Don’t Forget to Play…in Writing

As writers, we do a good job of talking about the challenges of our chosen field, both those in writing and especially those in the business of publishing, but what about the joy? The shiny gold nuggets of happiness that we mine in our work? Would you say you “play” in your writing process or daily life in some way?

I asked some authors about their favorite little joys and this is what they have to say:

“Playful writing is probably even more important in fantasy than in other genres, simply because of all the world-building involved. The rules of physics don’t necessarily apply and anything is possible! That means that fantasy writers really have to stretch themselves to come up with new creations, creatures, and settings. One playful writing exercise I do builds on my dreams from the night before. I jot down whatever details I can remember, then try to use that as a starting point for a new story. The problem with dreams, of course, is that they rarely make sense, so the challenge becomes incorporating the imaginative spirit of the dream while also creating a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end. In some cases I can even use those exercises to improve or add to my current work-in-progress.” –T.M. Blanchet, author of The Neath Trilogy  

“I love taking little known bits of history and bringing them to life in a unique way such as the female ambulance drivers on the Front, or how cardiology got its start because of the Great War. I also love asking the question ‘what if?’. What if your sister ran away to become mistress to a Nazi, how far would you go to save her? What if the Winter Soldier from the Avengers fell in love, what would that relationship look like? And if I can take those little bits of history trivia and combine them with ‘what if’ then all the better not only for me, but more interesting for readers.”—J‘nell Ciesielski, author of The Socialite

“One thing I do for fun is really spending some time setting up the appearance of my scrivener document before I start working on a project. I change my computer backgrounds and try to digitally immerse myself in my main project. For my upcoming novel, Lavender and Sage, I rotated lots of different lavender fields in southern France, for example.” –Aimie K. Runyan, author of The School for German Brides

“Sometimes I will do a whole bunch of fun dialogue that I know will be cut. I love quick wit in dialogue but it doesn’t always serve the story so I will play with it a little and then the absolute best funny bits get to stay. I definitely see this as a form of play and exploration.”—Ann Garvin, USA Today bestselling author of I Thought You Said This Would Work

Our very own Therese Walsh, editorial director of Writer Unboxed and author of The Moon Sisters shares,

“I love the process of titling my chapters! Sometimes it takes a long time to come up with the right title, but once I do it helps to pull the entire chapter together thematically. And I adore the process of wordplay throughout.”

For me, I enjoy spending ten minutes with a craft book to get me going. I’ll choose one short excerpt or a couple of pages, read, and think about how it applies to my current WIP, and then get busy writing! I also really take joy in creating visceral descriptions. I suppose this is no surprise, coming from a historical fiction author who loves nothing more than building a world for the reader.

Other ways you might play:

• Write a journal entry from a secondary character’s POV or an outrageous character that you’ve never tried writing before. This is SO fun!
• Color code elements of story arc and make a story board. Use fun stickers, too, and glittery gel pens (My guilty pleasure. God, I love school supplies).
• Answer a writing prompt you found online and set the timer for 10 minutes. Get crazy with it. It may inspire one of those gold nuggets I mentioned.
• Try a new literary device that you admired in someone else’s novel.
• Schedule a writing retreat with friends in a cool place and take plenty of breaks to enjoy the location.

Sometimes writing can be a slog, but don’t forget to stop a moment and enjoy this exciting and challenging calling that we love. It really is a glorious, fulfilling way to spend our time.

In summation, I really couldn’t say it better than author, Julie Cantrell bestselling author of The Perennials:

“I absolutely love escaping into other worlds and living an adventure through my characters. Writing not only helps me examine the deeper meaning of life, but it also brings me the same joy I found as a young girl acting out homemade scripts with neighborhood friends. The storytelling, the wonder, the creativity, the imagination—it’s all just as enjoyable for me now to pour those characters on the page as it was for me then, when we were bringing them to life under the backyard trees. Writing a novel is just a different way for me to play.”

Writing a novel IS just another way to play! I really should play more. You really should play more, too. Let’s never forget that.

What part of the writing process do you really enjoy, or what little routines make you happy?

Heather Webb

Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of historical fiction. As a freelance editor and an adjunct in a MFA in Creative Writing program, Heather has helped many writers sign with agents and go on to sell at market. When not writing, she feeds her cookbook addiction, geeks out on history and pop culture, and looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world. To date, her books have been translated to seventeen languages.

www.heatherwebb.net/