Cheryl:
Certain days are life changing.
The day you start school.
The day you leave home.
The day you get married.
The day your child is born.
But there’s another day that no one ever warned me about which might just too all the others: The day my second child became mobile.
Now he goes one way, and my toddler goes the other. I’m outnumbered, outsmarted, and still not sleeping through the night. I live each day in a permanent state of panic.
If I were a novel, there’s a good chance that this is where I would start.
When does your novel start? It should be, of course, on the day that something changes. But is it a cliche, like the first day of school? Or is it something smaller and yet just as significant?
Brenda:
In her book, The Artist’s Way : A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron suggests that we, as writers and artists, open ourselves to God, and for those who may be “uncomfortable” with that label for creativity, she further suggests that God is merely Good Orderly Direction.
Her book is covered, chapter by chapter, with quotes germaine to each page, in the wide margins. They come from ecclesiastics, artists of all kinds, famous individuals, who help point out the purpose of each page or subject.
To contemplate just a few:
“The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel.” ~ Piet Mondrian
“Straightaway the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God.” ~ Johannes Brahms
“Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.’ ” ~ The Talmud
“What we play is life.” ~ Louis Armstrong
“Creativity is harnessing universality and making it flow through your eyes.” ~ Peter Koestenbaum
” Why should we all use our creative power . . . ? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money.” ~ Brenda Ueland
On the same page as that last, I had written in another quote I liked: “If you CAN’T, you MUST! And if you MUST, you CAN ! ! !” Anthony Robbins
What quotes would you put in the margins of your book, if only to look at them again for yourself from time to time?
Me:
This morning I had the intense feeling I needed to contact my dear friend, Vickie. Vickie and I have been friends since eighth grade. She winds up in many, MANY of my novels. I love her and miss her.
Who winds up in your books over and over?
Who was in your life when you needed them?
Who influences different characters you put to paper?
Throwing Up Words 