Fair warning: this doesn’t really talk that much about writing, but I promise it is related to some degree.
As I’ve been spending a lot of time working on what I’m referring to as My Multiverse (where I’m connecting novels in a universe, but not in series), I’ve developed this desire to really explore my writing universes in as many different ways as possible. Obviously, my characters are real to me and I can visualize their worlds in a way that really no one else can, but I want to bring that connection to my readers, too. So, how do I suppose I’m going to do this?
The first thing I already do, but I’m expanding on it: my playlists. For those of you who don’t know, I always include a playlist page at the end of my novels for songs that remind me of the novel. I’ve slowly been altering the themes behind the playlist, but for the projects I’m currently working on, those themes are really changing. Instead of just doing the songs that remind me of the book, I’m also creating specific playlists for the characters. For example, one of the playlists I’m working on is a character’s go to break up playlist. Stuff like that. It helps me dig into the characters a bit more, and just makes them seem a bit more real.
The next thing I want to do comes down to something that I have loved doing for years, and that is designing outfits. Now, I’m not going to draw every single outfit that the characters wear, but for special events like prom or going to weddings, I want to design what they’re wearing for it. I loved drawing dresses growing up, so this is kind of an extension of that. I have no idea if these are going to end up anywhere, but I love the idea of combining two things that I love doing--writing and designing clothing.
In a similar vein, I used to spend time drawing house blueprints and floor plans for them. Naturally, I want to continue this. Whenever I’m writing, I have an idea in my head of what the houses look like, and specifically my character’s rooms. So, I want to take this a step further and draw these out for myself to really visualize them. My hope is that through expanding on my visualization of the worlds around my characters, I can make them more vivid for my readers, too.
The last thing I want to do is spend more time writing whimsical scenes that won’t necessarily make it into the final draft of my projects. Writing is supposed to be a fun thing, and I want to really let myself enjoy that. Yes, accomplishing things and making progress is important for me, but I also want to let myself enjoy writing more. I’m also not writing a ton right now anyway, since I’m doing so much plotting, so making more time to write fun stuff is definitely important to me.
I guess the point of this is that I want to spend more time doing cozy things that support my writing, even if that doesn’t mean making a lot of tangible production progress. I think it’s really easy to get stuck in the mindset of having to make progress, even if you are enjoying what you’re working on. This year, I’m going to try to have more fun with my writing. Or be more whimsical, if you will.
That's all for now, folks!
-C
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