Welcome to November!

Welcome to November, the month containing Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving.

No surprise, this month’s theme is Thankful! I've already seen Facebook posts starting thirty days of thankfulness. Today, I’m sharing a short thankful list of what makes my life as a writer easier. This is personal, obviously, but maybe it will inspire you with ways to make your writer-life (or whatever your job is) easier or get you thinking about what you’re thankful for.

1. Each of my kids cook dinner one day a week. I give this advice to anyone with kids: Teach them to cook independently! This has far-reaching effects, but the one that fits my purpose today is that I don’t have to worry about dinner five days a week. All I have to do is ask each child what they want to cook, add their ingredients to my grocery list, and my work is done until eating time. I can write until dinner is served—or skip it altogether—knowing the evening meal is taken care of. If your children are still very young (early elementary school or younger), this is a future dream. But start working toward it now. Invite your kids into the kitchen and cook with them. And one day, instead of living off pizza during a deadline, you’ll have multiple supporters (at least until they go to college).
2. Coffee shops. I have a Mac desktop—my gift after signing my first publishing contract—and I really should spend more time at home writing on it. I did complete one manuscript at my desk about a year ago. But most of the time, I pack up my laptop and find inspiration in coffee shops. Or perhaps, I find relaxation when I’m in a coffee shop so I can create, instead of working a few feet away from the chaos that is five kids and three dogs. In fact, arriving at one I wrote in for several weeks, I would literally relax and feel my creative energy revive while standing in line to order! Whatever reason though, I’m thankful for a community containing so many coffee shops. 
3. Brainstorming partners. Most often, my brainstorming partner is my husband. But I have writer friends I call on to fill the role as well. I’m so thankful for these people! When I’m stuck on an idea—or stuck without an idea—just talking about the story can be enough to unclog the creative pipes. I don’t think I would be as successful if I just talked to myself. Actually, I know I wouldn’t be, since I talk to myself regularly.

What makes your thankful list as a writer?

Sarah Tipton is a writer of Christian Young Adult Fiction. Her debut novel, Betrayal of the Band, released in August 2017.

Research is your friend

This month on YAtopia we're looking at new beginnings as the way to kick off the New Year. And I thought I'd discuss starting anew - starting a new writing project o. And my best advice to people is research.

Research in stories is becoming more and more important. The reality is that it always should have been, but there seemed to be a perception that 'hey, we're authors, we can make shit up.'

And don't get me wrong, we can. In fact, I've often said that phrase in jest when talking to friends. If we want to decide there are flying monsters that live in outer space that attack a space shuttle then we can make that shit up.

Research is important for making sure you make the real world elements of your story believable. And it's especially important for ensuring good representation of people, no matter what cultural group they belong to, or how they identify sexually or gender-wise, or any other identifiers such as mental health, etc. But today, I'm not going down that rabbit hole as it's a separate topic on it's own.

What I've found is how great research is for generating story ideas, whether it's for a brand new story, or if you've started a story and you're experiencing some writer's block. Jumping on google and exploring elements of your storyline can give you amazing ideas.

I'll give some examples from a couple of my stories. I've got one with a far-future setting, so I explored some technologies and advancements that could exist in the future, such as data storage on crystals. This became a really important element of my world building. In another series I needed to have elements of mind control, so I researched the topic and discovered some brain-washing techniques that were used on prisoners of war. That technique formed the basis of a major plot element in my story.

And nowadays you don't have to simply pop in a search on google and read webpages on the topic. You'll likely find videos as well where you can listen to tutorials on topics, and vlogs/interviews on people's experiences.

But, of course, you don't have to do all the research virtually. In a recent YAtopia post, Chris talked about the importance of imagery. One of my stories is set in Brisbane and features a sandstone building. I don't get to Brisbane very often, and when I do, I don't always get to go to areas that have those types of buildings. So I got my mum to go and get a bit handsy with the building and report back to me. Luckily I am getting to go to that area of Brisbane next week, and I'm going to try to subtly sniff a building and lay some hands on it.

Research can help expand your story ideas, flesh out your stories, and become a way better writer. It will help you add authenticity to your work. It can help you take the seed of an idea, and grow it into an oak. Never underestimate the power of research.

How to Leverage Your Personality to Bolster Your Writing Productivity

 
I recently attended a religious woman's retreat and during one of our sessions, we discussed our personality types. The Myers-Briggs test from the '50s is a wonderful way to figure out your strengths and weaknesses, what type of career would play out your natural gifts, and may other facets of life. As I explored a topic I've already studied in the past, I realized that the dry spell I've been having in my fictional writing might be due to the fact that I wasn't playing up the needs of my personality.


