Blogger: Mary Keeley
We all have dreaded days when we stare at a blank page, unable to come up with an idea. Those are the times writers need to allow their resources of Brainstorming and Inspiration to move into free-flowing gear. Notice I said, “allow” because free-flowing thoughts can’t be manufactured.
Brainstorming: “noun; a conference technique of solving specific problems, amassing information, stimulating creative thinking, developing new ideas, etc., by unrestrained and spontaneous participation in discussion” (Dictionary.com).
Either tool can trigger the other into operation, but when you begin with brainstorming, you need to have a desired outcome clear in your mind, because it provides boundaries and direction for your ideas. Inspiration, within the boundaries, may take over at some point in your brainstorming. A lifetime ago I was asked to participate in a brainstorming meeting. The reason I remember it so well is that I didn’t have a clue about what was being discussed. The other two participants had framed a desired objective before the meeting and forgot to share that detail with me. It must not have been clear in their minds either because the session was unproductive. This shows the importance of having a clear objective to reach.
You can use several approaches to brainstorm ideas for your objective, that is your topic or character or plot.
- Break your objective down into separate parts and focus on one at a time.
- Approach it from several different angles to find which one works best.
- Compare your objective (topic, character, plot) to a similar one that’s already been published and then list ways in which you can make yours unique.
Brainstorming is a method. It comes from within. Inspiration, on the other hand, comes from outside.
Inspiration: “noun; an inspiring or animating action or influence; a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul; the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced” (Dictionary.com).
Since inspiration can’t be manufactured or produced by any exerted method, where do you go to allow inspiration to come to you?
- Prayer
- Your favorite serene setting where you can be quiet and peacefully listen for inspiration to form
- Listen for inspiration to form while reading
- Where else? Do you have a special place you go to when you’re seeking inspiration? For example, I go anywhere I can see the expanse of the sky because it gives me a glimpse of how big God is and his participation in the world.
What do you need brainstorming help with today? Finding a niche for your book’s topic? Showing your character’s flaws and strengths? Solving a problem with your plot? Let’s have a brainstorming session. Together, maybe we can come up with solutions, perhaps even an inspiration. Be brief and specific.
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When I read “brainstorming” my eyes see “barnstorming.” And thus it is: crazy flights of fancy, risky, showing off, sometimes downright stupid. If all goes well, I clap and leap and laugh when it is over. Sometimes, I crash, burn, and rise to do it again.
Flights of inspiration are not under my control. My part is to keep the runway clear of clutter and unload the thought before it takes off again and disappears in the clouds.
I once owned (as a restoration project) an aeroplane that had been used for barnstorming. Don’t know if this will help, but I’ll toss it out there –
* The key to barnstorming was creating the illusion of risk, not risk itself. Money was a motivating factor, and one’s equipment – and one’s skin – had to remain intact for the next show.
* The barnstorming era was ending by the time of the 1929 Crash, and revenues were reduced to the point that pilots were working for food and gas, and nothing else. It was then that the risks became more ‘real’ for the purpose of drawing a crowd, and many pilots (and performers, such as skydivers and wing-walkers) were killed.
* If you’re interested, the Robert Redford film “The Great Waldo Pepper” is probably the best and most accessible cinematic depiction of this era.
I have been part of creative workshops before and using a context and a creative tension approach is really helpful in a group-think context, so I agree there Mary. However, the brain does its best sub-conscious work in a rest state. There is a reason for “Be still and know that I am God”. Elijah only heard the still, small voice of God when he silenced the clutter. Part of what I am writing about relates to how the mind functions and, well its another long story, but maybe a little analogy will help. If astronomical students try to find smaller stars clustered around a main body, they will not find it for all the looking. The right way is to look slightly away from the obvious and the lesser stars will appear in the corner of the eye. Creativity arises in the not-so-obvious. In my past, doing a crossword, reading the paper, drinking coffee or meeting with friends, always, not sometimes, but always allowed my mind to find solutions to previously intractable problems. I would do that whenever I was stuck and it worked 100% of the time. Nowadays I just go for a walk with God and focus on just being present with Him and He reveals why He is and always will be the greatest of all creators. He is an endless reservoir that will never run dry and if we drink from that well we will never thirst again. Sounds over-spiritual, nah, its over-real …. brute force and ignorance will never unlock true creativity no matter what deadlines you impose on your brain. If anything you will kill creativity. There is a reason why creative people are also soul-centric lovers of music, art, etc.
