Visualization of the story

Why is it so important to detail out each scene and still leave a little left for the imagination?  As I have said in previous blogs, your own imagination is much better than almost any detailed description.  Therefore, my job as a writer is to provide just enough background to allow the reader’s imagination to flow.

            This is usually based around the setting – what decade and what level of poverty?  Let’s face it, a rich house in the 1920’s would have a hidden liquor cabinet, maids and cooks and their hallways would smell like lemon wax.  A poor home in the 1920’s would be very cluttered by family members who were just making ends meet.  There would be no signs of maids, or high polished floors.  The smells would probably include body odor and dirt, even in homes where adults were trying hard to survive.  That would be the difference – living and surviving.

In answer to: "What inspires you to to write?"

I lead a pretty busy life.  I have a lot of kids and dogs, a wonderful husband and a very old parent who lives with me.  Like all of us, schedules change rapidly and I’m not always up on exactness.  What I have written down on my handy dandy list to do for the day gets changed at the drop of a hat.  So, although writing is something I love to do, it sometimes gets pushed to the back of my list and sometimes (quite frankly, a lot of times) it’s something I have to try to make time to do.

Imagination is what makes me write!

Have you ever read a book and “saw” yourself in the setting? Are the descriptions so vivid that you can smell and feel what the characters are involved with? When I was a small child, some of my best memories were reading stories in which I could “jump in” and be right there – either as one of the characters or tagging along behind them.
Isn’t that why we so like watching television and going to the movies? One minute we’re right in the comfort of a darkened theatre or in our own home, the next, everything else seems to fade away and we are in the story itself! What a mind trick and what a wonderful experience!

Where do my ideas come from?

People ask me where I get the ideas for my characters. I guess it would be fair to say that they resemble someone I have met or someone that impressed me in some way. Over the years, I’ve found I’m a people watcher and truly get a kick out of seeing what people will do next. I’m always surprised by their reactions to simple things and I believe I incorporate those ideas into my characters.