Creativity

I really admire people with a high sense of creativity. It really takes a lot these days to come up with a truly unique idea. I'm amazed by the amount of remakes and sequels there are in the movie theaters these days. And when you look at the line-up on TV, it's easy to tell that they have run out of ideas.

Sometimes I just stare out the window while my husband is driving the car and think of anything that I can. My goal is to think of things that people never thought before. If I can think of an idea and know that it was truly mine, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

In a way it kind of reminds me of when I was a little kid. One day I was strolling around by our mammoth-sized willow trees and a similar thought occurred to me. I thought about how everything I say has been said before by at least one other person in the world. The thought consumed me and made me so frustrated. In the midst of my angst I started jabbering the most strange sounds I'd ever made, just as an attempt to say at least one sequence of noises that had never been uttered before. Weird, right? Yes. But to me, it meant defeating the idea that everything has already been done.

My goal in writing is to do something that hasn't already been done. When I read, I don't want to read about things I already intricately know. Take me somewhere I never knew existed. Reveal to me characters that I will never be graced with the opportunity to meet. Make me aware of who I could be, what courage is, how beautiful the ordinary is, and how complex this life is. Give me creativity.

A Quick Update on My Novel

Yesterday I didn't write a whole lot, but I came forward in leaps and bounds in my ideas and plot twists.  I got a lot of help from my husband again.  I really don't know what I would do without him.  He forces me to not have writer's block!

I'm going to be picking up some books from the library on Wednesday so I can do some research  about the setting and formalities of certain things that are included in my book.

I've been working on re-writing my beginning so the first thousand words are out of this world.  I realized my beginning was too boring and wouldn't really give the reader any idea of where the book is going.  So I have included my best writing styles, (action, dialogue, emotion, awesome setting, foreshadowing...) and it is going well.  I have no idea how long this book is going to be.  The way we keep adding more and more complications to it, I'd say it will be pretty long, but you never know.  I need to figure out how many book pages are the equivalent of one Microsoft Word page.

Another little update on my life is that I can now read eBooks on my laptop.  I downloaded free software called Adobe Digital Editions, and I can download library books on there which is pretty cool.  I'm reading more than I ever have now that I'm writing a novel, because it's how I get full of creativity, and it helps me to see what I like about other authors and what I can do to better my writing.

I guess that's about it for now.  Back to writing!  And just in case I don't write another post for a while, I hope you all have a great Christmas!

The Unseen, Almost Co-Author (Drum roll please...) = My Great Husband!

If you knew my husband at all, you'd know he hates to write.  He sits down to write something and can't think of what to say.  It takes him a good two hours to write a couple pages of a letter.  Sometimes that's just how people are.  There really aren't that many people that actually do enjoy writing.

But, man, has he got some good ideas!  The best twists in my story have come from the mind of my husband.  He takes some of the corny ideas I have and make them into heart-pounding action, unexpected twists, and takes away all resemblance to overly-done same-plot every time Christian Romance novels. 

He tells me what he thinks would make a good turn of events or another thickening of the plot, and I most of the time disagree and say "Oh that would never work", but then I think about it and I find myself gasping, "How genius!  You're so imaginative!"  (Then I bow in humble adoration of the all-wise, mighty husband)  Just kidding.  But yes, he is good. 

We then continue our discussion and elaborate on the idea together, I give him ideas, and he takes off and hands me back some more ideas.  We go like his for a while until we figure we have covered that whole section and I realize that I know exactly what needs to be written and just how to do it.

I absolutely adore his ideas and as a team we have come up with some great ideas for my novel.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to end my story and now I have come up with an idea that I am actually thrilled about!  What would I do without my husband?  When we got married I realized how different we are, and I wondered why God would put us together, because we seem so opposite and have completely different hobbies and interests.  But over time, I have come to realize that God knew we would be perfect for each other, because we shape each other into a perfect balance of both of our worlds.