When the Muse Strikes

Inspiration can come in the strangest places! I once came up with a country name for my latest fantasy novel based on one of the presenters in my MBA healthcare seminar. Long road trips are always good for a new chapter or story idea, and I’ve plotted many a twist from the heights of my deer stand during the fall. The trick is learning to be open to the muse and capture it, even in those bizarre unexpected situations.

Pay Attention to the Everyday Details
Don’t let life pass you by—writers, by nature, are great observers. Be aware of the characters, worlds and drama unfolding around you at any given moment. Even the smallest, seemingly innocuous interaction can spark a story. I got the basis for my first published short story by taking out the trash.

Jot Down Names & Ideas
Don’t worry about getting the exact phrasing right, just get the main ideas on paper. It might help to carry a small notebook. The muse doesn’t always fit the story I’m working on at that moment, so I have a specific nook in my writing space where I keep random notes from over the years. That way, I know exactly where to go when I’m searching for a name, plot point or turn of phrase to work into my latest story.

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
If you’re stuck somewhere it’s not feasible to have paper on hand, try the old studying trick of repetition. This works great for short phrases or names…not so much for longer scenes. Say them several times in your mind, and you’ll probably find it easier to recall later when you can write it down.

Envision the Scene
If repetition works for short phrases, envisioning the action works for more elaborate scenes. I like to play certain scenes in my mind like a movie because images serve as a trigger to remind us of words and ideas. The movie approach allows you to call that scene to mind later, without losing the main emotions and actions you’ve already imprinted.

What’s the strangest place you’ve found inspiration? How do you stay armed to capture it?

Get Thee a Crit Group

My favorite Shakespeare play is Much Ado About Nothing. In the final scene, our hilarious, lovable and die-hard bachelor Benedick has finally taken the marriage plunge and quips to his friend, the prince: “Thou art sad, get thee a wife!”

I don’t think the Bard would mind too much if I put a little twist on it: Authors, thou art (sad, excited, doubtful, eager, wondering) about your writing, get thee a crit group!

Critique groups are absolutely wonderful inventions that at once manage to support, guide, re-direct and bolster the ever-growing writer in all of us. Perhaps more importantly, they provide us with people who can witness to our work.

I’ll never forget the first time a couple members of my own crit group started talking about my characters just for fun, outside of the official critique. They’d stumbled across something in the midst of their day that reminded them of one character, and it was incredible to listen to their reactions.

For most writers, the best type of recognition is simply the ability to touch readers through our characters and stories, to impact readers’ everyday worlds, even in a small way. There’s no guarantee that our writing will ever see the light of the published world, but crit groups can give us this reader experience on a more personal level.

Other great advice you can learn from crit groups:

Remember to feed your characters!
I glossed over this aspect a lot in my first drafts, and my crit group constantly called me on it. I found ways to add these details and enrich my world-building.

Flag awkward sentences.
We like to tease each other about these “cringe-worthy” sentences. Even the best of us will string together an epic run-on or use the same word multiple times as we’re rapidly throwing words on paper. They’re usually easy enough to fix once you’ve found them

Fill the cravings.
One gal in my critique group has a fun way of pointing out areas where she’d like more details. She always says, “I have a craving for…” Her comments help us know how to strengthen sections where readers are already engaged and just need a little shove to really fall in love.

Identify overused words.
Every once in a while, we’ll joke about somebody’s “word of the week”—a common word that they’ve accidentally used several times in one paragraph or one page. A crit group offers a great second set of eyes to catch instances the author can easily overlook. We toss around suggestions for synonyms or ways to rephrase to eliminate the unnecessary repetition.

Tap into other people’s expertise.
This is one of the coolest aspects of a crit group—the ability to benefit from each other’s unique habits, past-times and areas of expertise. I write fantasy and love the fact that my fellow critsters have included fencers and horse boarders. My stories feature swords and horses, and I don’t have personal experience in either of those areas, so I’m glad when my group members help me get the exact details accurate. My first novel is set almost entirely on a ship, and one of the gals in my group has a sailing background. Another member has a mining background that’s useful for some scenes.

