[Stylist] Annie's blog

Wed Dec 27 23:57:40 UTC 2023

The Word River

https://www.thought-wheel.com/the-word-river/

Being an author, I am often asked about the writing process. Where do I
write? What is the time of day I am the most creative? What equipment or
software do I use? How do I get my ideas? The answers are straightforward. I
write in my office and prefer the daytime from mid-morning to early evening.
I type all my work on a pc with Windows and assistive technology   software
for the blind. I edit my work with this technology, listening to   documents
with text-to-speech access.    Ideas come to me via observation, examination
and experience. They  form through dreams, news, conversations I hear,
observing the sensory  information and what surrounds me. Curiosity  leads
me through it all.

Once an idea reveals itself, I make a mental note to   track it. . If it
persists, if I fall asleep mulling it over and it is there the next morning,
I know it is a subject or idea I must  relax into for it to develop.  When I
say develop I mean a piece of something  destined for words taking hold and
growing. Setting an idea free means being conscious of it while it travels
through  my gray matter, collecting relevance and resonance  until we meet
again.

The most difficult question regarding the writing life is describing the
creativity involved in the writing process. There isn't a short answer, it's
more like paddling a canoe along the sluggish tidal pools and terrifying
rapids of a miles-long river .  An idea is the starting point. What if the
dream  I woke up remembering  could be written into a short story? What if
the influx and pattern of birds and their hierarchy at the feeders could be
described in a poem? What if the  blog articles I've already written on a
particular topic could  be organized into a handbook of some kind?

Once I know the idea is forming, I write a brief note to myself and  step
back, absorb my effort into another writing project. This is essential for
the idea to continue developing.  

For example, I got an idea for an urban fantasy short story about garden
gnomes  playing a major role in helping rescue prisoners of human
trafficking in China with dimensional magic. I sketched out the timeline,
location, characters, and other details. I researched elements in the story
following a rough outline. I am a hybrid of a planner and a Pantzer,
creating enough of a timeline of scenes and the story arc to follow but
loose enough for it to  flex as the story expands. 

Next is the typing, word play, placement of scenes,  theme of the story,
plot, and deleting, replacing and revising.

When the story stalls, because inevitably it will stall as part of the
evolution of the story, I go onto another project. I do not believe in
writer's block. I believe the story will write itself as long as I have
faith it will do so. If the story is meant to be written and I am purposeful
about writing it, it will get done. 

Sometimes the ideas lay dormant for years, others seem to call to me in a
more creative urgency. Some stories , after a few hundred pages sit in my
manuscript folder on Drop Box because I wrote myself into a corner.  I think
about them all the time, consider pulling one up and begin the revision
process.  I am not the only author to lament unfinished work laying in the
manuscript closet.    Maybe a few will eventually be revived and become
something for the masses, but I do not question. This is how my first two
novels were completed. When the piece beckons, I'll take up my creative
paddles,  push off into the word river and ride the current, trusting the
words will come.

Ann Chiappetta M.S.

 <http://www.annchiappetta.com/> http://www.annchiappetta.com

Making Meaningful Connections Through Media

 <mailto:Ann.m.chiappetta at gmail.com> Ann.m.chiappetta at gmail.com

Blog:  <http://www.thought-wheel.com/> www.thought-wheel.com

914.393.6605

"Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story."

- Neil Gaiman

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