Your Novel: A Collage Approach

By Biusch (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

We often think about our ambitions in too cerebral a way, when it can be more powerful to feel our dreams and let our unconscious take over.  Getting a powerful sense of the mood of a story or book, for example, can help us to tap our voice, our world, our plot, our mood more easily.

So why not create a collage of your dreams?  If you want to write that fantasy novel, use magazine pics that remind you of the story, such as the winged beings and moonlit adventures you envision.  If you want to write a noir novel, what visuals from films and art speak to your aesthetic?  When you've made it, gaze at your collage every morning and night, experiencing it and feeling it.

As writers, I find we are often unblocked by living in the heart as well as the head.  That way, our deeper selves are already in action, before we even start.

Do let me know how it goes!

Pep Talk: Confidence Tips from Superstar Drag Queens

RuPaul in drag (photo credit below)

This is an excerpt from my new monthly column at the Grub Daily entitled Pep Talk, in which, as Grub Street's Confidence and Writing Coach, I help you to feel positive about your work and writing career.  The column is written under my other name.  You can read the whole post here.

On RuPaul’s Drag Race the other night, a beautiful drag queen named Coco Montrese was ripped apart by the judging panel.  Part of Coco’s challenge had been to give an ex-marine who was new to drag a successful makeover.  The judges said that “Horchata”—the newbie queen on Coco’s team—had terrible eyebrows, bad make-up, and a dress that looked like it had been ripped from Coco’s own.  Poor Coco was almost in tears.  Why, she cried, did she always fail the judges?  She tried so hard to please them.  Why did she get rejected?

Well, you know what RuPaul advised the beautiful, super-talented Coco?  He said that she needed to learn to enjoy the criticism and have fun with it.  “If you’re not enjoying it, the audience won’t enjoy it.”  Coco nodded, damp-eyed.

Now, I told you that to tell you this:  A couple of years ago, when I was working as a literary magazine editor...  (For the rest of the post, click here.)

Photo credit: David Shankbone, via Wikimedia Commons

Boston, Peace, and Stilettos for Writers

For all fellow Bostonians, may you be safe, well, and trouble-free today.  My thoughts are with those who have been most affected.

As a Brit who now lives in Boston, I spent my childhood in the London area, where the IRA bombings were.  In Britain, we still bear the memory of that time.  My partner Angela was amazed when she came with me to London and realized that there was nowhere on the street to put trash.  Even the train stations are devoid of litter bins--we learned, so tragically, what those bins could be used for.

And of course, while the tragedy continues in Boston, explosions are also happening around the world, often on a daily basis.  So I'm thinking of everyone affected by attacks, war, and other violence.

Peace, dear Boston.  How I love you.

What's more, I want to let you know about my new post at the Grub Daily.  It is about characterization through possessions, through objects, and it's called "When a Stiletto Isn't a Stiletto (Or What Our Characters Carry)."  Please enjoy.

Photo credit: By Summerdrought (own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons