MG Review: FRONT DESK by Kelly Yang

09 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Books, Middle Grade, Reading, Story

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Anaheim, Asian American, Chinese, Chinese American, contemporary fiction, ESL, Front Desk, immagrant, Kelly Yang, Los Angeles, Middle Grade, Must Read, We Need Diverse Books, WNDB

Making Dreams Come True

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams? [Synopsis]

Discovering the Power of the Written Word

FRONT DESK measured up to all the praise, and then went beyond. It should be required reading in every middle school for a number of reasons. Mia’s pursuing her dream of becoming a writer in the face of discouragement from her family is an important lesson for us all. She didn’t give up or give in, no matter what anyone else said.

Mia discovers the power of the written word when the letters she writes to help solve the problems of her friends produce positive results. Mia expresses her courage with words. There are times when she pretends to be an adult for appropriate authority, in her effort to help a friend and right an injustice. The truth in Mia’s words resolves difficult situations and opens avenues for better lives for her family and friends.

Five things I love most about this book:

1 The Main Character—Mia is compassionate, smart, sensitive, and determined to help her family and friends realize the dream of a better life. Mia radiates an attitude of inclusion, making friends with the Weekly residents at the motel her parents manage as well as students in her class.

2 The Honesty—The author based this fictional story on her own experiences growing up, helping her parents manage a motel. This is a truthful view of the immigrant experience of her parents’ generation, told in a matter-of-fact tone without resentment. It is in turn heartbreaking for the inequities, and heartfelt in the strong sense of family and community that persevered.

3 The Compassion—In spite of the inequities and racist treatment Mia witnesses toward her parents’ generation of immigrants, she responds with kindness and a willingness to help right those wrongs.

4 The Relationships—Mia’s best friend Lupe supports her dream, encouraging Mia even when it means her friend could move away. Mia learns to reconcile the aggressions of Jason, the son of the antagonist motel owner, and find the goodness in him too. The Weekly residents stand by one another and help Mia too, becoming a true family.

5 The Courage and Ingenuity—NO SPOILERS! What I can say is that Mia’s courage, ingenuity, and talent for bringing people together result in her dream coming true in a way that creates a happy beginning to a better life for everyone.

Television IS writing research!

24 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Story, Television, Writing

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Elizabeth Fais, Joss Whedon, NCIS, Television, The Closer, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The West Wing, White Collar

It’s true. Watching television—certain television shows at least—is writing research. Especially when you stream a season or watch it on DVD (without commercials) and analyze character and story arcs. I have learned a lot about story structure, character development, and dialog from well written television shows.

For me it started with Joss Whedon and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since then, there have been a number of other series that have influenced my storytelling and writing style.

The Closer—This show did an amazing job with character idiosyncrasies as a method for building empathy.Here’s the series synopsis: The Closer is a police procedural series, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief. Brenda moved to Los Angeles from Georgia where she trained in the CIA, and gained a reputation as a Closer — a tough interrogator who solves cases and obtains confessions leading to convictions that “close” the case. Deputy Chief Johnson uses her femininity to disarm and distract, and at times resorts to deceit and intimidation to persuade suspects into confessing.

The West Wing—This show excelled on every level. Though, one of the things I loved most was the punchy dialog. What characters say, as well as what they don’t, reveals who they are. Here’s the synopsis: A political drama that followed the triumphs and travails of White House senior staff that won two Peabody Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Drama Series, which it won four consecutive times.

White Collar—This show had engaging characters and story lines, and plot threads with enough twists to keep the most agile guessing. Here’s the synopsis: Criminal Neal Caffrey has been eluding FBI agent Peter Burke for years, a run that finally comes to an end with his capture. But after the resourceful prisoner escapes from a maximum-security facility, then is nabbed once again by Burke, Caffrey suggests a different end-game: In return for freedom, he’ll help the Feds catch long-sought criminals. Though skeptical, Burke soon realizes that Caffrey’s instincts and insight are a rare commodity.

