What if?

Hi everyone,

One of my favorite exercises of Jodi's was her "what if" exercise. Though I've found it more of a challenge to think "outside the box" with my own stories than with other writers' stories, it has at least made me ask myself that question of my book and other short stories.

As a result, I made a fairly major change in my book. Sachi met her friend Reiko in the internment camp, and their relationship is a sub-plot in the book. I asked, "What if Reiko was a boy instead of a girl?" Well, it added a whole new sweetness to that sub-plot, something Jodi suggested the heavy subject might be able to use. Now, "Reiko" is "Sam," and though they are children, they have a crush on each other, and it makes their parting more poignant.

Have any of you asked "what if" with any of your stories, and if so, what changed?

Good writing!
Jan

Here we go . . .

Hi everybody,

This is my first experience with blogging, but what better environment to learn than the safe and supportive environment we found in Jodi's inaugural Advance Novel Writing class?

I thought this might be a fun and easy way for all of us to keep in touch -- to keep up with each other's successes and to support each other through our challenges.

I'm curious to know how each of you have done with your writing goals since returning home from the academy? As we discussed in class, we all have things (excuses?) that pull us away from our writing time, and I'll be the first to admit, I've already succumb to them -- remodeling the barn, pulling weeds in the garden, catching up on stuff that didn't get done while I was gone, emails, Facebook, petting the dog . . . jeez, the list never ends.

I was sooo motivated when I returned from Canyon, and for the first day, I did manage to get some new writing done. So, my question is, how are you all keeping the motivation going?

Well, I'll keep this short. Just wanted to check in. Now I need to figure out how to invite you all to this blog!

Take care, and get writing!

Jan