Muse Food – The Details Few People Notice
I recently shared this photo with you.
What you might not have noticed and I only noticed because I enlarged it on my screen is the millipede on the fallen tree trunk in the upper left hand corner of the photo.
Writers do this ALL THE TIME. Mystery Writers are especially skilled at this. They weave little details into their stories that might seem like throwaway lines, lines that don’t mean anything.
Yet they very much mean something. These details can be foreshadowing. They can hint that all is not normal in the world (The movie, The Sixth Sense, did this very well.). They can be the clue that solves the mystery.
Care about the little details. They are often the difference between a good story and a GREAT story.
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Write Like No One Is Reading
Professional writers usually have a reader (representing a group of readers) in mind when we’re crafting our stories. We live off the earnings from our stories. There has to be a market for them.
This is a bit…restricting. Our characters can’t do or say or think this or that or the reader will put down the story.
My best writing, however, often happens when I write like no one, except myself, will ever read my stories.
That’s how Releasing Rage happened. I wrote that cyborg romance for myself.
And that is what I’m doing with the Super Secret Project. I’m writing it for myself.
If other readers love it and there’s a market for it, great. I’ll be happy the Super Secret Project makes them happy.
(And the Dear Wonderful Hubby will be happy to have the funds for exciting things like…food. – grins)
But it is being written like no one else will ever read it, without this mythical reader’s preferences in my head.
And it has been SO MUCH FUN.
If you can afford the time (and the loss of income), writing buddies, consider writing something (a novel, a short story, a line) purely for yourself.
This might give you joy also.
(smiles)
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Muse Food – Kuala Lumpur Tower And Partially Obstructed Views
The Dear Wonderful Hubby took this beautiful photo of Kuala Lumpur Tower partially hidden between tree branches.
We can see some of the tower, enough to know it is a tower, but not all of it.
Overheard conversations and viewed at a distance meetings in our stories are similar. Our hero/heroine can hear some of the conversation or see some of the action but not all of it.
And these gaps in their perception, their partially obstructed view, can lead to misunderstandings, sometimes amusing reactions, and in extreme cases…murder.
(grins)
Have you ever used a ‘partially obstructed view’ in your stories?
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Muse Food – Who Is Watching?
We saw these two little ‘guys’ intently watching some action on the pier.
(smiles)
Who is watching your hero’s or heroine’s actions? Why are they watching? What will these observers do with the information they gain? How will being watched change your character’s future?
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Muse Food – Bridges And Transitions
Transition scenes are, admittedly, my least favorite scenes to write. I have to get my character from one point to the other and I’m usually in a rush to get to that second point. That’s the scene I really want to write.
But transition scenes are like bridges.
And we all know bridges can be super exciting. The bridge over a steep drop could be holding on by a flimsy and rapidly fraying strand of rope. The bridge could be guarded by a troll who demands a price the hero/heroine isn’t willing to pay. The enemy could be waiting at the end of it. A giant eagle could swoop down and carry our hero/heroine off while they are attempting to cross the bridge.
Make that transition scene interesting, my friends.
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Muse Food – Slowing It Down
When I make a soup broth, I cook the ingredients in a crockpot for 8 hours or so. It is a slow process but, stars, it is SO good.
When I’m writing a scene in which I want the reader to cry while reading it, I slow that scene down. Tremendously. I have to give the reader time to sit with their emotions, to then express them.
The story I’m telling now (the Super Secret Project) is also slowly being told. It is a BIG story and it requires a lot of words and time. And that’s okay. It is what the story needs.
Don’t be afraid to slow things down. Some masterpieces need AND deserve time.
(smiles)
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Muse Food – Hidden From Immediate View
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spotted this beautiful flower hidden from our immediate view by lush green leaves. We had to crouch to see it.
Is there something your main character notices that no one else does because it is hidden from immediate view or semi-concealed?
This could be their love interest’s true character or an explosive device placed by an enemy or a safe concealed behind a painting or something else.
(This happens quite often in murder mysteries. – grins)
How does that hidden something change your character’s future?
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Muse Food – Abandoned Boats
This abandoned boat was spotted far from shore and far from any buildings.
How did it get there?
Did a sea god pick it up with his giant hand and relocate it?
Did a massive wave sweep it far inland?
Did a group of drunken teens steal it from their teacher’s yard and hide it in the woods?
We don’t know. But we DO know it has a story.
What do you think the story is?
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Muse Food – Mechanical Horses And Other Surprises
I think my cyborgs would love this mechanical horse. They would definitely try to ride her. (grins)
I love it because it is a surprise. Of all the things to create out of gears and metal, I would have never expected a horse.
Because horses are purely organic. And they are a transportation means from older times. The purely mechanical car replaced them for many people.
Give your readers a happy surprise or two in your stories also. Give them that wonder.
(smiles)
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Muse Food – Landslides And Foreshadowing
Almost everything in life can be ‘predicted’ or foreshadowed at least a little bit.
There are often rumblings before a landslide. There might be near misses in a dangerous intersection before a fatal crash happens. A job seeker has a third interview before they’re offered a job. A condom breaks months before a ‘surprise’ pregnancy.
When crafting your story, consider putting in subtle foreshadowing.
Give readers who pay attention to details the absolute joy of guessing the next ‘surprise’ twist correctly. And other readers who guessed incorrectly, the ‘Duh. I should have seen that coming.’ experience that takes your story to the next level of awesomeness for them.
(smiles)
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