NCIS—This show matches strong characters with thought provoking mysteries. What impressed me the most—maybe because it’s what I needed to learn in my own writing at the time—was the finesse used in creating three-dimensional characters with believable interrelationships with humorous quirks. Here’s the series synopsis: Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs leads a group of colorful personalities in investigating crimes — ranging from murder and espionage to terrorism — that have evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel—Smart, funny, and brimming with humanity we can all relate to. This series has a stellar cast and equally talented writers who bring the characters to life. The secondary characters are as brilliant at the main character, Midge Maisel. Every writer can learn something from this series. 8 Emmy Awards back up my opinion. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this series yet, maybe the synopsis will inspire you: It’s the late 1950s and Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she has ever wanted — the perfect husband, two kids and an elegant apartment on New York’s Upper West Side. Her seemingly idyllic life takes a surprising turn when she discovers a hidden talent she didn’t previously know she had — stand-up comedy. This revelation changes her life forever as she begins a journey that takes her from her comfortable life on the Upper West Side through the cafes and nightclubs of Greenwich Village as she makes her way through the city’s comedy industry on a path that could ultimately lead her to a spot on the “Tonight Show” couch.

What’s your current fave television series and why?

Story ~ Organic symbolism & the language of flowers and trees

08 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Story, Writing

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Alyson Noel, botanical, codices, Elizabeth Fais, Ernst Lehner, Evermore, flowers, Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Johanna Lehner, Katherine Applegate, Plants and Trees, red oak, Samantha Gray, secret language, Stacey Lee, Story, symbolism, The Secret Language of Flowers, The Secret of a Heart Note, Trees, Victorian, Wishtree, Writing

Symbolism deepens the emotional core of a story, enhancing the three-dimensionality of characters and their relationships. It’s pure magic when done well, but it’ll ooze like a didactic plague if not.

An elegant way to weave symbolism organically throughout a story is through the use of flowers, plants, and trees.

Say it with flowers

It may surprise you that flowers have secret meanings. From Victorian times, and earlier in the Middle East, flowers were used to convey messages due to social mores that dictated suppressed feelings. Society’s stringent rules created a secret language of courtship, love, and friendship through the use of flowers.

For example, daffodils represent new beginnings, lily of the valley imply a return of happiness, bluebells stand for constancy and everlasting love, and tulips (especially red tulips) symbolize perfect love.

Through the secret language of flowers, you can layer added depth to a character’s feelings and intentions. But be aware that the colors of certain flowers carry their own significance.

Take tulips, for example, red tulips are associated with true love, while purple symbolize royalty, and white tulips are used to claim worthiness or to send a message of forgiveness.

Alyson Noel used red tulips to portray the quality of the love between the characters in Evermore: The Immortals series.

There are numerous resources for the hidden meaning of flowers. I’ve offered links to a couple of botanical codices below, and there are any number of web sites dedicated to the language of flowers.

Tell it with trees and plants

Tree and plant symbolism was woven through Egyptian and Celtic cultures, and is still influences us today. If flower symbolism doesn’t work for the characters and theme of your story, trees and plants may be an option.

The maple tree is a symbol of strength and endurance. While the willow tree represents mystical powers and a spiritual alignment with the moon, because it thrives near water.

Katherine Applegate used a red oak as the main character in her middle grade novel, Wishtree. An appropriate choice, since the oak is a symbol of wisdom. To the ancient Celts, the oak also represented durability, purity, and constancy.

Stacey Lee weaves an expertly rich tapestry of botanical symbolism throughout her evocative coming-of-age novel, The Secret of a Heart Note. Mimosa is one of the two remaining aroma-experts (aromateurs), and she uses her mystical sense of smell to help others fall in love—while protecting her own heart at all costs.

At once, hopeful, funny, and romantic, Lee’s lyrical language brings the characters and plants to life. You might even catch a hint of the poetically rich aromas as they find their way off the pages and into your heart.

Botanical codices

The mystery of depth ~ Creating characters we care about

29 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Character, Story, Writing

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Am Writing, Blake Snyder, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Character, Character Arc, Elizabeth Fais, Fiction, interiority, Joss Whedon, literary agents, Mary Kole, NCIS, Save the Cat!, SCBWI, SCBWI San Francisco/South, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Writing Irresistible Kidlit

Agents and editors want stories that have characters they can care about, characters with depth. For the longest time, I had no idea how to accomplish this. I knew depth meant complexity, but how you created that quality in characters was a mystery. Then one day, while watching an episode of NCIS, the pieces of the character-depth-puzzle magically fell into place. Who knew Abby and Gibbs would be the key that unlocked this literary mystery?

1. Mix it up with multiple character traits

In a 2-dimensional painting, everything appears flat. You get the same effect with characters that only have one basic trait—bully, geek, mean girl, wimp, etc. To avoid flat characters, give them multiple traits of varying strengths.

