the person I was talking to in my dream was really myself :)

4 comments:

  1. Work consequences into the escalation of the tension, which is essential for any good story. Good advice!

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    1. Simple but important advice :) I know it'll help me with my plotting

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  2. I think I'd have a hard time mustering up the motivation to write if I was going to college. Correction- I know I would! My brain power operates on a minimal level to start w/lol! But yay for the drive coming back. =)

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    1. Luckily I did a program for my writing, which allowed me to write for school, and write what I wanted to write, not something assigned. But my last semester was so jam packed with editing a novel I wrote that I wasn't in love with, it burned me out. But the spark is back now and that's what matters :)

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