Re-discovering What Makes Me Feel Accomplished

I haven't changed a bit. That is to say, I've become great at adapting to life's curve balls, but I'm the same person I was ten, fifteen, even twenty years ago. We all are unique, with quirks and needs that affect every part of our world. We have things that make us tick, that make us happy or content or even giddy. Those things can be leverage to make us productive and overflow with inspiration simply by being true to who we are and what works best for us.

Unfortunately, in the last few months, my inspiration well has been drier than a grain of Sahara sand at high noon. Focusing was impossible, words stopped up somewhere between brain and fingers, and I'm fairly certain intelligence chipped off and escaped my body. Lazy, bored, uninspired, and frustrated, I sat in front of a blank screen and stared, mentally begging the words to come.

Turns out, I'd been so wrapped up in life that I'd forgotten a fundamental part of who I am. Specifically, where I got my energy.

One of four parts of a personality according to the test I mentioned above is about how you recharge, how you gather yourself back to being okay. Do you need to be surrounded by people and socializing to feel whole, or do you prefer the quiet solitude to think and imagine?

I am an extrovert. The months I've spent cooped up in our rental, trudging through life in a infuriatingly silence were literally leaving me exhausted and empty. With a simple day retreat with other woman and a 20 point questionnaire, I realized my writing life won't ever be fulfilling if I don't let my need of people, of recharging with many others surrounding me, to be a regular part of it.

Additionally, the final element in my personality made me realize it may be time to take advantage of structure. A schedule, follow through, and completing small goals might help me feel more accomplished. I might even need to be a *gulp* plotter though I've proudly been a pantser for years. Perhaps the plotting will help me focus and complete projects.

I've taken a hold of these bits of myself and developed a plan that I hope will lead my writing in a forward motion. It may require creating my own real-life writing group since I can't find one. It may mean that I need to go to a bookstore or library to write instead of holing up in my office at home. You can do make your own plan once you know your personality type and examined your current habits against it.


Types and Tendencies

If you've never checked out what your personality is, even if you are very self aware, I'd highly recommend it. Insights such as this may help you develop a writing, plotting, or marketing campaign that works better for you than your current one. Keep in mind, some people take on roles or tendencies outside of their true personality, but this is about what is most comfortable or natural to you. Feel free to fill out this "knock-off" personality test (the Myers-Briggs one costs some money) that you can use to get a better sense of your strengths and weaknesses so you can leverage them for your writing.


The four categories used to analyze your personality are:

• Extrovert/Introvert - Do you get your energy recharge from group settings and the energy of others or from quiet time alone in personal or spiritual activities? 
• Regular in person critique groups will appeal to extraverts, while secluded or quiet writing time might appeal to introverts.

• Sensing/ Intuit - How do you take in information? Do you rely strictly on facts of the world around you or do you follow gut instincts?
• This can affect your research style or help you analyze critiques to better your manuscripts.

• Thinker/Feeler - Do you use logic or your feelings to process things?
• Thinkers may be more willing to ask questions of beta readers or feedback, while a feeler may need to take some time to process before replying.

• Judging/ Perceiving - How to you use the information and how important is structure in your life? Do you need a regular, scheduled routine or is spontaneity important to your process?
• The good ol' pantser/plotter come into play here. Do you need more structure than you realized previously? Deadlines are important to Judgers, while perceivers may consider deadlines flexible.

By knowing the way you best handle these elements, you can bend your writing time and process to better accommodate your writing.

Click to Tweet: "E.G. Moore discusses how your personality should affect your writing habits on @YAtopia_blog"

I'd love to know what you discovered! Please share your personality type and any ah-ha moments you may have had when you read about it in the comments below. Pinterest is also a great place to find out more about your type one you discover it. Just enter your four letter combination into the search bar, and have some fun.
 

E. G. Moore is a poet, freelance writer, and storyteller (the first of which her mom still has recorded on a cassette tape.)  She is a long distance member of For Pete’s Sake Writers Group in Washington, active in an email writer’s response group, and a Rocky Mountain Chapter SCBWI member. When she’s not telling “Mommy Made stories” to her two daughters or nagging her husband to edit her latest manuscript, she can be found off-roading in her suped-up ATV, baking some scrumptious bread, or in a long, plot-refreshing bubble bath. She’s represented by Jessica Schmeidler of Golden Wheat Literary. E.G. Moore tweets, posts on Facebook, and blogs at: www.emilygmoorewriter.blogspot.com

Building a Concept #3: Organizing Your Ideas

So you’ve let inspiration lead you and you’ve brainstormed how you can use those brilliant ideas. But what if you’ve already got half-a-dozen other novels you’re working on or time is working against you? (Oh, that’s just me?) How do you keep snippets of inspiration or couplings of ideas together for a story that you may not get to for a couple months or years?