I like the analogy of creating perspective in a painting. What’s in the foreground is more intense and has greater detail. As should be the predominant trait of a character. With increased distance in a painting, objects become lighter and have less detail. Secondary and tertiary character traits should have less focus as well.

When Building a Better Character, reveal the traits over time as the character interacts with others and reacts to various situations.

2. Shake & stir: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Just as characters need a blend of traits to be believable, they must also display a variety of emotions. No one is perfect, and we wouldn’t like them if they were. Show their good side, so we like them, but don’t hold back on the bad and the ugly.

There are several types of heroes, each with a different set of predominant emotional archetypes. Who’s your hero?
Introduce the Quirky Quotient for a memorable, offbeat character.
For more subtle depth, weave in idiosyncracies that Build Empathy.

3. Peal back the layers

It’s human nature. The longer we savor an experience, the richer our enjoyment. This is why it’s important for characters to unfold and grow along with the plot.

Think of pealing back the layers of an onion. Each layer should reveal something unique and intimately real about the character. When we first meet someone, we get a superficial impression of who they are. It takes time, and a variety of experiences, before we get to know who they really are. It should be the same with our characters.

At a San Francisco South Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Agents Day conference, former literary agent, Mary Kole explained how to explore a character’s inner life through interiority. Interiority is a combination of the character’s internal dialog and point of view. To learn more, check out her book on Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers.

4. Pressure cook for change

Character depth requires change over the course of the story. The Character Arc is a journey that forces the character to confront their frailties to become wiser and stronger.

All great stories are about transformation. To survive, the hero has to change by facing their greatest fear and overcoming it. Blake Snyder—in the popular story structure guide, Save the Cat!—called this The Dark Night of the Soul.

Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) puts characters through hell—literally and figuratively. This pressure has the same effect as the pressure that transforms a lump of coal into a diamond. It smooths off their rough edges and makes them shine.

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are. ― Joss Whedon

“Buffy” wisdom ~ Hope for troubled times

05 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Story, TV Shows

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Anthony Head, Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawn Summers, hope, human spirit, humanity, Inspiration, James Marsters, Joss Whedon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Nicholas Brendon, peace, Rupert Giles, Saint Francis prayer, Sarah McLachlan, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Spike, writers, Xander Harris

Remarkable as it may seem, Joss Whedon‘s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is still (after 14 years) a gold standard for many writers.

This is because, in spite of the window dressings of vampires, monsters, magic, and witchcraft, the heart of the story was always rooted in the human condition.

The secret to the show’s meaningfulness and longevity stems from Whedon’s purpose. The reasons “why” Whedon writes touch our universal core. They are primal.

Hope amidst adversity

If you haven’t watched this series, you’re in for a treat when you do. In the mean time, to get you on the same page: Bad things happen…a lot. For good reasons too:

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are. ― Joss Whedon

We’ve all had personal difficulties, some of us may have had to wade through some pretty dark times. We can all relate to Buffy’s perils and hardships…on some level. Especially with the state of our world and the current affairs we witness on a daily basis.

Just as real as the adversities Buffy faced, was the undying light of the human spirit. It was hope guiding them to vanquish darkness and find their way to safety.

Yes. I know it’s fiction. But it resonates with with us because it’s primal. Whedon used the following musical score to convey this universal truth…no matter your faith. Though the words were written centuries ago, they bring hope to our modern times too.

Prayer of St. Francis ~ Sarah McLachlan

Total solar eclipse & its influence on fiction

05 Saturday Aug 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Fiction, Moon, Story

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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Astronomy, Boleslaw Prus, Dolores Claiborne, Eclipse, Eclipse of the Sun, Elizabeth Fais, Fiction, Gerald's Game, Isaac Asimov, John Banville, King Lear, Mark Twain, Nightfall, Peter Weir, Pharaoh, Phil Whitaker, Robert Silverberg, SAO, Shakespeare, Shroud, Smithsonian, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, solar eclipse, Stephen King, total solar eclipse, Witness

The primal fear effect

A total solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and earth, and blocks all or part of the sun for up to about three hours from a given location.

Today, a total solar eclipse is an astronomical rarity, an event to be recorded and studied. That was not always the case. It wasn’t all that long ago (in the grand scheme of things) that the sun and sky going dark caused mass hysteria. Which is not a totally irrational response. It triggers a primal fear, because we depend on the sun’s energy for life. Without it, our world would be uninhabitable.

