Tip O'Day #50

Author and today's guest blogger Sharon Ricklin Jones shares ideas on creativity.

So far, I have gone with my "gut feeling" on all of my ideas and methods. I try to write every day, but sometimes take a break for a day or two. The problem with that: writing, to me, is almost like breathing. I have to do it. I love doing it. And I would be lost without it.

Now and then I imagine some horrible thing happening and think to myself: Oh-my-God. What would I do if I broke a hand or even a finger...how would I type?

I do not use an outline. That sounds too much like work. I keep a notebook handy and jot down character's descriptions, main ideas, ideas that pop into my head but do not fit into the story quite yet. I usually write my story from beginning to end; however in my current novel, I found myself writing the ending about half-way through the middle.

When I first started reading about other authors and their "muses" or "letting their characters lead them," I thought they were nuts. But I have since found out, and am very happy to report that I too, have found my characters leading me down paths I never thought we'd go down. It is an awesome feeling, as though I am reading the story while someone else dictates it to me. (I do have those times too, where the words evaporate into thin air, and I have to coerce my characters back to helping me.) And for some strange reason, a lot of my ideas come to me while standing in the shower!

Sharon showers often, writes “romance with a twist” and blogs at http://color-me-read.blogspot.com/