February's Inspirational Quote

"One Hour at a Time"
~ Laurie Wallmark.

Dear Laurie,
You might not recall saying this and perhaps I won't remember the specifics but you are our inspiration for the rest of February and maybe even March.

You and I were on the phone and talking about how hard it is to write a novel and as usual I was whining and feeling sorry for my long-a$$ journey. And you told me about how you were working and how busy you were so you wrote your novel one hour at a time. Astounded I said, "You wrote your novel one hour at a time?" And you said, "Yup." And I thought, "Wow... ... ..."

Often times we think we need - or I think I need - huge chunks of time set aside so I can write. Do you do that too? What if we gave ourselves one hour of each day? If it turns into two, well then fine, but if not, at least you still had your One Hour at a Time. So that is the motto of the month, thanks to ours truly, Laurie Wallmark.

We love you, Laurie!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Drive by Shooting

Need some inspiration to get your artist juices flowing this month? Take a look at this photo from a series of mine I like to call Drive by Shooting.
Ask yourself the following questions before you put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, or brush to canvas.
  1. What do you see when you look at this picture?
  2. What do you think of?
  3. What do you hear?
  4. What do you feel?
  5. What do you smell?
  6. Whose perspective is this?

Now take yourself out of this picture and ask all the same questions again but from your new character's perspective you think it's from. Is it a teenage girl on a reluctant journey? A scared boy running away from home? A puppy who lost his way? What is he thinking, feeling, seeing, hearing? What's locked him on this journey that's so out of focus?

If you feel safe enough to share, please feel free to leave it in the comment section. You have until March 1st. Good luck. And happy writing.