It’s no surprise that a total solar eclipse continues to have a strong effect on us even now, as is evident in fiction: books, film, and television. Stories that resonate most deeply with the human psyche are primal, and survival is about as primal as it gets.

Fictional total eclipses

The earliest known fictional solar eclipse is in Homer‘s Odyssey, which scholars believe was composed near the end of the 8th century BC. There’s probably lesser known fictional references to solar eclipses between the 8th century BC and 1608, when Shakespeare’s tragic play, King Lear was first published, but let’s jump to King Lear’s famous quote:

O insupportable! O heavy hour! / Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse / Of sun and moon; and that the affrighted globe / Should yawn at alteration…

Following Shakespeare, the better known fictional works that feature solar eclipses were published in the late 19th century:

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain (1889), where the protagonist predicts a solar eclipse in 528 AD.
Pharaoh, by Bolesław Prus (1895), a historical novel that culminated in a solar eclipse at the fall of Egypt’s 20th Dynasty, (1085 BC).

You might think that the paranormal intrigue surrounding a total solar eclipse would wane as we entered the 20th century, but no. In fiction, film, and television, it increased. The following are just a few of the works by the more prominent authors:

Two Stephen King novels have a murder committed during an eclipse: Dolores Claiborne and Gerald’s Game.
Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (1990 novel based on Asimov’s 1941 short story of the same name).
Eclipse of the Sun, by Phil Whitaker (1997), is set in India and centered around a public viewing of the Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995.
Eclipse (2000) and Shroud (2002), by John Banville, two interlinked novels that are both set against the backdrop of a solar eclipse.

The list of film and television shows that include solar eclipses in their story is more extensive than in books. For a complete list of title for both fiction, film, and television, go here.

1984 eclipse in Witness

It’s interesting that while filming Witness (1985) in Pennsylvania’s Amish region, a partial solar eclipse occurred on May 30, 1984 (at his location). Director Peter Weir filmed the actors in costume, responding to the eclipse. However, these scenes never made it into the publicly released version of the film.

August 21, 2017 ~ total solar eclipse

August 21, 2017 will be the first total solar eclipse that can be seen in the United States in 38 years, the last one being in 1979. For the 2017 solar eclipse, the longest period the moon completely blocks the sun—from any given location along the path—will be about two minutes and 40 seconds.

If you’re interested in following the solar eclipse as it happens, even if you won’t be in the direct viewing path, check out the Smithsonian Solar Eclipse app from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). The app allows you to watch a live NASA stream of the eclipse as it travels across the continental United States. You can calculate your view with their interactive eclipse map, and get a virtual view in our eclipse simulator. Super cool!

Get that Half-Baked Story Out of the Oven!

17 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Story, Writing

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Am Writing, Amie Kaufman, don't give up, Elizabeth Fais, Fiction, Gemina, half baked, Illuminae, Jay Kristoff, Joss Whedon, novel, Story, writer's life, Writing, writing recipe

Writing Recipe for Success

It happens to every writer. At least once. We start a project, excited and inspired by the sparkly new idea. We run with it, fleshing out characters, working magic with dialog, setting, and plot. Then something happens. Our inspiration dissipates, like air from a hot air balloon. We’re slugging forward through molasses, when once we soared.

It’s easy to get discouraged, or possibly even give up on that great idea at this point. I’m here to tell you…

DO NOT GIVE UP!

Writing a novel is a lot like baking a cake. You carefully organize and mix the ingredients, select and prepare the pan, then put it in the oven to bake at the right temperature for the perfect amount of time. Unlike the cake, a creative oven requires our input for the heat, and the time it takes to fully bake is not always in our favor. Deadliness be damned. Unfortunately, half-baked is only half there.

The good news is that you got the story into the oven. Here’s a few strategies on how you can get it out…fully baked.

