Chasing the Muse

by Randy Singer, @litfuse

It dawned on me recently that I did not begin my writing career seventeen years ago when I started the manuscript for Directed Verdict, my first book. It actually began nearly ten years before that when, as a young attorney, I had fully developed plot lines kicking around in my head.

And it happened while I was running.

At the time, I was a young associate in the litigation section of a relatively large firm. I loved my job but it was a lot of hard work, grinding away on big cases, reviewing reams and reams of documents. It was a far cry from the exciting life of the television lawyers who get to try a major case every sixty minutes. To relieve stress, I would do a lot of running. And while I ran, I would think about my cases, or about other lawyer’s cases, or about hypothetical cases and how I would try them.

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I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Story Anymore

by James L. Rubart, @jameslrubart

When God spoke to me about being a novelist, it was a supernatural, lightning bolt type experience. I was pretty pumped when it happened, so I of course told my great friend Jim Rubstello about it, and described the story I would attempt writing.

He celebrated with me, told me he had no doubt I could do it, and encouraged me to dive in.

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Lies! Lies! Lies!

by Ane Mulligan, @AneMulligan

Susie and Rachel are fabulous at characterization. It was Rachel who started my passion for character motivation when staying with me one weekend. She was here in Atlanta to speak to our ACFW chapter. Being one to take advantage of all opportunities—hey, my mama didn't raise a dummy—I told her how I was stuck in what would turn out to be my first published novel.

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Mid-Winter Kick in the Writerly Pants

by Michelle Griep

The days are grey. It's Siberia cold outside. And all I really want to do is sit around in my yoga pants and eat boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Hey, don't judge me. You know you've been there.

What I really should be doing, though, is kicking butt on my manuscript if I'm hoping to get it finished by summer. Somewhere along the way, though, I lost my motivation. I think it might be outside, on the far corner of the porch, underneath the frozen pile of Christmas lights I haven't yet put away. What to do? Make a list, of course . . .

5 Ways to Gain Momentum When You're in a Writerly Slump

1. Read

Dive into a well-written book. Reading great writing inspires your own great writing. Then pull off a dud of a book from the shelf. A real wing-dinger of a gag-inducing I-can't-believe-this-ever-got-published kind of book. You can usually find these on the bottom of a rack at Goodwill. Read it. This will fan the flames of your sweet-mercy-I-can-write-better-than-that reflex, and you'll be off and running in no time.

2. Meditate

Don't worry. I'm not advocating some wackadoodle contortionist pose while mumbling gibberish. Just take a few moments to think about where you're story is headed and allow yourself to get excited about it. That helicopter crash you've got planned? Yeah! Ka-blooey, baby! Or the upcoming boy-wins-girl scene? Warmth and fuzziness. Spend some time with your characters in your mind, because if you're expecting your readers to hang out with them, then you should too.

3. Research

Sometimes all it takes is a new idea to spur your story into a full-out gallop. Where will you find that new idea? Google it. Search the ol' web for something related to your plot or era. You may come across something cool to include.

4. Exercise

I know. I see you, darting your eyes everywhere except at this paragraph. You were really hoping I'd skip over this, hmm? Trust me. I hate this one as much as you do, but doggone if hiking my body outside for a walk, even when it's cold, doesn't give me a whole new perspective.

5. Write

Get out of the chair and write!

Go to a library, a coffee shop, or the writerly nook where you know you're most likely to be able to crank out something. Turn off the internet. No emails. No tweets. No Trivia Crack or Candy Crush. Then write. Yep. That simple. Keep your heinie in the chair for at least two hours. I don't care if you have to stare at a blank screen for the first hour and fifty-five minutes **lifts two jedi-fingers in the air and swirls them around all Obi-wan style** you will accomplish some kind of word count.
So there you have it, Sparky. Step away from the Girl Scout Cookies and get cracking. Don't make me come over there.

TWEETABLES

Mid-Winter Kick in the Writerly Pants by Michelle Griep (Click to Tweet)

5 Ways to Gain Momentum When You're in a Writerly Slump~ Michelle Griep (Click to Tweet)

Somewhere along the way I lost my motivation~ Michelle Griep (Click to Tweet)

Author Michelle Griep

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ~ MICHELLE GRIEP

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. Follow her adventures and find out about upcoming new releases at her blog, Writer Off the Leash, or stop by her website. You can also find her at the usual haunts of Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Like what you read? There’s more. WRITER OFF THE LEASH: GROWING IN THE WRITING CRAFT is a kick in the pants for anyone who wants to write but is stymied by fear, doubt, or simply doesn’t know how to take their writing to the next level.

