by Cherrilynn Bisbano @bisbanowrites
I confess, my keyboard is lonely. My life is a rollercoaster of emotions. When grief from multiple losses and my mom’s advanced dementia cloud my brain, words get lost in the fog. When inexpressible joy only Jesus can give overtakes me, my hands raise toward the sky in praise—no words, no writing. Many of you are there now or will someday lack the desire to feed the flame of writing. Or perhaps life is so exciting you don’t have time to write.
If you’ve read my posts, you know I like to teach with acrostics. Let’s explore how to fall back in L. O. V. E. with writing, no matter how you feel.
Listen to books.
For a new sensory experience, try listening to a book. Try books that are not in your genre. I discovered a new love in historical romance novels and enjoyed learning about the periods.
A change in the narrator’s octave or accent transports me into the story as if I’m speaking with the character.
Observe your surroundings.
Listen to conversations. This adds more to your dialogue toolbox. Examine how people move their bodies. I watched a short video about the meaning of body language, posture, and word enunciation. Now, I’m excited to use this newfound knowledge to create deeper and more interesting characters.
Visualize.
Do you want to eliminate head-hopping and other mistakes? John Garder, the American writer, said,
“Write as if you were a movie camera. Get exactly what is there.”
Other writing teachers use the same analogy. They create vivid and engaging scenes.
Education
The more you learn, the more you hone your writing. You can pass on your knowledge
Of course, joining us at the BRMCWC can level up your writing and give you a spiritual boost.
Our prayer is that you experience the L.O.V.E. from writing and from BRMCWC friends and family.
How do you fall back in love with writing? Join the conversation.
Cherrilynn Bisbano is an award-winning writer, coach, editor, and speaker. As former managing editor of Almost an Author, she helped the website earn the #6 spot on the Top 100 best writing websites for 2018 by The Write Life and Top 101 Websites for writers with Writers Digest. Cherrilynn is a speaker with Women Speakers. Her topics include leadership, book proposals, and the Bible.
She is a two-time winner of Flash Fiction Weekly. Her work in progress, Accidental Findings, won the first 10 pages award with, When Words Count Retreat. You can find her published in Blue Ridge Writers Blog, Southern Writers, More to Life (MTL), Christian Rep, Christian Voice, Refresh, and other online magazines. Cherrilynn is a contributor to award-winning, Get to the Margins-Author Anthology; Breaking the Chains; Heart Reno, Kiss Guilt Goodbye; and Chicken Soup for the Soul-Miracles books. Her latest book, Shine Don’t Whine, released October 2020. Cherrilynn proudly served in the Navy and Air National Guard, earning the John Levitow Military leadership award. She lives with her eighteen-year-old son, Michael, Jr., and husband of 22 years. Cherrilynn loves Christ, Chocolate, coffee, and Cats. You will often find her on the beach sea glass hunting.
The Conversation
I love this so much!! (no pun intended – haha)
Life really does get in the way of our writing. But I find it interesting that in times of hard grief and pain, my writing is on a much higher level. I believe when we’re at that level of pain (especially emotional,) we can’t be anything but authentic. And when we’re authentic, God uses us better.
Of course, there are those times when we can’t write until the pain settles down. So your advice to L.O.V.E. is spot on.
I have also journaled my feelings. I don’t typically journal, but sometimes, it’s the only way I get through grief. As my therapist says, “We have to do the hard work of grief to come out on the other side a whole person.”