I is for Imagination

A to Z Blogging Challenge

I is for Imagination

One of the essential parts of being a writer is having an active imagination. I used to fall asleep (well, I still do this!) thinking up different stories. This was way better than counting sheep to try to fall asleep. I kept thinking about the same story as I would fall asleep and I finally wrote bits of it down in a little notebook that my husband gave me. That eventually grew into...a story! My first book, actually. A little imagination goes a long way! ;)

In your imagination, do you think in words or in mental images? My imagination is like a movie rolling in my head. I "write" a scene and it keeps going until I don't like something about it. "Cut! Let's try that again!" :)

Think of how little kids play. "Let's pretend that Barbie is going to go on a date with Ken." "Ok! And then he asks her to go to prom!" "And then she'll pick the pink dress to wear." "And then they'll drive in her convertible..."
"Kids, it's time to clean up!"
"But we haven't even played yet!!"
**I think it's funny that kids play in future tense with dolls or cars or whatever it is they play with.**

Have you stretched your imagination lately? Throw in some weird ideas in your stories and see if you like them. Give your characters a couple of different scenarios to work through. "If Main Character goes here, this happens. OR this happens. OR this happens!" Sort of like "Choose Your Own Adventure" (except that I hated those books because I never got to the right answer!!). This will help make your characters more real if they have real choices, just like "real life" people.