Turning Up the Heat

We get stuck in our writing for lots of reasons. The best way to get unstuck is to shake things up, take a new approach, do something totally different. The unexpected has a way of jump starting creativity. Here’s few suggestions:

Go someplace you’ve always wanted to, but haven’t. A change of scenery, especially a place that elicits intrigue, works wonders.
Watch A LOT of movies and TV shows. Joss Whedon would watch four or five movies in a row (in one day) to study story. You never know what will provide the boost you need for your story.
Read A LOT of different things, both magazines and books. Read outside your comfort zone. Change is good. Embrace it.
Talk to people who have cool jobs, or who’ve had very different life experiences than your own. This is one of the things Amie Kauffman, co-author of Illuminae and Gemina, does to get new ideas.
Go to a public place and people watch. Imagine where they’re going and what they’ll do when they get there. Have fun creating stories without the pressure of an outcome.
Start a totally different project in a completely different genre, just for you. Published authors confess to doing this when they’ve been paralyzed under a deadline. The story they started “for themselves” got them excited about writing again and they made their deadline. Those stories later became wildly popular books too. A win-win.
Brainstorm with other writers. Especially if you’re under deadline. Screenwriters work this way a lot.
Write stuff. Then write more stuff.
Fire your internal editor and keep going until you reach The End.

You’re doing great!

LOVE ~ Fiction’s Greatest Common Denominator

14 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Love, Story, Writing

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Blake Snyder, Cassandra Clare, City of Heavenly Fire, Elizabeth Fais, Fiction, Hallmark, Hamlet, Harry Potter, Hollywood, Jane Austen, Katherine Applegate, Love, Macbeth, Mortal Instruments, opera, Othello, Rom-Com, Romantic Comedy, Romeo and Juliet, Rossini, Save the Cat!, Severus Snape, Shadowhunter Chronicles, Shakespeare, The One And Only Ivan, Valentine's Day

❤️ It’s Valentine’s Day ❤️

Love is in the air, whether you adore the holiday or not.

Many bemoan the grandiose expectations the holiday puts on…well…everyone.

Don’t blame Hallmark.

Instead, look to fiction for insights into why this holiday has become a national obsession.

Love … Has Everything to Do With It

As Blake Snyder, Mr. Save the Cat!, used to say, “The motivating force of a story has to be primal.” And nothing is more primal than love. I’d go so far as to say that love is fiction’s greatest common denominator, that the roots of every story are based in love.

Whether it’s seeking love, giving love, protecting love, grieving for love, or the ugliness that springs from lack of love or unrequited love.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is one of the most popular stories of all time, because it resonates with humanity’s innermost core. Love.

Love’s Joyful Eccentricities

The romantic comedy (rom-com) is the popular love story of today. Shakespeare was the first to make that particular story type popular, though. Shakespeare wrote a total of 16 romantic comedies, earning him the title as the original Rom-Com King. Rossini, and other composers, carried the romantic comedy into the opera houses with great success. Later, Hollywood was quick to spin the romantic comedy into a film genre.

In children’s literature, the net of love stretches to include other species. For example, in The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, a young girl’s compassionate love for Ivan, the shopping mall gorilla, is the catalyst for his freedom.

Likewise, Ivan’s love for the elephants who are also trapped in the roadside shopping mall attraction sparks his imagination and fuels his actions that provide the means for the young girl to help them.

Spanning centuries, artistic mediums, and species…the love story has touched the hearts of audiences everywhere. To such a great extent, it has permeated the fabric of our consciousness. Such is the power of love. Because it’s primal.

Love’s Darker Faces

The primal motivating force of a character always comes back to love. “Even the villain?” you ask. Yes. Severus Snape, in J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series, is a perfect example of denied love giving the character a villainous face.

Shakespeare’s dramatic plays reflect the darker facets of love, such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and Othello. Jane Austen, thought by many to be the Queen of Romance in fiction, touches the sadder sides of love in her works, such as Persuasion.

Cassandra Clare‘s Mortal Instruments series is woven through with characters’ experiences and expressions of the grimmer facets of love, that sometimes grow so dark as to perpetuate murder. However, the main theme revolving throughout the series is self-acceptance.

The characters come to see and understand that the choices they make and the consequences that follow are a reflection of their level of self-love. This realization leads some through their darkness, to where they can embrace the healing power of love.

Be Your Own Muse

31 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Story, Writing

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Andrew Smith, consciousness, creative writing, Elizabeth Fais, Gretchen McNeil, Jessica Brody, Mariko Tamaki, muse, myth, Neal Shusterman, On Writing, On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft, Robert Frost, science of creativity, Stacey Lee, Stephen King, Story, writer, Writing

The Myth of the Muse

Muse ~ a person, or personified force, who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

For centuries, there have been accounts of writers and artists who looked to muses to spark imagination and fuel creativity. I hate to throw shade on anyone’s creative process, but creativity and imagination are not something you can get from something or someone else. The truth is…

There’s No Magic Feather … or Genie

That’s the bad news. Nothing, and no one, can magically imbue you with creativity. Grow up. It’s just not going to happen.

