ok, so you're a writer: phone a friend

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do you remember the "phone a friend" option on that who wants to be a millionaire show? well, i want to extend the idea to your life as a writer.

i've probably said this a number of times before, but it just helped me out big time, so i think it's time to remind.

i have this story i'm writing (p.s. my last post about that series? i got a more pressing idea in the meantime, so i have to switch gears and write this new one first--you gotta go with your writing flow. if there's something you know you have to write, you must do it. otherwise, you'll be thinking about it the whole friggin'time you're trying to write the other one. tried it, been there, following my heart now. don't make my mistake if you can help it...it will totally save you days/or week.)

so again, i have this new story i'm writing. it's closely related to real events, just like most fiction out there. but of course, it's not going to be a biography of this person. i am going to pull truths out and attach them to untrue/could-be-true events, ultimately making something new. but i was having trouble un-attaching with the truth. just like sue monk kidd said in her talk concerning the invention of wings. she had so much information on sarah. her journals, her history and very little on hetty handful. one would think it would be harder to make up a character you have zero information on than someone you have research on. but mrs. kidd said it was the opposite, that because she had less on hetty handful, she could let hetty speak for herself, come to life on the page. for a while, she felt a little more bound to sarah's actual life, her actual words written in 19th century sentence-structure. but once she let go of the bullet points, sarah came to life just like hetty.

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but how do you let go? if you're a writer, you are a thinker, and sometimes you think so hard that you have absolutely no wiggle room for the thoughts. you are trying to remember everything, trying to make sense of everything, and by accident, you make creativity nearly impossible.

my answer: phone a friend. i talked to lindsey, my lovely friend who lives too many states away in pennsylvania,  and it all made sense. just simply talking to her, about stuff she's never heard, knows nothing about, cares nothing about (except for the story it becomes) put all my thoughts in a row. i all of a sudden knew how to make it all work, how to start the whole story off.  goldmine i tell you, goldmine.

find your friend. he/she doesn't have to know anything about writing (of course it doesn't hurt).  the person just needs to know you and how important it is for you to let it all go. they don't need to be someone who would rather hear bullet points. they need to get that you need to spill your guts, ramble, go on until it makes sense. and it will. if you're willing to be vulnerable and let some bad ideas fall out with the good, you'll find that your gold was there the whole time, just covered up by rigid facts and details.

oh, and by the way, i have never actually watched who wants to be a millionaire. just slumdog millionaire :)