What motivates you?
What motivates me is my faith in God and the opportunities He has blessed me with to serve others like my blog, my family, and my friends.
What motivates me to write are my ideas, to need to write to, and my passion for stories.
That’s a loaded question for me! In a good way, of course. 😀
What do you enjoy most about writing?
That’s a loaded question for me! In a good way, of course. 😀
I enjoyed telling stories and I have been blessed with a wonderful imagination. I loved to develop characters, and plots, and create grand places.
Over the past few years, I have acquired a love for writing articles and essays on different topics.
What positive emotion do you feel most often?
Peace and satisfaction
My peace comes from God because He is in control.
I received satisfaction from editing and working on my novel and other writing projects.
My objective is to write a manuscript and get it published. I’m still working on my goal.
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How do you plan your goals?
My objective is to write a manuscript and get it published. I’m still working on my goal.
The first crucial step is to write the rough draft, which is done.
Now, I’m in the editing stage and halfway through draft 5, planning to do three more revision drafts. I’m focusing on my plot and creating engaging characters by learning new techniques and skills to make my novel gripping and a rememberable reading experience. That is my goal.
There are times I’m ecstatic about the process I’m making. Other times, I want to cry myself to sleep because I’m so overwhelmed by the process.
Why do I write?
I love to write.
How do I find my inspiration as an author? Click the link to read more.
How do I find my inspiration as an author?
That is the question I get asked by friends and acquaintances the majority of the time. When I get asked this question, I just get so tongue-tied because it’s not an easy question for me to answer on the spot. Today, I’m going to answer that question in this blog.
Let’s talk about inspiration.
There are so many misconceptions to me about inspiration. I’ll discuss about my experiences when inspiration arrives. Normally, when I’m looking for a new story idea, inspiration will hit out of the blue. It could be something I see on the news, reading an article, or even watching a TV show. That’s one-way inspiration will come.
It is for me, sitting at my computer and looking at a blank screen. Writing is a process and it can be a long daunting process. People don’t realize it is a habit of sitting in my chair, at my desk, and working on a project.
When I start a new project, I find that process very daunting because I’m looking at a blank screen. I am not waiting for inspiration to hit; what I want is a spark to light up my imagination to catch it on fire. That requires work. I don’t think people understand that.
How do I create the Spark of imagination?
Currently, I’m editing book one. Now, I feel it’s time for me to start outlining book two in the series. My mind is ready to start cultivating my imagination into thinking in different ways. A gardener prepares the soil by cultivating it for the plants. That’s what I’m doing for my mind. The plot and the storylines I’ve created in book one will continue into book two.
Staring at a blank screen can be very intimidating, and it’s difficult to start from scratch again. My outlining process is making a list of subplots that took place in book one that will carry over into book two.
I’m not sitting in my chair, hoping, and praying the gods of inspiration will shoot down a lightning bolt to strike my head. The key. Cultivating my imagination by asking myself questions about the story that I want to write.
What if questions?
What if questions are the seeds for the garden. These questions allow me to grow my story and determine what is essential and why. It will fill in the blanks when outlining my manuscript.
These questions help to spark my imagination to think about the story when I am away from my computer. My creative juices will start boiling slowly. This process is preparing my mind to start outlining in a few weeks by making the pieces and placing them in certain places in my outline.
Burst of Inspiration
This is where I think people get confused about inspiration. When suddenly, I receive a burst of inspiration for a story I’ve been working on. What they don’t realize is I’ve been putting in the work to get my creative juices flowing.
Today, I received a burst of inspiration for book 3 when I was on my way to the store. I wasn’t expecting it. Just happened. Why? I’m cultivating my mind, forming the pieces for book 2, and my creative juices are activated. That produced the idea for book 3.
The Sparks for my Imagination.
So why am I laying out all the groundwork before I even outline or begin to write my first draft? The sparks of my imagination. I want them throughout the writing process. When I outline, write, and edit, I need those ideas to make my novel unique.
How do you find your inspiration? Do you outline? Or do you just jump right in? Let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading.
What are you passionate about?
God
Writing
Composing music
Reading
Digital art
Spending time with my family and friends
Chapter 5 of draft 5 has gone through the first editing stage. Now, working on chapter 6 of draft 5, before I work outside and cook lunch.
Yesterday, I discussed that I wanted to edit and outline articles. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any outlining. I edited 550 words in my writing session. Expanding my opening scene paragraph which was 120 words to 300 words I edited.
My goals for today are to outline and finish editing my chapter, which I think will be about 500 words edited when completed.
It was hard to get started after so many weeks away from my writing. The ADD wanted to run wild, I stayed in my chair to stay focused and took breaks. Once I reached hyper-focused, I started making good progress on my chapter.
Now, it is about to get back to a routine of writing and editing daily as I transition to a new normal after having my surgery.
It is vital to remember to give myself patience; as I put my new routines back in place, allowing myself time to adjust. It’s essential to keep my expectations in reality. I don’t become overwhelmed with all these changes.
Taking just things day by day. Self-care is crucial.
Today, I decided to edit my manuscript and outline a couple blog posts. To see, how long I can sit in my chair.
Here’s the link below:
https://anchor.fm/alexandra-mars1/episodes/March-21–2023-e22agk9
I’m recovering from my surgery, and taking it easy. I still have restrictions; I get tired easily, and my bed has become my best friend. Just taking it one day at a time, I’m heading into my new chapter of life.
Working on making adjustments to my routines because I have a weight limit for lifting items. Yesterday, I overdid it, but it felt great to be useful again. Today, I am paying the price, and I will just relax and have some fun.
This week I feel more like writing and editing, I am going to edit a couple of chapters of my manuscript since I can sit a lot longer. My pelvic pain was interfering with my life, I could sit only for a short time. Now, I am looking forward to editing my manuscript.
The other day, I was looking at the last chapter that I was working on, and I wanted to get a feel of my story again. Due to the pain, I stopped editing. Now, my body is ready to work on it again and I want to see how my manuscript turns out.
Alexandra Mars 