Have you experienced the same irony of characters that I have?  When you want one, or at least want the one you’ve got to be…well, more than they are…it seems characters can be hard to find.  On the other hand, if you’re writing hard or working on another project or even just trying to sleep, your mind fills with crowds of characters.

Perhaps this is similar to the  old Irish fairy stories in which you can see the fey in your peripheral vision, but if you look at them straight on, they can prevent being seen.  I look hard at one project, and characters crowd into my side vision.

Problem is, I usually forget all about this truth when I am lonely and looking for a character.  If I would just look hard at an art project or even the dishes, they’ll crowd my shoulders soon enough.

An acquaintance that is developing into a nice friendship was the source of an invitation to a holiday open house at the unique residence he shares with his partner.

The house is a museum.

My friend sold and brokered art for 24 years.  His love of portraiture shows.  I lost count on the stairs alone.  In addition to antique and more modern portraits and paintings, beautiful antique furniture from several eras fill this home.  I could identify Empire, Art Nouveau, Queen Anne, and Rococo…I wish I knew more about antiques so I could have fully appreciated what I was seeing.

I listened to stories about the 77 year old house, stories of some of the pieces in the house, and stories of how some were acquired.  His partner and I discussed preferences for decorative glass and different eras for furniture.  I learned what a luster was and admired a full set of depression glass dinnerware (missing only the oil lamp).  We talked about architecture, renovation versus remodeling, and probably a hundred other topics that evening.

I couldn’t help the concepts for historical or supernatural stories that could feature this armoire or the girl in that painting.  Even the house would be a strong character with its stone facade and interesting corners.  Much more than these, however, were stories centered around people who dealt in antiques for the love of it and were drawn to old things for reasons they didn’t understand.  And just how far would a collector go to obtain the perfect set of pink lusters?

Where’s the most inspiring location you’ve been to?

I count money as part of my day job.  A few weeks ago I ran across a ten dollar bill that was stained with rust.   The red and orange coloration ran up the bill in the creases and lay across the bottom, as if it had wicked up the color from rusty water.

Oh, how frustrating to not have a moment to jot a note.  A story idea came, but was gone by the time I could write it down.

Surprisingly, it came back in full force as soon as I saw the ten again. Two characters and a location came to mind.  Over the next few hours I kept paper close by as the plot resolved itself and small details began to fit in.  A heist, a betrayal, a murder, and a hiding spot that remains undiscovered for some time…yup, quite a lot from a bill with a reddish stain on it, even knowing blood would stain the bill brown, not red.

I’m currently developing the concept into a novel-length work titled Blood Money.

What’s your craziest source of inspiration so far?

I’ve said before that inspiration can be found just about anywhere.  This week I’ll share three such incidents that happened to me recently.

When I’m not writing (and that always seems to happen from mid-November to mid-January), I’m usually indulging in some other creative outlet such as designing houses or handwork.  Last weekend I was on an art website looking for inspiration for a room when it happened.

I felt as if I was looking in a mirror.

The portrait was of a woman of similar age with the same facial structure, same shoulder set, same ears, same jaw, same furrow in her brow.

So of course my writer brain goes a bit nuts producing three or four scenarios for short stories and novel-length stories about a heroine who stumbled across a portrait that looked so much like her it was uncanny.  Add to this a 400 year time span between the life of the heroine and the life of the portrait’s subject.

The plot pot started to boil.

That’s all it takes.  Some off the cuff comment or a glimpse at an antique portrait can set your writer mind in action.

Where have you found inspiration lately?

The photo here is a good image for what my MC will be facing in the next day or two.  Is she ready?  Am I?

I cannot express the joy I experience when I start a new novel.  I thought perhaps it was just a personal thing, but I was told today that my whole demeanor changes when I’m in the throes of composition.  I’m more relaxed, my body language is more open, and ideas come more readily.

I’m 36 hours into Deluge and loving every minute.  I get to insert a few scenes tonight and write two new ones.  I have no idea if it is any good, and really don’t care.  I’m laying down words from that secret place inside of me and loving every minute of it.  I’m nervous, thrilled, a bit frightened, and really enjoying the ride.

How do you experience the first day or two of a new writing project?  Is it a thrill or frightening?

I’ve never kept it a secret.  I like edits the least when it comes to the writing process.  I’m always tempted to do them as I go or to jump into them too soon.  Maybe I think that will combat the fact that  I feel inadequate to the task every time I sit down to do it.  Maybe it is because edits always begin about the time I think I’ve written 200 pages of pure crap.