Pete, I’m not sure agree about the inefficacy of brute-force methods re true creativity. When I hit a writing block, I throw words at it until I have a ‘path’ to scramble over it and keep going – and then I return and refine the brute-force mess down to something that mirrors the Spartan elegance of my voice. (Yeah, RIGHT!)
* Anyway, it’s refined to fit the rest of the story; the point is to get past it, to keep up momentum and not let the story arc drop, and brute-force can work for that.
Drew, I have a high abstract reasoning trait, so I can churn an idea every which way until I get a solution, but my journey has informed me about a higher road – it is too involved to go into here. My old way tended to exclude God (not intentionally, just an acquired behavior), but calming my mind has deepened my faith and, as such, is instilling mental, emotional and physical well-being. It has also become a wellspring of creativity. In the face of a range of crises, letting go has been a life-saver.
I envy you that capacity, Pete. I was raised in the Zen tradition (and later spiritually adopted by an Orthodox Jewish couple), so I have a distinct framework for clarity of mind.
* I had to incorporate that ability into a subsequent career, which required a combination of patience, stillness of mind, extreme alertness and situational awareness, and the willingness to make a capital decision and act on it…plus dealing with the consequences, which could become physically very demanding.
* It also called for active biofeedback – I can alter my pulse (within limits) on demand.
* That sort of screwed up stillness for me. It became a tool used in the execution of something that was not particularly creative, but necessary.
Pete, this is a great description of the approach that is right for you, and I imagine many more writers as well. Other writers benefit most from brainstorming (not barnstorming :)) with their critique partners or mentors. Inspiration is received, for example, when you take a walk with God. Organizations and businesses, including various teams in publishing houses, use the brainstorming meetings to determine future plans. And sometimes brainstorming in a group is organic. I’ve observed it happening here on our blog when writers in our community share suggestions with each other to solve a problem or meet a need.
Thank Mary
I have long told my coworkers that I problem-solve from an obtuse angle, not straight on. I get a raised eyebrow or a sigh of doubt in response. Thank you, Pete, for your affirmation.
Brainstorming has always intimidated me a bit. AT least when I try to brainstorm with others. One of your suggestions I loved was to compare my objective with one that’s already been done. Then I can find the unique directions to take my story/characters/scenes. I find that brainstorming is most effective when others are working with me–they see things from a different angle and perspective, which leads to fresh ideas.
* I’ll play along for brainstorming. I need to find more creative setting ideas for some of my scenes where the characters are working together. They work in the same building. Does that make sense? Or, perhaps some ideas to liven up the settings that take place in that building. 🙂
The way I brainstorm Jeanne, is I have coffee with friends, and we inevitably get into some or other debate – it helps if you have a regular little forum like that. Then I just introduce what is on my heart, conversationally. It taps into a collective subconscious. They don’t even know I am brainstorming, which in a sense I am not. Hey, it serves two great purposes – I get different and new perspectives and I validate my current viewpoint. People love to be asked their opinion and people have such divergent experiences – any excuse for some great coffee – hope its available in heaven (chocolate too). So much of my anecdotal stuff comes from such coffee shop parliaments. So this way is informal and that leads to all kinds of free, open discussion … its always helped me and its stress-free informality.
I love that there are different ways of brainstorming for different people, Pete. 🙂 Sometimes coffee with friends and seeking their opinions helps me too. Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
Jeanne, if they work in the same building … maybe you could get creative with the building … the different places inside their building. My husband works downtown Dallas and his skyscraper work building has an underground … it’s like tunnels to get to other buildings nearby, with a food court like at the mall. There is Starbucks, Taco Bell … fast food chains and independent cooks …. (One cook actually chopped off the tip of his finger … had to add that! Ewww!) The tunnel leads outside, too … near a water fountain. 🙂 There are escalators that take you from the main floor building down to the underground part.
