When I write, I’m in the room my characters are in, listening very hard to both their words and the silence. I look around and see what they’re doing, or not doing, and begin to see the items and environment around them. It comes in layers, similar to an oil painting being painted. Patiently you wait for each layer to dry (your rewriting and edits) and details, smells and sounds begin to come to you. You can hear the rain pattering against the windows, you can hear the quick breathing of your character. The wooden stairs creak, you feel the dusty carpet beneath your feet. Your character speaks and you write it down. It’s like being a witness to something that’s already happening; you just need to have the presence of mind to write it down and respect the story. That is, write the story down truthfully and freely.
Once this happens, you’ve made it back to Oz–the individual world of your story, I mean. You can write. You need to simply listen to what’s already going on around you. If you stumble, the story stops, your characters freeze, and you realize you listened wrong. It’s alright: this is normal. Go back. Once you’re on the right track, your characters will come alive again and won’t miss a beat in their actions.
I hit just over the 2,000 word marker today with my next novel, GOTD. It’s a small milestone but a big one for me since I was stuck for awhile. My characters were like the Tinman before he got all of his oil: clangy, loud and mostly immobile. I rewrote until I found my way back and the story came to life.
How’s your next novel coming along? Leave some words in the comments below and we can encourage each other on. Kia kaha!
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Happy writing. Ker-kaw! 🦉
Peregrine Arc 
It’s been slow, but it’s moving forward. Happy writing!
Thanks for sharing, Andrew, and for always reading my blogs. I really appreciate it. I plan to finish your book this holiday weekend. That’s what holidays are for, right? Reading, haha! 😊👍 Happy writing to you as well!
You’re welcome. I hope you’re enjoying my book, and will consider posting a review to Amazon and/or Goodreads.
Definitely will. We authors need to support each other. Cheers!
Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!
You as well!
This is also how I write. It makes me wonder what other authors are possibly claiming when they say they don’t think ‘this way’ or ‘that way’ when they’ve published something scary or violent…. You were there, Mr. Author. She came to you, Ms. Author…
How do you mean?
You made me think about how I need an idea to come, then I need to be there the way you describe -which all reminded me of authors defending themselves when they write scarily violent stories.
Gotcha. I’ve only heard a few times of authors/film makers defending themselves. That’s interesting. I think it was Stephen King and Cujo and Tarantino on his movies.