That’s why I leave edits til the very end and try to get a few days away from the project (and try to pretend I like what I wrote).  I could do the line edits and scenes as I went along, but I lose something if I do.  K. L. Going put it this way:

But what happens when you’ve turned your attention from the task of creating to the task of improving?  What’s at stake is creative momentum.  Momentum can be a powerful force to keep you moving through the writing process.  Writing is not easy, and the task of finishing an entire book can be daunting, but it’s easier to keep going when you’re working hard and your story is flowing well than it is when you’re picking something up cold.  You know you’ve got momentum when each day’s work leads into the next, and you just can’t wait to finish the scene or chapter that you leave dangling the night before.

I like that description of creative momentum and know it is absolutely true for me.  My husband reminds me that I’m not obligated to write every day.  But I am.  I need to in order to keep the creative process flowing.  If I put it down, take even a day or two off, I become disconnected.  It then becomes hard or uncomfortable to pick it up again.

Despite the schedule, despite issues at work, I had to write every day, even when all I did was work, sleep, and write a page.  When the creative part dries up even though I’m faithful, then I begin to look at edits.

What is your experience with the transition from creative production to edits and refinement?  Do you suffer from first draft letdown or do you jump right in?

Note:  The last three weeks have been an ugly kind of hell, but I think I might be getting my life back.  Posting should resume on schedule.

It’s so easy to get caught up in routine and practice, and that’s not a bad thing.  I write every day in one form or another.  Sometimes I forget I also need at least brief periods away from the pen.

Why?  That’s when I’m thinking.

There’s something wonderful about leaving the pen and keyboard for a day or two.  Housework gets done (no, really!), movies get watched, books get read, art gets absorbed, and conversations happen.  All the while, my little writer brain is feverishly at work creating concepts, characters, or seeds of ideas.   In a short time my mind will grow gravid and heavy.  The next time I pick up that pen, all kinds of interesting things develop.

So, while I’m looking like this:

it is a useful pose to help me do this:

I think the best job for a writer is something monotonous and rhythmic.  Something like shelving books at the library or sorting objects by color keeps the hands and the surface mind occupied.  That’s when my writing mind really comes alive.  Washing the dishes, mixing dough, even cleaning the bathroom…things that take some attention but not a lot, and creativity rises to bubble over.  I can get there crocheting an afghan, hand stitching, wiping up counters.  Wouldn’t it be an easy thing if I could get a paycheck for showing up at the library to shelve books, my notebook in tow so I could record the ideas and bits of dialog that surface?

Sounds lovely.  I think even should I be blessed enough one day to stay at home, I’d have to clean in the early morning until the creative process was in gear.  Then I’d rush to record all the stuff coming to mind until it slowed to a trickle.  Shelve another stack or two of books, write for a bit longer…ahhh, happy writer with busy hands and busy writing mind.

Enforced idleness sucks.  I crave idle time during the long work days, but when I’m required to lay down for extended periods I can go a little nuts.  Well…maybe more than a little.

I don’t require body movement to spark creativity, but it does help.  Who hasn’t gotten a great idea on their morning walk or the 17th lap at the pool?  Agatha Christie said the best ideas come while washing the dishes.  I reveled in days of giving my mind free rein.  It was fun.  Now I need a distraction for my surface mind so it leaves my writer mind to do its work.  With nothing to occupy my  hands, my thinker idles, out of gear.

Ahhhh, music.  I know lots of writers have a “soundtrack” for a particular project or novel.  I like that I’m not alone.  Though I’m not ready to share much about the current project, I have to say that the MC has one KICK A$$ sound track!  The music is great, it’s the mood of the story, it’s what I hear playing in the background as I watch her go about her life.  This music is every bit as eclectic and driving in beat as she is.

It’s all about the bass and the rhythm, the contagious quality that has me tapping my toes and thumping my fist on my desk or thigh.  I’ve always been a sucker for good bass, and good music in general.  No one believes my music collection could belong to one person or to a person my age.  I kind of like that.

Sometimes I select music to fit my mood.  While writing this week, I’ve put together a play list that is all Main Character.  She’s coming along fine and the music brings my mood to the place I need it to be to write her.  When this project is finished, I think what I will remember most is my inability to sit still when good music is pouring over me and my typing as fast as I can while dancing in my seat.