SHelli, these are helpful suggestions, thanks! I’ll think on how to incorporate this into the story. 🙂
Oh, Jeanne … there are also stairs in the high-rise building … people use them for exercising … and they are used during emergency drills (fire, terrorist attacks).
Maybe some of the areas could be limited-access, into which some characters are authorized to go, and some aren’t.
* It could be a part of the plot that one character just HAS to see another, who works in one of these areas…and how does that meeting get arranged?
Phone or email not being an option, obviously.
Thanks, Andrew. These are great thoughts. I like this. 🙂
Hi Jeanne,
How big is the building? Does it have a coffee shop? Parking structure? Her car won’t start and he jumps it? What about the doors that go around? Maybe her coat could get stuck in the door, and he helps get her loose?
Jackie, I like the way you think. 🙂 Hadn’t thought about a parking structure. Hmmmm.
Jeanne, I don’t know if this will help, but it’s a ‘building’ story of sorts.
* I knew an individual who had a cardiac arrest, and the oxygen deprivation affected his memory. He was on the ‘dead ward’ when a nurse had an idea – to bring in a dog. Animals can sometimes reach things people can’t and start a patient back on the road to the light.
* My Pit at the time volunteered (he was an ex-fighter who looked like Mike Tyson…on a day when you owed him a lot of money), and we conspired to smuggle him in at zero-dark-thirty, walking under a cart. Looked funny…a cart with squeaking wheels and padding feet that occasionally barked.
* The dog leapt up onto the bed – he knew what he was there for- and gave the typical slobbery happy-Pit greeting.
* The next day, full memory had returned for the patient, and two days later he was discharged.
Wow, Andrew. What a story! I’m going to let that mull and see what my mind decides to do with that. I love that your pit was able to help. 🙂
What if that building caught on fire, or someone got trapped in a cupboard or the refrigerator or a really small closet or under a desk because they were snooping or looking for a dropped object. What if someone dangerous hid in that building or was living in the basement or there was a stray cat, or raccoon or python somewhere in the building!!! Argh, do you see how I start out writing something serious…and then it morphs. But that’s OK, some people like to laugh.
Kristen, you made me grin. 🙂 What great ideas. Definitely mulling on them!
What about some kind of empty space that they both love to go to for a quiet space to work… but run into each other there. If its a modern office building- there could be a game area or workout space.
What if your characters get stuck in a rooftop garden space when a storm is bearing down on the town?
Mary, this is timely. I’m planning for NaNoWriMo, trying to nail down the plot points for the second book in my series. For some reason, though characters are strong, their key goals are eluding me. Thank you!
Figuring out character goals can be tricky. What do they want? What are they going to learn in the story? Maybe these will be a starting/jumping off point to nail them down . . . ? 🙂
Sondra, I would suggest writing short fiction exercises that follow your characters, singly or in combination, through situations unconnected with your book.
* I’d further suggest doing this as part of an ongoing ‘flash fiction’ contest; there are several around, but the one in which I regularly participate is called #BlogBattle. It’s hosted by Rachael Ritchey. Here’s her website –
http://www.rachaelritchey.com
* There are some really nice things about it – it’s keyword-themed, so you have to find a focus that connects to that keyword; there’s not much time between the issuance of the keyword and when entries close, so you can’t dawdle; and you get constructive feedback from some really good writers.
OK, brainstorming for character development
* Character – male, middle-aged, married, no kids. Former other-government-agency paramilitary, he’s now terminally ill
* Spiritual background – ‘cold-water’ Christian; to him God is the wrathful, kick-butt bada** OT God.
* Intended story arc – while he can, this character would like to make amends to the people he’s unintentionally distanced. He’s not a bad person, but he’s described as ‘coiled’, like a spring, or a snake. His paradigm for problem-solving is coldly-applied violence, and while that is of philosophical help in dealing with illness, it simply drives people further away. The intended ending would see him realizing that the distances to which he drove others wasn’t as great as he supposed, and that while not all wounds can be erased, a scarred relationship that continues is better than none at all.