I think it’s safe to say everyone does this a little differently. I’ve heard of people organizing stories in scrivener or files of documents on each part. Some people add notes on their phone or email themselves or even keep an idea notebook.

I’m a hybrid of several of these methods. For me, I often get inspiration in the form of a character. So while the brainstorming leads me to a decent but underdeveloped plot, I need to hang on to the voice the character gave me from the onset. I create a working title and scribble down a page of notes with pen or pencil, but I also create a word document and “start” the novel in the character’s voice so I can remember that element. (Voice is huge for me, and most of my novels are in first person narrative.)

If you chose to create files to organize inspiration and brainstorming outcomes, I’d highly recommend creating files for each of these: characters, settings, inciting incidents, story problems. Or if you write across the genre board, consider having notebooks or documents for each genre so that when you go to write a particular novel, any and all notes you have that may work for that plot are handy. If you go the "old fashion" route on paper, invest in some sticky labels and divvy up your ideas that way.

Do you use any of the suggestions above to organize your concepts or brainstorming sessions? Or do you do it another way? Please share with me in the comments below. Check back for the most important part of building a concept on June 2nd!

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E. G. Moore is a poet, freelance writer, and storyteller (the first of which her mom still has recorded on a cassette tape.)  She is a long distance member of For Pete’s Sake Writers Group in Washington, active in an email writer’s response group, and a Rocky Mountain Chapter SCBWI member. When she’s not telling “Mommy Made stories” to her two daughters or nagging her husband to edit her latest manuscript, she can be found off-roading in her suped-up ATV, baking some scrumptious bread, or in a long, plot-refreshing bubble bath. She’s represented by Jessica Schmeidler of Golden Wheat Literary. E.G. Moore tweets, posts on Facebook, and blogs at: www.emilygmoorewriter.blogspot.com

 

Building a Concept #1: Igniting Inspiration

As writers we are blessed with the ability to find inspiration or snippets of stories in everyday situations. It may be overhearing an awkward conversation or seeing something unique on a particular day. It might also come at inconvenient times such as when we're washing dishes or driving and can't write it down.

But what if our inspiration runs dry? We've all been in those desert spots, grasping for something to develop into our next masterpiece and holding only air. If you're dealing with something similar now, read on for ideas on how to ignite some ideas to further cultivate.

Take a Walk

It's been proven over and over that getting the blood flowing in your body leads to better creativity and heightened brain activity. It also gives you the opportunity to focus on something other then your day to day happenings. In addition, where ever you take the journey can lend sights, sounds, and smells to trigger flashes of brilliance.

Become a Spy

You read that right! Immerse yourself a hub of human activity such as a mall, bookstore, coffee shop, college campuses, or other busy areas. Then use the senses to purposely listen and watch human stories unfold all around you. Before going, consider something to focus on such as a weird conversation or different characters you could write about. Then listen and watch as your mind takes over and zones in on these types of diamonds in the rough.

Read, Read, Read

Almost all of us are constantly told to read a lot. What a lot of us don't realize is that the advice doesn't just mean fiction. Magazines, newspapers, blogs, and websites offer myriads of interesting tidbits that could easily be expanded on. Just this last week, Sharon tweeted dozens of weird stories  from @UberFacts that would have been awesome jump-off points for stories. If you do read fiction and discover a nugget of story gold, write those titles down so you can use them as comp titles later.

Reminisce

It is very common for artists to use inspiration from their own life for their work. The reason this often works so well is that you already have an attachment to the story and the emotions are already present. It doesn't have to be something you experienced either. It could be something you remember happening to a friend or to someone you went to school with. It could be something that you remember hearing about that happened in a local or surrounding area. Using your memories as kindling for a story often becomes a therapeutic venture. To dive into those memories, arrange to visit an old friend, attend a reunion, or look through diaries or photo books from your earlier life.

Do you have a favorite way to  switch your mind into brainstorming mode? Please share it in the comments below!

Come on back on April 2nd for some tips on what to do with all those awesome ideas once your inspiration is cranking!

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E.G. Moore

E. G. Moore is a poet, freelance writer, and storyteller. She is a long distance member of For Pete’s Sake Writers Group in Washington and is a Rocky Mountain Chapter SCBWI member. She loves writing stories that send her young readers on adventures they can't experience in real life. She’s excited to be the new blog assistant for YAtopia. When she’s not telling “Mommy Made stories” to her two daughters or nagging her husband to edit her latest manuscript, she can be found off-roading in her suped-up ATV, swimming, or in a long, plot-refreshing bubble bath. She tweets @egmoorewriter, posts on facebook.com/emilygmoorewriter, and blogs at www.emilygmoorewriter.blogspot.com.