Writing Tip #12: Maintain a Flexible Imagination

I’m on fire writing a new children’s book, and yet one important character—a kid named Daniel—has been flat in every scene. I haven’t been able to conjure up a distinctive picture of this character, and it shows. Today, out of the blue, I realized that Daniel could be a girl, and I wondered if this would be an improvement. I picked up a pen and began writing possible names. The moment I chose her name and began re-writing her first scene, a wonderful, dimensional character appeared.

Whenever I’m inching my aching and tight muscles into my yoga routine, I’m reminded how difficult and crucial it is to maintain flexibility. Flexibility of the imagination is difficult and crucial, as well. Somehow you have to allow yourself to consider all the options that you never allowed yourself to consider.

Writing Tip #11: What Rhymes with Pomegranate?

My songwriter friend David Christman (http://www.myspace.com/haolewolf) sent me the lyrics of a new song about pomegranates, which was bursting with fun, juicy rhymes. An unexpected rhyme is such a pleasure.

I like to consult my rhyming dictionary when songwriting to make sure that I haven’t overlooked any gems or to get out-of-the-box ideas and was encouraged to keep doing this in a songwriting workshop I took with Pat Pattison (Berklee School of Music). Pattison said that his beginning students mistakenly assume that using a writer’s tool, such as a dictionary, is cheating; but relying only on the rhymes that are in the alphabet of your own brain doesn’t prove anything. He says that your creative talent emerges by choosing the best rhyme possible, so it makes sense to comb through as many rhymes as possible.

David told me that he uses www.rhymezone.com on the web after first tapping his own inner rhyme-maker, which he imagines “to run much like an ice cube maker in a funky old hotel.” Love that image!