* Intended spiritual arc – I’d like this character to see that the there is not a dichotomy between the OT and NT presentations of God; to see that wrath and love are part of the same picture, light and shade. A ‘personal relationship with Jesus’ is not realistic for him.
* My problem – I can’t see how to specifically change this character’s ‘introspective self-image’, so to speak, through dialogue and action. The one thing I want to avoid are long internal monologues, because he’s not built that way, and the device would be unconvincing. But I’d like to get him from a worldview that’s black and white and framed by rifle optics to one that admits warmth and sunshine, without killing off the bulk of what defined his life.
* One element that is perhaps helpful – he finds meaning, though he knows not what, in seeing the moment of sunrise,, and tries to witness it every day.
Andrew, could you add another character with strong faith into the picture? Maybe even a kid … someone to help him through dialogue, someone without anything to gain from him. Maybe in his daily sunrise moments, this person shows up with their problems, their new additions to the story, and their strong faith … enough to change his heart.
Interesting idea, Shelli, and resonates well – the character is very similar to Denzel Washington’s ‘John Creasy’ in ‘Man on Fire’; Creasy is redeemed by the love of the child for whom he was a bodyguard, and who was subsequently kidnapped. His redemption is found in retribution that’s ultimately self-sacrificial – and moving.
* The character development is elegantly done in the film, more with visual clues than dialogue. But the goal’s achieved.
Here are a couple thoughts. First of all, why is your character the person he is today? What past event made him into this person? What lie did he embrace from that event and how was he hurt by it? What truth does he need to learn? When you have these frameworks, it becomes easier to figure out the journey to get him there.
* I’m with Shelli. Adding a character who he respects and will listen to truth from will help your character grow without long internal monologues. Dialogue brings a lot out. I’m going to think more on this and see if any specifics come to mind. 🙂
He worked in a program similar to Phoenix in Viet Nam; in Phoenix, VC political and military cadre were identified, and specifically targeted with prejudice.
* The lie he embraced was created and reinforced by a previous romantic relationship; he was told that the blood on his hands was the mark of Cain. It hit him at a vulnerable time, and sank deep into his soul.
* I’m not sure if the goal can be defined as learning a truth. It’s phrased more in the operative sense of being able to say a proper goodbye to those he loves, but with whom he can’t be emotionally and spiritually intimate.
I love brainstorming with others. It’s like water flowing down a maze … with each additional input, the water travels another direction. It’s fun. And I love that there are no wrong answers. Say what comes to your mind.
**I have a young woman volunteering at a homeless shelter with a good reason to be there … I need a good reason for her hero–someone she’s known since childhood–to be there, too. He could be homeless … or not … undercover. 🙂
How about the hero is looking for a family friend or distant relative who dropped out of sight for reasons unknown…and he’s checking the shelters, because this individual has a history of drug/alcohol problems.
That’s great, Andrew. I was thinking of that … looking for his dad maybe … the undercover part … I love your ideas on that. Maybe he’s there first … hm. Maybe he’s been inviting her to come work there. Hm. And I love that you mentioned the word “drifting” … I hadn’t thought of that word. Thank you. 🙂
Shelli, as a PS…I would NOT have the hero working undercover. Three reasons –
1) The device is overused.
2) In almost all cases, great care is taken to ensure that an undercover operative is NOT placed into an environment in which he might be recognized by an old childhood friend. Granted, he could be working for a jurisdiction or agency that’s famed for ineptness (and there are some of those!) but that would take exposition that I suspect might distract from the story arc.
3) It’s a very basic part of training that covert work must be kept separate from one’s personal life. ‘Drifting’ can be – and often is – fatal to all concerned. Relationships are emphatically NOT started as a result of this kind of job.
Shelli, the idea that he’s working there first, and tries to get her to work there too – and she resists, both because of the place, and perhaps because she’s got reasons to be reluctant to get too close to him – could provide a nice element of dynamic tension, in a realistic way.
Yes, Andrew … and all of that exists–good reasons not to go to that place and good reasons not to go around him. And “what if” both of those reasons are the very reason she should go … 🙂 mmm hmmm. 🙂
Could the hero be working on a school project for his masters or seminary? Or could he work for a firm that does volunteer work in the city? Is the story set around a holiday season? Or has the shelter outgrown their current facility? Could the hero be hired to build, or find, a new location for the shelter? Hope that helps a little.
