Weather to write about:
Gusting winds, warm and super dry. Fire weather.
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Quick writing warmup
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Write a paragraph or two (10 minutes minimum) using these
elements:
A power saw, a clump of irises well past first bloom, a
piece of driftwood
(Just write down what shows up. Have fun. Be outrageous!)
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Writing Starter
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Here in the United States it’s the 4th of July – the day
when independence from England was declared in 1776.
While you could write about freedom, independence and a
whole host of other things, for this writing starter, let’s
look at what it involves to make a decision – especially an
important one like the Declaration of Independence. It’s
the decision that will change everything.
For example, I’m working on a thriller under my Kate Ryan
pen name (Murder in the Devil’s Cauldron) and one of the
main characters (Starr) has to make a serious decision. If
she tells what she knows, her life will be in danger. If
she doesn’t, she has to live with the consequences. It’s a
great rock-and-a-hard place kind of thing. But the
decision she makes tells a lot about her character.
On top of that, once she makes the decision, a whole host
of actions logically follow.
When people like Thomas Jefferson and John Hancock and all
the others signed the Declaration of Independence, they
knew that all kinds of things would then follow, such as
war, loss of everything they owned, and even death.
Likewise, when your character makes a serious decision,
serious results inevitably follow.
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WRITE the answers to these questions.
If you can’t think of an answer right away, just start by
writing, “Right now [character name] has to make a
decision. She steps out of her front door and….”
Fill in the blanks and then just keep going with whatever
pops in your head, even if you think it’s dreck – because
no one will ever see it and, besides, this is just a
brainstorming session and IT DOESN’T COUNT! And later, if
you feel like it, you can fix it. Or you can just rip up
everything you’ve written and burn it as an offering to the
Writing Muse as a humble apology for your hubris in
attempting to be a writer. It’s up to you, but that comes
later. Right now you’re just noodling.
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Where is she supposed to be going?
Where does she want to go? Is it somewhere different than
where she is supposed to go?
What’s the most pressing thing on her mind?
What’s the decision she has to make?
Why does she have to make this decision?
What does she really want?
What will happen when she makes that decision?
What is she afraid of if she makes that decision?
What are the consequences if she doesn’t?
What action does she take?
What happens as a result?
How could you use this in your story?
Do this for each of your characters