[stylist] what are you currently reading?

[Chris Kuell]

Anita,

It is good that you are reading like a writer, and learning from what you 
are reading. This will definitely help in your own writing. For instance, 
beware of repitition, which many authors are guilty of.

Butterflies in your stomach is a well-known idiomatic expression. Of course 
it doesn't mean you literally have butterflies in your stomach, but it's 
meant to express the tension, anticipation, the racing of the heart, the 
quickening pulse, when someone encounters something that either excites or 
worries them. It's perfectly fine to use in your writing, although in my 
opinion, it's so common that you would do well to come up with something 
new. Felt like corn was popping in my stomach?

In regards to plots--it's all been done before. Since old Gutenberg 
unleashed the printing press, millions and millions of books have been 
published, and every plot has been done. But, they haven't been done by you, 
with your mind and your experiences and your insights and dialogue. Take the 
blind doctor idea. Sure, Jake Bolatin was a blind MD.But what about a blind 
female doctor, from the hills of Tennesee, who grew up with parents who 
didn't believe in her, but a grandfather who did? Or a doctor who is helping 
in Iraq, when his Humvee drives over an IED and he's blinded. Despite the 
trauma, he knows he can still serve the people he swore to help, and so on.

The key to plot is imagination, and the 'what if...' question. Answering 
that question by bringing it to life is the art of fiction writing.

chris