The camaraderie, support and editing you can find in a good crit group is invaluable. If you haven’t had luck finding a local group, try the forums at Nathan Bransford’s blog or Absolute Write. My local writing studio, All Writers, also offers some online opportunities. Check them out – it’ll be well worth it!

What writer's group suggestions do you have?

It Doesn’t Get Easier, You Just Go Faster


One of my best friends is really into cycling. She racks up dozens of miles each day and has competed in plenty of races, both on and off road. She knows how to push her body better than anyone I’ve ever met – I honestly don’t know how she does it. So what does this have to do with writing?

My friend likes to quote Greg LeMond regarding hard practices: “It doesn’t get easier, you just go faster.”

I think that’s a truth all writers can live by, too.

A lot of people claim you need to write a million words before you really reach your stride as a writer. Others put great stock in word-count widgets or in NaNoWriMo progress. These are all wonderful ways to track our growth, but the trouble is that sometimes we fall flat on our faces despite all that growth. We barely savor the victory of completing our first novel before someone tells us we really ought to write at least three novels before our work reaches publishable status.

If we’re lucky enough to get published, we jump right into the fear of meeting expectations on our second book…or our third…or our fifteenth. It’s enough to discourage even the most stout-hearted little writer at times.

That’s when I like to keep my friend’s advice in mind. Sometimes we authors think that if we could just finish, just get published, just sell more copies, everything would fall into place. Well, I’ve got news for you. I’m pretty sure even bestsellers wake up with the same fears and doubts that we do some days. I bet there are times they don’t feel much like writing or think their latest pages are crap.

We’re never going to stop encountering challenges, uncertainties or heartbreak in writing. We’ll get stuck, we’ll want to throw our precious manuscripts into the nearest bonfire, we’ll get sucker-punched by rejections – that’s unavoidable and, for the most part, out of our control. What we can control is our perseverance, our ability to get back up and our discipline to the craft we love.

It doesn’t get easier, you just go faster. In the cycling world, “fast” is the fun part, the exhilarating rush when your mind and mettle come together to push you to a new level you never thought you’d achieve. And when you do that, suddenly all the sacrifice and hurt seems worth it.

I think it’s the same in writing. With each new draft, each new story or each new connection with fellow readers and writers, we help ourselves “go faster.” With every word we write, we become a better author than we’ve ever been before.

That’s what this is all about after all.

What about you? How do you push yourself to “go faster” in your writing?

Calling All Non-Magical Beings

So, you’re writing a fantasy. Your wise, noble magic wielders could face down Voldemort without batting an eye, and your magical creatures could kick that were-vamp dragon’s ass. What could possibly be missing?

Um, would the puny human characters please step forward?

All too often fantasy writers are so excited about the world-building and the magic systems that they forget to develop their non-magical cast. And this is SO important to creating a powerful, engaging book. Your main characters likely interact with non-magical folks on a regular basis, and those non-magical people can influence how readers view your MCs. You can’t afford to let the non-magical secondary characters become simple one-dimensional cut-outs—not when you have the opportunity to do so much more.

Remember, unless they’re getting RSS feeds now on Mars, we’re all humans. We can relate to non-magical folks in a special, immensely personal way. We’ve never known anyone who can actually shapeshift, command the elements or shoot death rays from their finger tips. But we do know people who have stood firm against incredible odds, who have made remarkable sacrifices for friends or have been too afraid to act when they must. That’s the intimate reality that your non-magical characters can share with readers.

Remember how you made your magical MC wise and brave? Find ways to create scenes where a non-magical character is wiser or braver than your MC. Allow them to learn from each other and grow from the encounter. You’ll discover depths to your novel that you never knew were there.

You guys know I’m a huge Robert Jordan fan, and he creates awesome, endearing soldiers who don’t have any magical ability what-so-ever. Even though they’re stuck in a cast of incredibly gifted characters and should be way out of their league, they deliver some of the more touching, poignant and uplifting moments.

For those familiar with Sarah Rees Brennan’s Demon books, Alan and Mae are also strong characters without innate magical abilities who hold their own with their gifted siblings.


