Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Disneyland - use life as inspiration



Today I'm going to Disneyland. I haven't been since I was twelve, and a LOT of things have changed. My husband hasn't been EVER, and my two little boys have never seen a place like this. When I tried to explain to my four-year-old where we were going, he said, "Going to the park with a mouse?" Yeah, no. Some things are better to see than hear explained.

Feel free to use our excitement as a plot facelift for you if you're writing and getting stuck in something boring. I know how it is. You're thinking, "How am I going to get from plot point A to plot point B without depressing the heck out of everybody?"

Answer: Disneyland!

Just slip in a scene or two about a funner-than-life theme park and see where it takes your characters. You can direct them back to plot point B so they're still dealing with the issues and problems you originally fathomed. OR... your story can turn into a theme park horror. OR... maybe you'll decide to write a literary novel metaphorically analyzing the other thrill-seekers who have come to the park.

The possibilities here are just endless.

Mostly, don't forget to appreciate the little things today. Because even though we're going to "the happiest place on Earth," we're still going to have cranky children at about noon, diapers to change on the baby, and our own waiting-in-line blues to deal with. The key with every situation--literary or literal--is to celebrate every tiny joy.

Happy Disneyland Tuesday! Enjoy your theme park writing exercise!

2 comments:

  1. What a fun writing exercise!!! I write 250 words each and every day and though I've already written my word count for the day I think I'm going to do a fun little piece!!!

    Look - I can comment!

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  2. Yay! I'm glad you got a kick out of my little writing exercise. I'm going to do this today, too, just to see how much suspense I can work into an amusement park scene if I put my hunters in there with their sometimes oblivious prey.

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