Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Boys will be boys

Our grandsons standing in order of height, being unnaturally still, restrained, looking uncomfortable in this forced line up.
And then, they became more relaxed, acted like themselves instead of one dimensional stiff characters. Two seconds later they were live wires, wrestling and rolling around on the lawn proving that boys will be boys.


If you are having trouble developing a character and your words are up a tree, escaping your grasp, don't give up. Allow your characters free rein. Observe, meander, allow them to surprise you. If you have to back away, catch your breath and let your characters rest, then do so. If you need to prod them into action, don't hesitate to climb that tree and go after them. Just as I posed the boys for a photo, writers position words into sentences, phrases, paragraphs and essays.

Allow for playfulness.

11 comments:

Claudia Moser said...

Aren't they cute :)))

Dorothy said...

I love that! Allow for playfulness. :)

Anonymous said...

I am flat wore out from my characters tree-climbing! (But they're much more exciting then, huh?)

Bookie said...

What a nice looking batch of fellows you have in your life!

Susan Sundwall said...

Nice connection you make for writers here. Playfulness wins the day!

Sioux Roslawski said...

What a wonderful way to showcase your grandsons while at the same time making a point about writing.As always, well done, Linda.

Tammy said...

What a handsome lineup!!

Susan said...

That was cute, Linda. Your grandsons are good sports! Take care. Susan

Beth M. Wood said...

Love the analogy! And so true...

Pat Wahler said...

As always, great advice, Linda.

Pat
Critter Alley

P.S. Your grandsons are very handsome young men!

Val said...

I am relieved to see that you are not on the lawn with them, pitching delightfully-colored Easter eggs for them to hit with a Cardinals' souvenir wooden bat.

Because that's how my mom interacts with HER grandsons.