The next time you’re plotting about how to give your MC even more power, stop and think about how you can leverage the little guy, too.

The Bear Necessities

The tools we need to write a story are pretty simple: a pen and any blank surface will do. I’ve scribbled on napkins, the back of bills and homework. These days, it’s easy to grab a computer, and the oral storytellers of many cultures need only their voices. Despite all that, there are still some writing necessities I can’t do without:

My 1962 Roget’s International Thesaurus
I’m sadly attached to my thesaurus. Its binding is falling apart, but this thesaurus kicks the booty of any online version, hands down! It was originally my mom’s (or dad’s?), and I snuck it out of my folks’ house when I went to college…I don’t think they’ve missed it. :) It’s old school with tabs for each couple of letters, it’s thick enough to knock somebody out, and it’s helped me find the perfect word choice countless times. You steal my thesaurus at your own peril!


Mini Tape Recorder
Life can get crazy busy sometimes. There are many nights I have only 30 minutes at home, so I’ve fallen in love with my mini tape recorder. I can dictate chapters that have been screaming in my brain all day in less than half the time it would take me to write them, then I’ll go back and type them up when I catch a few free moments. I’ve been doing this for years and it’s helped so much! I keep the recorder by my bed at night to capture those scenes that come right as I’m falling asleep (aren’t those always the best!), and I occasionally take it on long road trips in case the radio or landscape inspire me.

Papermate Blue Pens
Out of necessity, I do a lot of my writing by computer these days, but I’m still a firm believer that the story flows better longhand—that’s how I prefer to do first drafts. When I hand-write, I have an odd little writer’s tic. I love blue pens! Particularly blue Papermate ball point pens. It’s not like I can’t or won’t write in other colors, but it just feels right with the blue.

So that’s my “must-have” list. What do YOU always keep stocked in your writing arsenal?

Harnessing the Muse You Need NOW!

A lot of writing sites talk about sources of inspiration—where you get that initial idea. Today, I want to focus on the more specific kind of inspiration needed to write one single scene. You’ve already discovered your novel’s big idea, but how do you find the right vision, tone and insight to get through your next chapter?

What works for me is to become a “student of the game” (one of my dad’s favorite phrases) and immerse myself in my scene’s topic. Let’s say, for example, I’m writing a battle scene. Here’s what I would do:

  • Re-read sections from authors who craft terrific battle scenes to learn how they capture action and emotion. I physically pull these books down off my shelves and stick Post-its on the most appropriate sections. I make notes about what might be the same or different in my own scene.

    If one of the authors describes the odor of a swamp his troops are slogging through, but my battle takes place on a mountain, I still find a way to incorporate a sense of smell. It makes the action come alive if my character thinks about how the fresh breeze seems at odds with the blood and destruction around him, or if the odor of men and battle actually overwhelms the usual smells of his home.

  • Watch your favorite battle scenes from movies or TV. For an added bonus, try it once without the sound. Again, I jot down thoughts about the flow of battle, what elements seem to be in action at the same time, and how they’re working to accomplish the same goal.
    I also observe facial expressions and emotions that are similar to what I want to capture in words for my characters. I hold these snapshots in my mind as I’m writing to help me choose phrases that build a similar image.

  • Listen to songs that convey the tone of battle. When I’m writing a battle or action scene, I usually go for songs that portray intensity, fast-paced chaos or a tense build-up. (Note: That can be anything from Requiem for a Dream to 30 Seconds to Mars.) Sometimes, the music even helps me figure out the timing of a battle—I start to choreograph it to match the mood and rhythm of the song.
    I like to break battle scenes down into micro-scenes and find songs of inspiration for those, too—the moment my characters realize they’re going to lose (or win), the moment someone sees their friend fall across the field, the moment a tactical move works better than they expected, etc.

After I go through these three steps, I usually have a pretty good idea of the descriptions, places, emotions, actions and pacing I want to use in my next scene. Then, I just have to get it on the page. I stuck with the battle example because it’s pretty straightforward, but I’ve also used this approach for love scenes, arguments and initial world building. Now, you try!