Hurrah! Life is returning to normal after basement flooding and I'm able to write again! For the next few months my blog will continue with 1) the tiny, real-life seed that became an idea for a book and 2) the writing tip that helped it grow into a
finished story.
The Seed: A swirling, curling tangle of
doodles was taking over my notebook.... and I'd just found a great ending to my
latest novel! |
| (c) Ruth Ohi, 2013 |
The Writing Tip: Free up your imagination with pen, paper and doodling!
There is a different type of thought process that goes on when a writer works with pen in hand. It's not necessarily better than typing on a keyboard, but it is different. And sometimes different is what a writer needs to get out of a rut and think in more creative terms.
Pen and paper allows an open kind of story searching. Ideas fall out loosely all over the page...different angles, different scrawls, lots of doodles. It's a kind of dreamy state, a land of hazy ideas, of trying to make connections between thoughts half formed and thoughts one is only beginning to be aware might exist.
Much of my writing these days is done directly on a keyboard. But when I'm just beginning...or when I'm half way through and totally stumped...it's pen and paper I reach for.
That day, as I looked at the curling doodles, I realized they were taking over the pages of my notebook just like the trees in the story itself were taking over the magical kingdom of Tarn. Imagination and the words on the page were intertwined. If I handed my pen over the the prince, all would be well.
Long live the doodle!
(c) All Rights Reserved. All blog text(except comments by others) copyright Hazel Hutchins.