Jackie … you hit the nail on the head … I was thinking of him working on his seminary dissertation … with permission from the shelter, of course. Answering a question … for his dissertation. 🙂 And ooooh … you gave some helpful ideas. I love this … my mind whirling. 🙂
What if his car broke down in the middle of the night and he lost his wallet and a family heirloom and a priceless show dog. He has to find a place to sleep while he combs the street for the escaped Pomeranian.
Kristen, I love your writing. You are so much like Cynthia Hickey … so funny. Yes, he broke down underneath the mix-master highway in Fort Worth … right near the homeless shelter. It’s truly in walking distance.
Maybe your hero does social work there with some of the clients, or he’s a nurse/doctor who comes to care for the people staying at the shelter. Or maybe he’s the cook there. Or he runs some of the programs (after school tutoring, teaching skills, etc) for the clients.
Uh huh, Jeanne … I was thinking of working as a cook … I did an interview on Ron Hall once … he and his sweet wife worked in the kitchen … gave me lots of helpful information in that area. And who knew kitchen utensils could be so dangerous?! 🙂 Y’all are amazing. 🙂
In plotting my new story, I’ve got good reasons for the hero and heroine to fall in love. I’m having trouble coming up with stumbling blocks.
Heroine is left to raise her nephew, and she thinks she needs to focus on him and work–not romance. The hero is trying to start a project to help returning veterans, but he falls hard for heroine the first time he meets her.
I’d love suggestions on more ways to keep them apart. Thanks!
How about that he’d been falsely accused of a crime and acquitted, but that ‘stain’ is still attached?
* Or that her father has connections to organized crime, and HIS father was a prosecuting attorney at one time, many years before?
* Or that she begins to fall in love with one of the veterans he’s helping, and he doesn’t want to interfere with that, but carries a torch for her nonetheless.
* Do real people still say that…”carries a torch for her”?
Maybe they have opposing values. Maybe she loves children, but he had a bad experience when caring for kids and he doesn’t think he’d be a good parent/guardian. You can confirm this when the boy has a negative reaction to him the first time the hero meets the heroine’s nephew.
That’s a good idea, Jeanne. Thanks!
Interrogative – is the hero a veteran himself?
Andrew, yes the hero is a vet. Thanks for the helpful ideas!
What if he’s working with a rough group of veterans … what if she’s kind of uppity. What if they are Harley riders … and she detests that. She’s too good. She’d heard bad things about them.
What if her nephew comes down with a contagious illness like chicken pox–if he was vaccinated, maybe it’s a light case, but still contagious. Maybe he gets the flu. She can’t be around the hero for a time.
Harley riders? I love that idea. Thanks!
I’ll think about the illness angle. Thanks, Shelli!
Jackie, first, thank you for the prayers. They are appreciated, and currently much-needed.
* I’d be a bit cautious approaching the ‘Harley-riding veterans’ angle. It’s become a bit of a stereotype, and for many casts veterans in something of a negative light, given the association with the Hell’s Angels and the like.Most veterans who experience PTSD due to combat trauma are very ordinary people who have been through something that seared their souls; they’re not outlaws, in any way. On the contrary – they are all now volunteers, who went to war because they believed in the rule of law, and the basic goodness and value of their country. They just want their country to love them back, as much as they love it.
Thanks for the caution. I would never paint our veterans in a bad light. I have too much respect for them to do that.
Jackie, having read your comments for quite a while, I am confident that our veterans are safe and loved, in your literary arms.
* I don’t know your background, or the combat experience your hero’s experienced, but may I suggest some research reading that may help?
* First, on the subject of PTSD, two books by Dr. Jonathan Shay; “Ulysses in Vietnam” and “Odysseus in America”. Shay did extensive work with Viet Nam veterans, and while the experiences (and homecoming) were quite different to those of our Middle Eastern veterans, there is a lot of commonality, especially in the intensity of the combat experience.
