Writing scenes and creating characters - techniques

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm off to Quebec City for a few days on a business trip. Then, I'm off for 1 1/2 weeks on holidays! The plan: to get tons of writing done.



My question to you writers is, do you use the Goal-Motivation-Conflict technique in your writing? Do you apply GMC to both internal and external goals?

Joan Swan over at Romance Worth Killing For wrote an interesting post about Robert Gregory Brown's attitude, emotion, goal and action technique. Swan says:

In relation to character development though, RBG brought it all back together for me with one simple concept: imagination + self.

He says every character he writes is him--hero, heroine, secondary, tertiary, one-liners. They're all him...

RBG suggests you ask yourself, if this were me, how would I handle the situation?

My next question is, do you get your characters from within yourself? Or, do you create characters externally? Or, if none of the above, how do you make your characters seem real?

UPDATE: Therese Walsh over at Writer Unboxed has posted the 'Mother of all Character Interviews.'

Friday's Excuse Not To Write

Reprinted with permission from 101 Excuses Not to Write.

Looking for gmail invite

Does anyone know anyone who knows anyone who can send me a gmail invitation? I really would like a gmail account for all my online correspondence, but I have no invite and they won’t text to cell phones in Canada.

Update: That was easy!! Thanks Rick! And Dennis! And Javed! And Maria!

Getting off the hamster wheel

Ray Rhamey over at Flogging the Quill answers my question about how to get off the hamster wheel and finish my manuscript!!! Check it out here.

Pristine Beauty

Albino PeacockPhoto by Shannon.

Found this on the web. What words come to mind when you see it?

Friday's Excuse Not To Write

Reprinted with permission from 101 Excuses Not to Write.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

All writers should be aware of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Check out the great post at Writer Unboxed. It tells you what CTS is, who's at risk, and what you can do.

Expect book prices to fall as dollar rises, booksellers say

Canada - Booksellers predict the price of imported books should drop this fall due to the rising value of the Canadian dollar.

The strong dollar should make it cheaper to buy books produced in the United States – but consumers complain that price differential is taking a long time to work its way onto bookstore shelves.

Savvy consumers have been objecting about the big price difference between the U.S. dollar price printed on the back of a book and its Canadian dollar equivalent. Read more…

I'm a Mercedes SLK!

You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Weekend Update

Debra Dixon’s workshop on goals, motivation, and conflict and the hero’s journey was awesome. She’s one of those people who can hold your interest the entire day, and her only prop was an overhead projector! I know she teaches, so I’m guessing that’s why she’s so comfortable on the stage.

The information was much of what I’ve read before, but I always enjoy hearing it in a fresh way. I will post more about it this week, but right now I have to go watch Survivor!

I also got a chance to meet two blogger friends in person, Stephanie and Nelsa. Keep an eye on Stephanie’s site in case she shares some of the workshop. I also met some other great writers that belong to the Toronto Romance Writers.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a great week. Those of you going to the Romantic Times Annual Booklovers Convention, have a great time and don’t forget to take lots of notes and lots of pictures!! Stupid me, I forgot my camera for my conference. But, I did get a signed book, so woo hoo!

Have a great week all, and get lots of writing done!!
Nienke

A Conny Weekend

I’m in such a good mood.

This weekend I’m going to see Debra Dixon, novelist and publisher, speak on goal, motivation, and conflict (she is author of the book, GMC:  Goal, Motivation and Conflict). She is presenting at the Toronto Romance Writers (of which I’m now a member – woo hoo!)

Next week, many of my blogger friends are attending the Romantic Times Annual Booklovers Convention in Daytona, Florida. More than 250 authors will be there signing their books. How cool is that?

Can you just imagine the cool blog posts next week?

Are you going to the convention? If so, what is the most exciting part about it for you? (Dana – besides wardrobe – although the clothes you are bringing could make up a convention alone. LOL)

Positive Progress Report

Two thumbs up on my progress report. I didn’t do as much writing as I’d have liked this week due to illness, but that has passed now, and I’m ready to get at it.

My discovery of visualization has put me in a whole new position for writing. Instead of sitting down (or avoiding sitting down) at the computer and not knowing what to write, I have scenes in my head that, if I don’t write them down soon, are going to grow out my orifices like weeds grow through cracks in the sidewalk.

I actually finished Chapter One and have a doozey cliffhanger ending. So, this weekend I’m going to dedicate lots of time to BIC with FOK. (Butt in chair with fingers on keyboard.)

Sunday is time for another ‘Write-Ons Word War,’ so that will motivate me to get more words on the page. I’ll do some brainstorming between writing shifts to get the visualization going full tilt.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Nienke

Visualization

Paperback Writer says, “Until I can run the entire story through my head comfortably, without blips, concerns, blank spots or hitches, I don't attempt to get into research, make up a notebook, write a formal outline or proposal, etc. That full-story visualization is really important to me and my process; it may not be as important to other writers..."

Visualization is something I’m just discovering in my writing and, perhaps, one of the reasons why sitting down and just typing away is so hard for me at times.

Often when I’m doing other things, I mull over my story. When I get some ideas of what’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen, that’s when I can sit down and just pound out the words. I need to be able to see/visualize the scene before I can actually write it.

I do outline, but my outline is a one-line description of the scene (like boy meets girl) along with the goals and motivations for that scene. I don’t outline how that scene unfolds. This, I now know, I must do in my mind, because I can’t ‘wing it’ at the keyboard.

So, I’m curious, do you visualize your scenes when you outline, before you sit down to write, or as you’re writing? How far do you plan each scene before you write it?

I've been memed

I thought I had managed to stay under the radar but, alas, I have been memed.
Lady Tess has tagged me with the Six Meme, so, here goes.

Six minutes to yourself - how would you spend them: curled up on the couch with my dog, a good book, and a hot cup of English Breakfast tea.
Six bucks to spend right now - how would you spend it: on a used book from Amazon.com
Six items you'd leave behind if your house were on fire:

1. boxes of unfiled papers


2. bedroom set (yay, I could get a new one!)


3. boxes of knick knacks I don’t know what to do with


4. clothes that don’t fit me that I should have thrown out anyways


5. my to-do list


6. unwashed laundry (lots of good kindling here)

Six items you'd grab if your house were on fire:

1. my husband


2. my dog


3. my Alphasmart Neo


4. my iPod


5. my photo albums (both hard copy and digital)


6. the “Grandmother” clock my father made me

Six words you love: “We’ve decided to publish your book.”
Six things you want to accomplish before you leave the earthly plane:

1. finish writing a book


2. have that book published


3. Alaskan cruise (with a stint on a helicopter)


4. find true inner peace and satisfaction


5. get good at golf


6. skydive

I won’t tag anyone, but if you’d like to do the Six Meme, go ahead and let me know when you post it!