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Why is Motivation So Important?

by +AneMulligan  @AneMulligan

If you're a regular follower of Novel Rocket, you've heard me harp about motivation before. But why? What makes it so important?

Pull up a chair and get comfy and I'll tell you why. Are you ready? 

Because nobody does anything without it. 

That's it. Think about it. We all have a motivation for anything. Toss me some and I'll show you.

Eat ice cream: 

It tastes good and we like to taste sweet things. Indulgence. 

Put on a coat:

It's cold out and we want to be warm. Comfort.

Read a book:

We like to shut out the world and take an adventure. Longing.

Okay, those are silly, but you get the point. Even for the most basic things, there is motivation. 

Motivation is the reason why a character is seeking a goal. If you know their motivation, you understand their goals. 

Knowing the motivation first can help you plot the story. That's why I write a back story for my main characters before I begin to plot or decide anything beyond that first "what if". Writing that back story reveals events in their childhood that impacted them in a negative way. It reveals secrets they don't want anyone to ever know. And it reveals the lie the character believes about themselves.

From there, keeping the motivation in front of me, I can find the goals and conflict for my story. Without realistic motivation, the goals aren't believable. Coincidence can't replace motivation. And a strong motivation is why readers follow a character throughout the story. 

Readers can relate to motivation. They may not ever seek the goal your character is, but they can relate to his/her motivation. Some universal core motivations are:

• Belong: to be in the relation of a member, inhabitant; to have the proper qualifications; to be appropriately placed.
• Confidence: full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing; or belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance.
• Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
• Needed: deemed necessary.
• Power: (can be related to sex) great or marked ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something; Strength, might, force; the possession of control or command over others; authority.
• Security: freedom from danger, risk, from care, anxiety, doubt, financial cares, or from want; well-founded confidence. something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.
• Self-actualization: the achievement of one's full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.
• Worth: good or important enough to justify; usefulness or importance, as to the world, to a person, or for a purpose.

There are other motivations, but these are some to get you thinking. Join the conversation. What core motivations have worked for you?

Ane Mulligan writes Southern-fried fiction served with a tall, sweet iced tea. She firmly believes coffee and chocolate are two of the four major food groups. Novelist and playwright, Ane is the executive director of Players Guild@Sugar Hill, a new community theater and president of the award-winning literary site, Novel Rocket. She resides in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a dog of Biblical proportion. You can find Ane at her website, Novel Rocket, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and her Amazon author page.

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The Closet Experience by DiAnn Mills

The Closet Experience
DiAnn Mills

Do you grab your readers by the hand and lead them into your character’s closet? Is she messy? What kind of shoes does she buy? Are they worn? What’s her favorite color?If not, you’re making a terrible mistake. Why? How can a reader encounter story without stepping inside the character’s closet?

A writer’s goal is for a reader to experience story vicariously through our characters. That means all of the assigned traits ensure the character comes alive. 

The reader lives her dream through the character

Real.
A friend or a fiend.
The character might greet them at the grocery or at work.
The character refuses to leave the reader’s mind.
Soon, if the writer successfully captures the reader’s imagination . . .
The reader becomes the character.

Now what’s required for the reader to be in that exclusive position? Here are a five ways to ensure your reader has an unforgettable magic carpet ride.
1. The writer creates a character whose motivation and resulting behavior fits backstory and temperament.

2. The writer understands deep POV and slashes through distancing the reader from the character. Through sensory perception that is up close and personal, the schism is eliminated. 

3. Body language, emotions, and dialogue subtexting fit the scene and are accepted as appropriate.

Don't even try to tell me you're loving this.

4. Every word is weighed to assure the reader is personally involved with the character.

5. The writer constantly searches for new ways to deepen the reader’s adventure.

My suggestion is to flip on the light in your character’s closet and invite in your readers. Those special people who read your books will thank you for it! 



DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.

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Jet-Fuel Backstory by DiAnn Mills

Jet-Fuel Backstory
By DiAnn Mills

Backstory is your story’s history. Some parts of it will never be visible to the reader. Like jet fuel, it’s the power behind every novel, the motivation propelling every character into action. Backstory reveals the why to unexpected behavior and adds punch to the unpredictable. The result is a believable story with characters who resonate with the readers long after the book is finished.

A jet moves ahead because it's fueled with power.

When developing story that’s fresh and engaging, a writer strives to understand the character’s goals, fears, desires, strengths, and weaknesses. This task is impossible to navigate without knowing where the character has been, which means discovering what happened in the character’s life before chapter one, line one of the story.

