When You're Stuck - A #WriteTip from Sara Daniel - @SSaraDaniel #DecadentPub
/I'm delighted to welcome fellow Decadent Publishing author Sara Daniel here today. I always need pointers when it comes to writing, and she's been in the author game for a lot longer than I. Here's a brainstorming technique from Sara that should cure many a writer's block.
(By the way, I can't give out too many details yet, but this picture is ridiculously relevant to my WIP paranormal romance.)
Giveaway
To celebrate her new release, A Model Hero, Sara is giving away a $20 Gift Card. Scroll to the bottom to throw your name into the hat.
When You’re Stuck
by Sara Daniel
Whether I have a brand new story brewing or a manuscript that’s in need of serious revisions, at some point I always get stuck and don’t know how to make a plot work or what should happen next. I need to brainstorm for a solution. My go-to brainstorming technique is asking myself the same question over and over.
“What if?”
What if a woman will do anything to get her nagging, overbearing mother out of her home, so she can have her life back?
What if the last hope to revive a modeling agency sits with a man who refuses to model again?
“What if” is the process by which I make my characters come alive. “What if” is how I solve my plot problems…and sometimes create new ones. “What if” frees my brain to think of far-fetched possibilities. After all, I’m not setting anything in stone. I’m just suggesting “what if.”
I begin these “what if" scenarios in my head. They often come to me in the shower, on long walks, and while driving. Eventually, I sit with a pen and paper and channel these half sentences and random musings onto the page. From there, “what if” invariably leads me to a story that I can share with my readers.
A Model Hero
by Sara Daniel
Gretchen Meyers is a full-figured woman living in a model thin world. Desperate to end her mother's constant, nagging stream of dieting and fashion “advice,” Gretchen tackles the challenge of reviving her mother’s faltering modeling agency. All she needs is to woo back Kyle Ramsey, once the hottest model in the country.
Making the preemptive choice to turn his back on his career seemed Kyle’s only option until Gretchen comes calling. He doesn’t care what she wants to offer him, the answer is no. Still, he’s intrigued by her refreshing personality and all her lovely, lush curves.
When tragedy strikes, Kyle finds comfort and healing in Gretchen’s arms. But he can’t trust her with his career-ending secret and she doesn’t believe their relationship will survive the long term. He’s perfect and she’s not even close. Can the fragile ties holding them together survive Kyle’s opportunity to become a true model hero?
Excerpt
The restaurant scene, then, had done its job. Gretchen would have to send Jamie flowers. No, she’d send a box of fattening chocolates instead. “Did you enjoy your evening after I left?”
Kyle’s gaze narrowed, he pushed himself out of the chair. “Did you arrange with Jamie to drop by our table?”
“How could I, when I had no idea where we were going for dinner until we were there?” Not to mention, she’d have preferred to sever essential body parts than ask Jamie Feldman for anything. But her irrational possessiveness was her own problem. “The important thing is you had a good time, and you’re ready to make up for everything you’ve been missing over the past year.”
“Those things aren’t important at all.” He advanced on her slowly.
She took a step back and came up against the door she’d closed a moment before.
Kyle flashed a predatory smile. He took her purse and briefcase from her shoulder, setting them aside. Then he rested his forearms on either side of her head and stared into her eyes, his lips a scant inch from hers as he spoke. “I’m here for you. Our date deserves another shot.”
Her heart thundered. The thick eyelashes framing his gray-green eyes mesmerized her. He stood too near for her to formulate a coherent response. This much physical perfection and sex appeal should be outlawed. Her mind was not equipped to handle it.
“What do you say?” he asked.
Yes, take me. “I say, why me?” Her voice rose with an embarrassing squeak as she struggled to compose a rational argument and remind herself she was in her office, just feet away from her employees who’d never seen her anything less than one hundred percent professional. “I get why you went out with me on Saturday. You’d shut yourself away from the world, and I was the first woman to find you. But you’ve been reminded you can have Jamie or anyone else you crook your finger for. Why do you still want me?”
His gaze softened with a tenderness that pierced her heart. He brushed his thumb along her cheek. “How could I not want you, Gretchen? You’re smart and funny and beautiful and not afraid to let a guy who has no idea what you like order for you on a first date.”
To celebrate A Model Hero’s release, Sara is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card. Fill out the Rafflecopter form here or on her Facebook page to enter.