* Second, if your hero is a veteran of Iraq, please take the time to read David Bellavia’s “House to House”; it’s his memoir of fighting in Fallujah. It is not an easy read, but you will find a surprising Christian message in the darkest moment. It’s a very accurate description of what urban combat is really like.
* If your hero is a veteran of Afghanistan, there are quite a few narratives; what was experienced there varied widely with AO and date. Stuart Tootal’s “Danger Close” is a good place to start. Tootal is British, and operated in Helmand, but his experiences are a good introduction to the operational ambiance and the nature of the enemy.
A reason a pregnant woman would stay with a known enemy.
I do NOT want to fall into the “he’s injured, she helps him, they fall for each other, she stays until her conscience wins out” trap.
Era-1869 Texas frontier, deep in Indian Country.
Because though he’s an enemy, he has the capacity for honour?
* You’re SO right about the cliche’d motivation.
Interrogative – how far along is she when her tenure in his presence begins? Is he an enemy by group association, or a personal one?
-has the capacity for honour (thank you for spelling it PROPERLY! 😉 ) but also for cold bloodedness.
-enemy by group association
-8 months along
That would make her trusting his honour the best and perhaps only choice she can reasonably make for the safety of the child, and for her own.
* Interrogative – what were women’s attitudes to the children they carried at the time, considering the very high infant mortality rate? Was the fierceness of mother-love we take for granted today in any way tempered by not wanting to get too close…and by the very real danger to the mother at childbirth?
Enemy knows how to deliver babies and she doesn’t?
Her pregnancy is a rough one, making it hard for her to move away from the enemy. She’s in need of help, and he’s the only one who can provide it (as in a place to rest during her pregnancy). Maybe her labor pains come early and hard and she has nowhere else to go . . .
* How does she come to be in that situation? Was she with a group of people traveling who, for some reason, disbanded or carried on without her?
* I’ll think more on this. 🙂
Because there is a worse enemy … the one she’s staying with is the lesser of two evils. 🙂
I am trying to write a scene where someone is pulled up into the air by a very large kite. Impossible you say? Nope, it happens. There is a kite festival at Ocean Shores every year and some of those kites are huge and fierce. The question…why is my heroine being so dumb as to attempt to fly this enormous kite by herself??? I have some ideas, but what do you guys think?
Is the setting subject to rapid changes in wind-speed? My part of New Mexico is; it can go from zephyr to gale in lass time than would be needed to reel in a kite.
* Is the kite hers, or is she holding it for a friend? “Here, hold this whilst I use the necessities” could work, if the friend is larger and much heavier.
* I don’t suppose Peter Pan could do a walk-on here…
-is she trying to save someone smaller than her and then gets swooped along?
-trying to impress someone(mean in-laws, a guy, a boss…)
Such great ideas you guys! I love the “here hold this kite” ha! I could see myself doing that. And saving someone is a great idea to make her seem less dumb, and yes a storm can blow up pretty quick along the shore causing all sorts of havoc.
Maybe someone told her she couldn’t fly the kite and she’s determined to prove them wrong. 🙂 Never mind that the kite is twice her size. 😉
That is part of her motivation, I’ll have to milk it for all its worth.
What if her kite string gets snagged on a boat … like a sailboat or speed boat. If she were in Arkansas, she could get snagged on a duck dining boat. There really are boats there that look like ducks. Are there any strange boats that people use for entertainment there, common for that area? 🙂
OOoooh! Great idea…the beach is really flat there though, and boats have to stay pretty far out…but the kite could drift…
It could be a pedal boat. 🙂
What if someone who wants to hurt her (unbeknownst to her) asks her to hold the kite with the hope that she will injure herself?
I write fiction, but before I sit down to work on my WIP I write poetry. I do this every day, right after my prayer and Bible reading time. And whatever wants to be written, I write. After I’ve done this, I’m usually (but not always) prepared to take on the next scene in my book–even though the poetry has nothing to do with my plot! Somehow this practice primes the pump for me.
That’s sweet, Hannah. I imagine Wendy Mac does that, too. 🙂
Yes, sweet Shelli, that’s exactly what I do. I like Hannah’s phrase, “this practice primes the pump for me.” 🙂
🙂 I knew it, Wendy.
