Sunday Sundae

Good Evening All!

Is it just me, or are words some of the coolest inventions? You can have two words that sound the same that are spelled differently and have completely different meanings. Now, how awesome is that? Or, a word can bring forth an image that can either scare you, delight you, or make you want to fall in love. For example: the word 'fang'. What images do you get when you see/hear that word? A vampire? A snake? A dog? A werewolf? Or maybe some other beast? Or if you take the word 'flat'. Do you think of a surface? A tone of voice? A souffle? (pardon the lack of accent mark, when I tried to copy over from my word processor my Internet would quick working and not do it, and I don't know how to put in one on here). Or what if you heard the word 'amour'? What images does that wrought in your head?

Words are powerful. They can invoke images, emotions, set a scene. It's pretty incredible. (At least as far as I'm concerned).


Granted, I'm probably biased. As an author, words are my raw materials used to form the story I write. They're probably the most important material I use. Without words, what would an author do? Draw? I can't draw very well; definitely not enough to show what I'm doing. No. All my drawing, showing, painting, artistry is done with words. So I love them. (I even love to talk--so see, words have two important functions for me).



So...how does an author do it? How do they sit down and take that material (words) and come up with these scenes?



Well, I can only speak for myself. (Other authors are free to express their experiences in the comment section if they so desire).

Here's a general overview of how writing is for me:


I think of what I'm trying to say in my story. What the story is about. What kind emotions I want. What scene I'm trying to portray. Are my characters happy, sad, angry, indifferent? What words make that come alive? What words invoke the right tone?


I generally don't have to think too hard--mostly it's this whole "What's going on now? What does so-and-so need to say to convey how they feel or move the story along? How do I let my readers know something important is happening?" It's a thought process. Sometimes it takes awhile, sometimes the words just flow from me.

There are times that I felt like my fingers have minds of their own and they fly across the keyboard, barely able to keep up with my brain! Those moments aren't every day experiences. There's the days when I sit there staring at my manuscript thinking: "What in the world do I do with this now?" And other times I think: "Okay, this has to happen and that has to happen, so I have to figure out how to get there."

It's not an exact science. It's about inspiration, drive, passion, desire, pain, agony, good days, bad days, triumphs, disappointments and the all around love of doing what I do. Plus throwing in time to read and "escape" into the worlds other authors create.

I invite the other authors out there to feel free to give their thoughts! I welcome the comments.

Have a Sweet Sunday!