Acting Out

I talk to myself when I write. I get up and walk around or try to envision an expression, a movement, or a body language. Sometimes I use props or crayons so I can see a setting or gauge an action. Many writers do this, but most writers write in their jammies in the privacy of their homes. The bulk of my writing is done at home, too, and my family is used to my antics, but my children and I are out and about several days a week to group classes or music lessons. I have blocks of time when I'm waiting...perfect opportunity to write, right?

I get strange looks from people.

How else can I put the reader in the scene if I don't use these visualization skills? Visualization can be most effective. I use music to get me moving along on a scene, to get the mood right, or to find the right tone for the narrative. I try out different laughs to see which one fits my character. I read sentences aloud that aren't working, and try different inflections or words to get the sentence to flow. When I'm stuck, I really get vocal: I talk to myself and try to look at the plot point from all angles. If a scene is flat, I'll have my main character narrate what happened, past tense and off the page, speaking my character's dialogue as if I were him or her and I was relating the events to a friend. (It works - I can see what's missing or if the scene needs to be omitted.)

I try not to do these things in public, which is my point. If I'm in public, I try to work on editing or revisions. But when I'm getting the novel down or adding/replacing scenes, I'm in the creative process, hence the full-action writing.

At least, I hope it was my antics that caused the strange looks....