In high school, I had one English teacher who thought my work was one of the best things she'd ever come across. If it hadn't been for her faith in me, I would never have entered the contests back when she prompted me to enter nor would I have bothered sending in my poems over the following years to the newspapers and magazines I did.
Another bit of advice she gave me, was what's in the bag? She told me that when I am stuck on a character or plot line to create the character's life in real life by creating their stuff. Which, has worked more times then I really want to admit. Getting a purse and filling it with items that I feel that character would use, or buying a tee shirt I think the character would wear.
I'm sitting here this morning, at my mother's, using her computer, and thinking about this simply because of my train case.
I have no clue why I packed my stuff yesterday in my little silver train case instead of just a tote? And as I sit here right now, waiting for the repair guy to fix mom's window that never showed up yesterday, thinking I need to get home at some point today to at lest get a change of clothes for tomorrow and The Story of Dorien Gray to blockbuster that I forgot sitting there on my sofa. {the Colin Firth version} I keep thinking that the train case is something so G.C.M. and not Ardeth Blood.
A character I created few years ago when I wrote a one woman play. No, I never did get it produced. I chickened out. But, I kept the adding the character to other things I've written over the last few years.
So I'm looking at this mini suitecase thingie, this oversized make-up kit, over the edge of my coffee mug, thinking why was I needing to connect again with this character?
It's not helping me on writing my current novel.
Every writer knows that every single little character, is a small part of them. Good or bad or otherwise.
So that is this morning's coffee chat.
Hope all my lovely Spudguns have a great day back to work today after the long weekend.