Creative juices. What are those? According to an online
dictionary, “Creative Juices” are the expressive side of one's imagination, and
precursor to creative thought. Getting those juices flowing are only a piece of
a writer’s goal. Discipline and the drive to write (or type) those words are
also very important.
What are some of the things you can do to put that much
needed spark into your day? One of my favorites has always been WHAT IF?
Pick up a recent newspaper (or find one online) and find an
article about something that doesn’t happen every day, preferably something
that would be scary or emotional. For instance, Hawaii recently experienced an
inbound missile warning, although it was a false alarm can you imagine the fear
and worry that ran through their minds?
Writing prompt: You’ve just started your day and so far it’s
like any other day. You’re drinking your morning coffee thinking about your commitments
for the day… suddenly there is an ominous howling. It only takes a second or
two when you realize that the high pitched yowl is a warning of an inbound
missile. There is nothing you can do.
How do you react? Do you reach out to family to say goodbye?
Maybe all you want to do is sit in the dark and wait, for what? Take a piece of
paper and really think about it, really immerse yourself in the scenario. Free
write for 20 minutes. Be honest, cry or yell if you have to. What would you
have done in the 27 minutes it took for the official word that the alarm was
false? And afterwards, would you regret or be embarrassed by anything you did
in those 27 minutes?
By choosing something that is emotional, frightening and
desperate it is easy to pretend to the point of believing. Write from your
heart. Close your eyes and envision what is happening around you. (If you feel
your palms sweating, you are doing great!)
Choose another scenario. Maybe you were on the train in Washington
that derailed when cars fell to the ground. Look on the internet and find an
article about it. Read it and imagine being in the middle of the terror,
imagine hearing the screeching and the roar of the train as it flew off the
tracks and off the overpass.
Think of how you would feel if you had been in that horrible
situation, pinned or paralyzed from fear when suddenly you see a rescuer coming
your way. Think about the people around you that are injured and crying, think
about anyone around you who is all too silent. Again, free write for 20 minutes
and describe the scene from your viewpoint ON THE TRAIN.
Emotion can provide the impetus to get words onto paper.
Keep practicing every time you read about something very scary and write about
it as if it were happening to you. Practice writing in 1st person because you
want to be in the middle of it (pretend at least). You want readers to HEAR it
from the inside. Start out writing as yourself, eventually write as a fictional
character in your story — don’t plot, don’t edit, just write. (Edit only after
you’ve come to the end of your story, don’t interrupt your thoughts.)
Writing Exercise:
Choose something from your childhood that you thought was very
traumatic. Maybe you crashed your bicycle and your mother was there to pick you
up. To the child you were it was probably scary. Write about what happened,
write how scared and upset the child was. BUT you should write from the point
of view of your mother. Choose whatever event you remember as being emotional
and write from the point of view of whoever came to your rescue.
Writing Prompt: We
always say “show don’t tell”. Write using your senses. Think about any scary
scenario (use a newspaper article if you need ideas). Make a list of the
sounds, smells and feels (temperature, wind, dampness, etc.) that would
surround you in this setting.
Challenge Assignment: Think about a horror movie (book or story).
Choose any 3 to 4 characters. Write a brief scenario from each character’s
point of view. Put emotion into it.