In Stephen King‘s book, On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft, he says just that: “There’s no magic feather” that will make you a good writer (or artist). It takes a certain amount of innate talent combined with a serious amount of hard work.

The good news is, you don’t need anything outside of yourself to be amazingly creative. You have a vast storehouse of creativity inside you. You just have to know how to access the limitless supply of ideas and raw imagination.

It’s like having your very own Idea Store…inside your head. You just might have temporarily misplaced the key that unlocks the door. Studies of consciousness and the science of creativity (yes, it’s a thing) show there is a Fort-Knox treasure of creativity inside us…just waiting to be tapped.

Activating Your Inner Muse

It’s great knowing you have a wealth of creativity at your beck and call, but you have to know the number. Here’s a few ways to find yours.

I’ve used the following methods, and (from my personal experience) they activate my inner muse. These approaches to unleashing creativity are also listed in the Forbes magazine article Science Continues to Show Us How to Be More Creative.

Performing routine tasks, such as housework or walking, allow the mind to wander so creative ideas flow in.
Being painfully bored also opens the floodgates of creative thinking. For example, having to wait for long stretches of time, like long airplane flights without a book to read or waiting in line at the DMV.
Having a regular meditation practice has shown to improve creativity. Meditation helps slow down the mind, which in turn opens the creative centers of the brain.

At a recent YA (young adult) novel conference, a young writer asked the panel of published authors how they get their creative ideas. Here’s how a few of the authors responded:

Gretchen McNeil — blow drying her hair
Stacey Lee — walking or dancing
Jessica Brody — staying off the internet and meditating before writing
Mariko Tamaki — listening to music or running
Andrew Smith — running
Neal Shusterman — traveling

Inspiration is Contagious

Why is inspired creativity important for writers? Because a writer’s emotions are woven throughout the tapestry of their stories. As Robert Frost said so succinctly:

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.

When a story is infused with imagination, the reader is swept up in the fictional world and carried away. I think we’ve all had that magnificent feeling when reading a good book, becoming the characters and our real world drops away. That quality of writing can create a lifetime love of reading. And to me, that is an author’s true measure of success.

Spread Light with Stories that Empower

13 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Story, Writing

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C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, diverse books, Elizabeth Fais, empower, J.R.R. Tolkien, Martha Brockenbrough, Meg Cabot, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Yogi Tea

Literature Lights the Way

I’ve stayed clear of politics on this blog, until now. The results of the recent Presidential election cast our nation into darkness. Many now live in fear for their safety and the safety and well-being of family and friends. This is not OK! Especially not in a nation formed on the ideals of freedom, equality, human and civil rights, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all.

But as bad as it is, I finally realized these aren’t the worst times our country has faced…and survived. We are not in a Civil War.

Not to minimize the difficulties and rough road ahead, just giving it a little perspective.

Serendipity bestowed an emotional pick-me-up the other night that helped me to see things in a new way. The Yogi Tea I drink in the evening comes with wisdom-y quotes. This one was spot on:

Spread the light. Be a lighthouse.

How perfect is that?

We each have special skills to draw from that can help to turn the tide of discrimination and hate to one of acceptance and love. Writers wage the of power influence through their words, with their stories. Meg Cabot tweeted as much the very next day.

empower_mc

Words of Power

Honesty hour. I hit a wall on my current YA project two-thirds of the way through the first draft. Self-doubt and an internal editor, who’s more like a death eater, put the skids on my progress. Until now. The election results were my call to arms—or maybe hands, since I’m a writer. Suddenly, something is way more important than my ego.

Creating stories that infuse young readers with courage, dignity, inclusion, love, and hope is my mission. My new mantra, compliments of an author I admire:

Write that, write that hard. –Martha Brockenbrough

Writers in previous generations used their words to dispel the darkness, when faced with criminal injustice and the atrocities of war.

C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia after returning from World War I. Likewise, J.R.R. Tolkien penned The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the aftermath of World War I.

We don’t have to attain the greatness of Tolkien or C.S. Lewis to make a difference today. We just have to craft well-told stories that empower minds of all ages.

Now to writing that, writing that hard.