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| Asking Questions to Unlock Your Writer's Block ❓😄
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March 12, 2021
Oakland, CA
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| | This week I finished the latest round of edits on my latest novel, Book 3 in my Janey McCallister Mystery series, Gone Green. I felt great — yay!
But the next day I faced all that was still left to do:
- plot holes — oh dear
- emotional resonance at the ending not feeling right (wha, wha — sad trombone)
- lack of clarity on my villains' motivations (yes, a team of villains, each with their own agenda)
I felt like I was back to square one with the juggling of all the story parts. Yes, I'm more of a pantser (writing intuitively after some brainstorming) than a plotter.
After reading email and procrastinating with games, I finally did what I knew would help me and literally move me into action: I took a walk and asked myself a lot of questions.
Back to brainstorming before I could get back to editing and filling in the plot holes and adding emotional resonance.
Since I process ideas while talking, I opened Voice Memo on my phone and started brainstorming with questions.
After a while I noticed that all my questions had one thing in common. They started with: What if...
I wanted to know how my master villain even started on her plans...
What if... she started 25 years previous because... [hehe, reasons!]
I wanted to know how the crime actually took place.
What if...
I wanted to know how a new villain got involved.
What if...
How could I make the ending more emotionally satisfying?
What if...
Now your turn?
What are your questions about your story that you're still stuck in?
Then ask: What if...
Hit reply and let me know how it goes.
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Have a happy and creative week!
All my best,
Beth
*** A request! Please support my cousin's work with the unhoused relatives along the creek in Rapid City South Dakota. I have supported them and hope you can lend a hand too, in whatever way is right for you. - Camp MniLuzahan & Creek Patrol offer care and protection to our cherished unsheltered relatives here in the Black Hills (He Sapa) of South Dakota. There is an active and ongoing effort to provide consistent care through offerings of shelter, food, cold-weather gear, and protection from local harassment/violence. Camp MniLuzahan & Creek Patrol is a vital coalition effort to offer mutual aid for those in need, and your support is needed.
***
You never know what may happen when you put your work out there!
Last year I won an audio book contract for my first sci-fi mystery novel in the Janey McCallister series, Into The Black! (More news on that as it unfolds.)
Unpublished and published novelists can apply.
Check out their prizes here: https://pageturnerawards.com/2021-award-prizes
♥
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| | | | You have been reading the Creativity Sparks Newsletter!
Now in its 15th year, this newsletter is a service of my coaching and consulting business, helping genre fiction writers write, market, and publish their books through courses, coaching & consulting, NLP sessions, a 12-month group program, and books.
You may share this content intact and with no changes with this attribution:
c. 2006-2021 Beth Barany, Creativity Coach for Writers, www.BethBarany.com
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Discover the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here, co-taught with award-winning, bestselling thriller author, Ezra Barany.
She's also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives.
Uncover her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance). And her new Sci-fi Mystery here.
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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