Monday, March 12, 2012

Beautiful People

When I come up with a story, it usually starts with a scene or two in my mind. I then stew over it, figuring out what happens before or after that scene. I like to outline, and I always know how the story will end, but the outline is very moveable and things change a ton as I write, so the process still feels creative and new. Also, I write out of order sometimes. If there is a scene I can't stop thinking about, I'll jump ahead and get it down on paper (or Word) so I can relax and concentrate on the rest of the story.

Where do you all find inspiration for your stories?
Do you outline or write out of order?

I'm over halfway in my current WIP and I think it's the easiest story that's ever flowed out of me. I wrote 17,000 words last week (a record for me) and would've gotten in a lot more if life didn't get in the way. I even took time out to cast my characters for my WIP the movie. (Oh, please. I know you've all done it. Right?)

Theron: Adam Gregory

Nine: Saoirse Ronan

Kai: Alex Meraz

Pua: Kelsey Chow

Yeah. So I know the character names mean nothing to you, but isn't it nice to just look at beautiful people sometimes?

Speaking of beautiful people, I get to see my CP's this week. I am SO EXCITED you have no idea. We live all over the country and are headed to San Francisco for some writerly retreat girl weekend fun. Even though we met at a conference last year, we didn't interact much there, so I feel like I'm meeting someone I've been dating online. I'll fill you in on all the sweet details next week. Have a good one!

19 comments:

Kelley Lynn said...

They ARE beautiful people!

And don't you just love it when the words just flow? I had that kind of weekend. 7,000 words. They just floated onto the screen.

Of course then I went back and read them and the editing began :)

And yay for CP meet ups! I can't wait till my first one...

Tonja Drecker said...

Can't wait for the movie to come out! Really - 17,000 words is amazing. Good job!

That's neat that you get to do a CP weekend. I hope you guys have a lot of fun!

Shiela Calderón Blankemeier said...

Not just beautiful - gorgeous! Have fun on your writer's retreat and enjoy meeting your CPs :)

Kathryn Purdie said...

So funny that you just posted your future movie cast. I just did the same thing on my blog. (Your recent completely inspired me, of course.)

I'm so excited to see you again in THREE days. AAAAAAHHHH!

ilima said...

Kelley-You are a writing fool. Way to go!

T.Drecker-I'll reserve you a spot at the premiere. :)

Shiela-Thanks! It should be a blast.

Katie-Your movie cast is perfect! See you in a few days. Yipee!

Emily said...

Your characters are beautiful. I would like to be a the premiere with a beautiful dress. Oh, yeah, and also I'd like to be movie star thin.

I can't wait until the weekend either!

Adelle Yeung said...

You've got some pretty kids there :D

I try to stick with my outline and write in chronological order, even though I'm absolutely itching to write a future scene. My incentive is to finish these scenes so I can get to those!

Anyway, nice to meet you, Ilima ^_^ Thanks for following me!

ilima said...

Emily-I will take movie star thin and beautiful premiere dress any day.

Adelle-I wish I could do that. I end up writing a lot of crap cause I want to hurry and get to the end. I gave up and just skip instead. :)

Donna K. Weaver said...

What do you know? I'm already a follower! lol

Some beautiful people. And awesome names. I don't really imagine a lot of details for my characters. In fact, as my oldest son was beginning work on my adventure romance book cover, he asked me for some physical descriptions. I realized I hadn't even chosen eye color for my mc!

i'm erin. said...

Ilima! Especially right now I could look at beautiful people all day long. I'm so stoked to meet you.

Robin said...

Love this. You and Katie are inspiring me to cast my characters too. Amazed at how much you were able to write last week!

And um, 3 days, yeah, I can't wait!

ilima said...

Donna and Erin-Yay and welcome. Can't wait to meet you two in May.

Robin-yep. psycho writing robot, i am.

Amanda Olivieri said...

Wow--17,000 words is awesome!! I definitely skip around while drafting (at least this time around), especially when I don't know what happens next, but I know what happens later :)

Alice said...

Wow, you're rockin on your current story. Love the movie character pics. I've gotta try that for my stories. I'm very impressed. I looked for you at LTUE. Wanted to invite you to sushi with Stacy, but sadly I couldn't find you.

ilima said...

Amanda-yay...another skipper!

Alice-Too bad I didn't see you. I'm going to LDStorymakers AND WIFYR this year too if you'll be at either of those.

Deana said...

Oh I've done it for sure:) I love your cast!
I'm a plotter for sure. I tried pantsting it once....and that book was shelved:) You're my motivation. 17,000 in one week. Awesome!
I love your blog and I can't wait to meet you in Elana's group!

Julie Daines said...

My approach to writing seems fairly similar to yours. I get some scenes playing in my mind, and then work the story around them. I always know the ending, but the road to get there takes lots of unexpected twists and turns.

Your San Francisco trip sounds awesome!

ilima said...

Deana-Yay! can't wait to meet you too!

ilima said...

Julie-I love those twists and turns. My trip was a blast!