Jul 19
“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible”— Jonathan Swift, author
In the movie, “The Magic of Belle Isle,” a single mother and her three children befriend their neighbor, a curmudgeonly wheelchair-bound writer, Monte Wildhorn.
When one of the daughters, 9-year-old Finnegan O’Neil, finds out Wildhorn (played by Morgan Freeman) is a writer, she hires him to give her lessons in finding her imagination. Read more
Seven months into the year, and I realize I’ve been through so much: the passing of my mother, our two-week remodel that turned into nine-weeks, a mini-family reunion, and both expected and unexpected travel. I’ve had many different stressors and felt a gamut of emotions: sadness, grief, fear, love, joy, fatigue (well, maybe that last one isn’t exactly an emotion, but it should be!)
As I work on my next book—imagining my story and going deeper into my characters—I realize that my seven months have been a blessing, in more ways than one. Read more
As I write my next book, I find it helpful to think back on what has excited me about other stories or characters.
In my last post, I shared a few of my favorite scenes or ideas from the movies. Below is my list of recent in-print favorites. These are either scenes, images, objects or themes that have stuck with me and made me wish I’d come up with the them.
Novels:
Karen Marie Moning’s “Fever” series. In her fantasy world, “Death-by-Sex” Faes can turn their powers off and on, capturing a person with lust. One of these Faes uses a pearl necklace in a very erotic, highly charged way. It’s one of the most unique and memorable “sex” scenes (there’s no actual sex) I’ve ever read. This is one of those scenes I wish I’d written. I’ve written more about this in my post, “How to Write a Good Sex Scene.” Read more
Jul 11
I know more than a few people who told me that they wanted to write a novel, but their sentences didn’t match up with the image in their minds. So they quit. This video is for them and for all of us who need to remember that it takes daily practice to realize our “vision.”
Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and some image or scene makes you think, “That’s brilliant! I wish I’d thought of that!”
Last weekend, I was working on my next book and began to wonder about my favorite scenes, objects, and ideas that have wowed me in print or on the screen.
What makes them stand out? Where’s the magic?
Below are a few movies that stand out for me and why.
Movies:
Evita – My hubby and I recently saw this movie again and both started bawling in the scene where Eva is dying and her husband, Juan Peron, carries her so tenderly up the stairs. He brushes off the hired help who is supposed to help his wife and carries her himself, cradling her in his arms. The gesture is so touching, it makes his love for her come alive. I’m reminded how powerfully an outward gesture can portray an inner emotion. Read more
Passion for music led singer, songwriter, and guitarist Boz Scaggs to a successful career. Passion led him to find his own unique style. And you can do the same as a writer.
Scaggs picked up a guitar when he was 12 years old and immersed himself in music in the 1950s, listening to every style he could find on the radio. Despite that, he said in an interview recently in Luxury Las Vegas magazine, that he doesn’t think he’s a particularly gifted musician compared to vocalists like Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael McDonald. While he can emulate the nuances of Sam Cooke and other singers, Scaggs said Cooke has a texture to his voice that is uniquely his. Read more
The trick to publishing a best selling novel just might depend on how deeply you build your protagonist’s emotional intensity.
In an interview in The Irish Echo online, best-selling author Michael Connelly explained why his first two novel writing attempts didn’t work. While shadowing a homicide detective on his job as newspaper reporter in Florida, Connelly noticed the detective – intent on his investigation – would place the earpiece of his eyeglasses in his mouth as he examined the crime scene. Later, when the detective took off his glasses, Connelly noticed that the detective had bitten a groove into the earpiece.
That telling detail revealed the depth of the detective’s internal emotion and intensity for his job. Read more
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