Finding Yourself Inside the Quiet

Connie Mann

Any fellow planners out there? Nothing makes me happier than a shiny new goal and a world of possibilities. I don’t need to know all the details at the outset, but I need a general direction to get started. I am also a checklist girl from way back. I get positively giddy checking tasks off my to-do list and feeling like I am making progress toward a goal.


I should also add that I am very much a people person and spending too much time alone makes me squirrely.


Enter 2020 when life as we know it came to a screeching halt.

Wait, Where are we Again?

By Connie Mann

Have you ever started reading a book and several chapters in, had to flip back to the beginning to see if you’d missed clues as to where you were? If the setting is too generic, too Anywhere, USA, I feel uneasy, like I can’t settle into the story world because I’m still waiting for someone to tell me exactly where I am.

So how can we use settings to anchor our readers? My Dad worked for Trans World Airlines (TWA) for 38 years and we were privileged to travel quite a bit. (I’ve done many an airport sprint in heels to snag the last standby seat!) Travel taught me that destinations—from big cities to small towns--have a personality, a “feel” that sets one place apart from anywhere else on earth.

As writers, capturing that essence is part of the fun. We get to create a world for our readers, to invite them to travel with us to another place, whether it’s a real location or exists only in our imagination. We invite them in by painting pictures with words.

My new Florida Wildlife Warriors series is set in the Ocala National Forest, which is eons removed from Miami’s glitz and Disney’s animation. This is Old Florida, where Spanish moss drapes towering live oak trees and slow-moving ceiling fans stir the sultry air of a covered front porch, while alligators snooze along the banks of a lazy river. Can you feel the humidity on your skin? Smell the earthy scent of the swamp?

That feeling of walking right beside your characters, seeing what they see and feeling what they feel, is what you want to give your readers. Anchor them in a specific location. Think geography, temperature, culture, architecture, smells, sounds, foods, etc. Visit if you can and take the time to inhale deeply and absorb the feel of a place. Sit on a park bench and people watch. Is the pace slow or fast? Sophisticated or down-home? High heels or flip flops?

If you can’t go in person, talk to people who’ve been there, watch videos and study photos to find that “something” that sets a place apart. By sprinkling those “telling details” into your stories, you’ll give your readers the chance to not only experience a great story—but also to fall in love with a wonderful place.

_______________________________________________________________________ 

Connie Mann is a licensed boat captain and loves writing romantic suspense stories set in Florida’s small towns and unspoiled wilderness. She is the author of Beyond Risk, (Florida Wildlife Warriors #1), the Safe Harbor series (Tangled Lies, Hidden Threat, Deadly Melody), as well as Angel Falls and Trapped! She has lived in seven different states but this weather wimp has happily called warm, sunny Florida home for more than twenty years. When she’s not dreaming up plotlines, you’ll find “Captain Connie” on Central Florida’s waterways, introducing boats full of schoolchildren to their first alligator. She is also passionate about helping women and children in developing countries break the poverty cycle and build a better future for themselves and their families. Besides boating, she and her husband enjoy hanging out with their grown children and extended family and planning their next adventure. Connect with Connie online at: www.conniemann.com  The photo used in this blog post of the Silver River is owned by www.conniemann.com

Four Tricks to Fake Out Your Internal Editor

By Connie Mann

I don’t know about you, but my internal editor is a sneaky little trickster. She knows up all smiles, acting warm and friendly, like she’s trying to help, but before I know it, she’s got me questioning everything I know about absolutely everything—from the story I’m working on to my very existence. Sound familiar?

Don’t get me wrong. I need her. You need her. She’s the one who nags you when a scene just doesn’t feel right and she won’t let you rest until you figure out what’s wrong with it.

But if you give her free reign during the creative, get-words-on-the-page part of the writing process, she can effectively paralyze you and keep you from gaining any forward momentum.

What’s a frustrated writer to do? Here are a few tricks I use to fake her out so I can get my story written. Then, and only then, do I let her voice her opinions, ask questions and make suggestions.

1 – Stealth Mode

Over the years, I’ve learned that she’s not really an early-morning girl. Probably because I’m not one either. So, if I get up stupid early and stumble to my computer with my coffee cup, I can get a bunch of words on the page without her input. Because she’s not up yet. She won’t start nattering in my ear for at least an hour or two.

Try sneaking in and out of your story at different times of the day to throw her off balance. And then let those words fly.

2 – Negotiate

If she shows up unannounced, pouring doubt into your ear while you’re trying to write, negotiate. Tell her that once this first draft is done, you will be willing to listen to her every word. That usually works to keep her quiet. Pouty, but quiet.