I love brainstorming although I mostly do it for nonfiction and marketing ideas
I can start anywhere-with a word or theme or idea and just start popping out related thoughts and ideas. I can pick up a book on a related topic and check the TOC and start getting ideas. For craft books I write, I walk in a craft supply store and touch the materials/supplies and get ideas. I can also look up facts on a word and start getting ideas.
Great ideas, Karen.
Mary, you hooked me with your example that included “the expanse of the sky”. Last night, while out in my garden watering, I brainstormed a new chapter I’m adding to the beginning of a WIP (at the suggestion of a contest judge). Since I’m hoping to finish it in time for a new contest, I won’t ask for help here on such a popular blog since it will disqualify me. Thank you, again, for another inspiring post.
Blessings ~ Wendy
I wish you the best in the new contest, Wendy.
Thank you, Mary. I just finished the first draft of the new section, and now I need to debrief outside “under the expanse of sky”. Writing is an intense endeavor.
For me, inspiration comes when I am in nature, especially near a lake or in the woods.
I’m with you on that, Michelle.
I guess I’ll throw this into the arena. It’s not an easy request for brainstorming. It’s personal; please forgive that.
* Things are not going well, and I’m frightened to the core of where this bout of pain may lead. Please help me not to be.
You know we’ll be praying, Andrew. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3 KJV).
Mary, thank you so much, and I love the book of Isaiah, perhaps above all others.
* This is becoming a dark night of the body, if not the soul, and I am fighting back by trying to spread encouragement on every blog I have the strength to visit. It’s all I can do.
* I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. The Books and Such team, and this community, is one of the reasons I find the strength to get up in the morning, and keep moving during the day. When I meet God I shall tell him of you…not that He doesn’t know, but I’ll emphasize the point!
Andrew, I tend to be a reader and not one to comment very often, but I felt compelled to let you know that I’m praying for you. I have so appreciated your heart in your posts. I echo the verse Mary wrote–one I often hang on to–and I also love Psalm 138:8:
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Oh, and God just reminded me of Deut. 33:27:
The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He will thrust out the enemy from before you,
And will say, ‘Destroy!’
I usually just give the first half of that verse but decided to write it in its entirety.
I can’t imagine what you are going through, but do know I am praying for the presence of Jesus to be sweeter and stronger than you’ve ever known.
Judy, thank you for this. I love 138, and the phrase “the everlasting arms” has something of a double meaning for me…the arms that hold me, and the arms I can take up to fight the darkness.
* What I’m dealing with…the symptoms (think being shot in the upper abdomen, and I have been shot, so I know)…they are something I would not wish on my worst enemy (and I’ve had some doozys), but they have brought a knowing…that if it’s a zero-sum game, and this illness had to hit someone, I’m glad it’s me. Because me and God, we’re going to tun it inside out and wring it upside down, and scramble it back to front…and there will be joy in the morning.
* I never stopped smiling today. Because God’s on my side.
I’ll be praying, Andrew!
My thirty minute commute to work is through rural woodlands. I usually write for about two hours before I go to work, and the quiet drive gives me time to consider the work in progress. I also like to keep a journal for moments of inspiration.
To be honest, this is one time I can admit I am comfortably experienced with both brainstorming and inspiration. I was a reading specialist and on many school leadership teams. We didn’t waste time so the brainstorming sessions were rich and concrete. In my writing, I use the “wheel” method by forming the main idea and all its supporting features. These ay also have supporting details. I take this information and toss or keep, sequence in an orderly fashion, and organize the whole bundle.
For inspiration I have three different settings of beauty: my walnut farm, a Trappist monastery, and a lookout point. They offer a place to let myself relax, let go of the daily, pray, reflect, and write. I love it. If I go for a month or more without visiting one of these, I begin to tense up. I’ve written the contents for two books while visiting two of these places.
I agree with the delineation between the two. I also encourage my friends here to find a quiet setting to refresh and rejuvenate. The writing ideas will come and then flow.
Mary, this is so timely! Heading to a brainstorming session on Saturday with three talented author friends.
Good! I hope you have a wildly successful session, Jenni.