Life passes on . . . day-by-day,
month-by-month, and year-by-year. We
settle into a rhythm and seem content.
How totally boring is that?
Wake up! Look around you
. . . then ask, “Is this what I want out of life? Is this where I want to be at this point of
my life? Isn’t there more?” We need a jolt of awareness before we’re dead
and buried.
Okay, that’s a bit dramatic – even totally dramatic - but – hey
– am I all that far off? Look around you
and make a mental note of people you admire and even envy just a bit. What makes them intriguing? Why or how have they grabbed your attention?
These people are ‘character material.’ Yep.
Don’t choose the cowboy who rides his horse across the ranch - checking
fences day after day. Find the cowboy
who rides the rodeo circuit and finds himself unconscious in the dirt, a knife
in his hand, and a dead body at his side.
“Put drama on the page and don’t let
up until the end . . . and maybe not even then.”
Leave the ho-hum behind you and charge those pages with passion, extreme
situations, bizarre conditions, mysterious places, pragmatic positions, and
even mystical circumstances.
Consider telling your story with the zeal and eagerness of an
inquisitive child. Create characters
that instil in us - the reader - the desire to discover, disclose, divulge, and
expose. Build the intrigue and inject
enough evidence to challenge the reader.
Remember to use perceptions, impressions, and even sensations.
If you’re writing in the mode of ‘oh hum’ . . . it’ll surface on
the pages. You’re tired and beaten down
and you’re writing because you have a deadline.
Don’t! It’s as simple as that.
Write with attitude, energy, and excitement or don’t write at
all.
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