3 – Sneak Attacks

Speed is your friend while you’re writing the first draft. If you set a timer for a word sprint, you’ll be so focused on the story and getting those words down that even if she says something, you’ll be too busy writing to hear it. Deadlines work the same way. If I know I have exactly one hour to write before work, I can completely tune her out while my mental clock ticks away.

4 – Defy Her

She’s always going to have opinions. Some good. Some not. But you get to decide which ones to listen to. And when you’re going to listen. When she’s being particularly negative or nitpicky, ignore her.

Whatever you do, keep writing. Writer’s do what they do despite all the opposition, from inside and out. Happy writing!

What strategies help you shut down your internal editor?

____________________________________________________

Connie Mann is a licensed boat captain and the author of the Safe Harbor romantic suspense series, as well as Angel Falls and Trapped. DEADLY MELODY, Book 3 in the series, just released in May. When she’s not dreaming up plot lines, you’ll find “Captain Connie” on Central Florida’s waterways, introducing boats full of schoolchildren to their first alligator. She’s also passionate about helping women and children in developing countries break the poverty cycle. She and her hubby love traveling and spending time on the water with their grown children and extended family. (Hubby says they are good at fishing, but lousy at catching.) Visit Connie online at www.conniemann.com Social Media links Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ConnieMannAuthor?ref=hl#!/ConnieMannAuthor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captconniemann/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4024072.Connie_Mann

Newsletter Signup: http://eepurl.com/bYdYqX Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Connie-Mann/e/B009WVBYVC/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaptConnieMann Pinterest.com http://www.pinterest.com/captconniemann/

Three Ways to Muzzle Your Internal Editor

By Connie Mann

　

Has this ever happened to you? You’re hunched over the keyboard, fingers flying as you picture the scene unfolding in your mind’s eye and then, wham. Your internal editor pipes up with, “Uh, are you sure that’s the word you want to use right there? I don’t know. How about a different one?”

Just like that, creativity screeches to a dead stop. Now all you can think about is that pesky word. Or phrase. Or awkward sentence structure.

As writers, we need our internal editor, no question. But only when we’re in editing mode. While we’re in creative mode and working on a first draft, we need a way to silence that pesky mood spoiler and muzzle our personal grammar cop.

How do we do that? Here are three strategies that work for me:

Write Fast

I know there are writers who can add 3-5 perfectly written, carefully edited pages to their manuscript at the end of every workday. If that’s you, I’m envious. My creative process is a far messier, less organized proposition. I apparently have the attention span of a gnat, because if I write too slowly, or go back to the beginning too often, I lose interest in the project before I reach the end. I have learned I need to dump that first draft onto the page as fast as I possibly can. That way I keep my head in the story and my excitement strong enough to pull me along from chapter to chapter—all the way to the final scene.

Write Early

Though I’ve tried to be a morning person, I’m really not. But I have learned to use this to my advantage. When I write early in the morning, my internal editor isn’t awake yet. Coffee cup in hand, I sit down at my computer and simply start writing the scene that’s playing in my mind. Doing this frees my creativity and I’m usually surprised by what I’ve written—especially without my editor chirping on my shoulder. Try it and see if it works for you.

This is a tough one: while you’re working on your first draft, don’t let yourself go back and tweak…at all. Re-reading a page or two to get back into the story is okay, but don’t start changing things or you’ll wreck your momentum. Just keep plowing forward. I’ve used this approach with every story I’ve written, including my new novel, Angel Falls. Those book-in-a-week or month-long writing challenges are a great way to gallop right past your internal editor and get to the finish line of your story.

Hopefully, these strategies will help you keep moving forward, so you can type THE END. When your internal editor squawks, let him or her know his turn is coming. When that first draft is out of your head, let her fix and tweak to her grammatically correct little heart’s content.

____________________________________________________________________________　

Connie Mann loves variety, so she is an author, a blogger and a boat captain. She encourages women to reach their dreams through her blog: www.BusyWomenBigDreams.com and speaks on perseverance and the writing craft. She knows a bit about being stubborn since her new romantic suspense, Angel Falls, took 10 years to get published! She is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America and loves romantic suspense. She is also a United States Coast Guard-licensed boat captain, so when she’s not writing, she’s usually on Central Florida’s waterways with local school children or her fabulous family. Please visit her online at: www.conniemann.com Blog:www.BusyWomenBigDreams.com

Website: www.conniemann.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnieMannAuthor?ref=hl#!/ConnieMannAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaptConnieMann

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II8IWqaxakI