The what-ifs of plot are easier to create when the writer understands the extreme challenges of the point of view character, whether that character is the protagonist or antagonist. Backstory takes the writer into that zone.

Consider yourself: You are the total of all life’s happenings since the day you were born. You inherited genes from your parents that set the stage for how you thrive mentally, physically, emotionally, and possibly spiritually. You’ve been seeped in culture, education, and a span of time called life. Nature and nurture combined with experiences, and there you are.

Which way is your story headed?

  Discovering a character’s personality is a similar process. Fortunately for the writer, the items needed from backstory are those that apply to your story, specifically scene by scene. But the writer still has a lot of work to do. Interview questions help, but writers have to know what to ask.

I’m a fan of Donald Maass, and often his teachings challenge me to stretch my imagination so my creativity can take a leap. The following prompt comes from a Maass exercise in Writing the Breakout Novel. The responses give you a solid foundation for your character’s motivation—and a few things you might not have already known.

1. What happened in your character’s life up to age 12 that affected who she/he is today?
2. What happened in your character’s life from ages 13 - 20 that affected who she/he is today?
3. What happened in your character’s life from ages 21 - 30 that affected who she/he is today?
4. What happened in your character’s life 1 year ago that affected who she/he is today?
5. 6 months?
6. 6 weeks?
7. 24 hours?
8. 1 hour?
9. 10 minutes?

Are you ready to dive deeper into backstory? You can develop the character’s personality, vocabulary, career choices, emotions, attraction to the opposite sex, opinions, purpose, social concerns, problems, mental handicaps, and so much more, giving the story more intimacy because the writer has touched the character’s life. The exciting part is the writer is better equipped to predict behavior, no matter how eccentric.

A writer’s greatest joy is when a reader becomes engrossed in story, living the adventure of the character in unforgettable moments. You can do this by discovering the backstory.

Go ahead.

I dare you. 

Add some jet-fuel backstory.

 DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She currently has more than fifty-five books published.
Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2014 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; and a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also a craftsman mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins
Christian Writers Guild. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas. Visit her website at www.diannmills.com and connect with her on Facebook
(www.facebook.com/DiAnnMills), Twitter (@DiAnnMills), Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/DiAnnMills), and Goodreads (www.goodreads.com/DiAnnMills).

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Exasperating Characters ~ Plotting via Motivation

No, not these 3 characters. But they are cute, aren't they?

Maybe I should have called this NO Plot via Motivation. Have you ever had a character that refused to talk to you? I have. I'm dealing with her right now. I'm in the second book of a series.

This character, Lacy, was in the first manuscript. She's the sister of another character in my small fictional town. My "plan" was to have her story the main plotline of the second manuscript.

The set-up

In the first novel and through the main POV characters, I set-up Lacy's personality ... or at least what I'd gleaned from her character analysis. I use a fairly detailed character interview, including the GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) and the lie the character believes about herself.

In the first manuscript Lacy played a very minor part, so I didn't dwell on her GMC. All I needed to do was let the reader know she was shy, hardly ever spoke, and was plain (and I don't mean Amish).

Lacy is the invisible kind of plain. I wanted a person other people overlooked. The kind who could be at a party and no one remembers them being there. Interestingly enough, her husband is cute, the boy next door. And he adores her.

The problem

I finished the first manuscript having set-up Lacy exactly as I planned. In the second one, she and her sister would both play POV parts. I went through their character analysis sheets and expanded them for POV.

What I discovered changed everything. First of all, I thought these sisters were close, since Lacy's sister, Lydia, had moved after the death of her husband, to be closer to Lacy. Ha! I found deep-seeded animosity between them, stemming from their childhood. Was I shocked!

Lydia was easy. She's open and shared her life with me. Lacy? She clammed up. So much so, I realized she wasn't ready to be a POV character.

Resolution ... for now

I changed the second manuscript's plot and POV character. Lacy will play an increasing part in this one, and it's my hope I'll discover more of her motivation. That's what has me stuck. I know what she wants, I know her conflict, but I don't know her motivation.

At first I thought perhaps I'm not far enough along as a writer to write a character that is so far removed from me. After all, I'm not remotely shy. Well, maybe a tad in certain situations. Oh, come on, I can be shy. But not as shy as Lacy. While we always grow as writers, I'm still fascinated by Lacy.

I've decided to forge ahead, even though I can't figure her out ... yet.

But I refuse to be intimidated by her. So,  I'm taking a course, "Plotting Via Motivation" by Laurie Schnebly Campbell (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PlottingViaMotivation/). Laurie told me, accompanied by a chuckle, that she's looking forward to playing counselor to Lacy. I'm looking forward to the course.

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