Imagination Is Our Greatest Tool
Deby
Adair © 27.08.2012
Imagination
is our greatest tool. When you create something meaningful, you share
it with the world, even if no one ever sees your final effort. When
we imagine, and then create, we are stating by our thoughts and
actions who we are, and that person follows us around day and night
for everyone else to see, interact and share with.
If
we have music in us, then we strum, sing or write our lyrics. If we
have art in us then we sketch, draw or paint. And if we write, we are
usually sharing our deepest thoughts and projections.
Writing
is a tool that can captivate an audience in a way that no other art
does. A book presents an opportunity to immerse ourselves, sometimes
completely, into the lives of others, and in the process, it changes
us forever…we have now walked in another’s shoes and we will
never be the same again. Although it may be argued that a movie will
do a similar thing, the difference between reading
a story and watching
a story, is that a reader must go that extra mile and play the movie
in their head, their
way, with only the writer’s word to prompt the screen inside the
mind.
As
writers, we hold the world in the palms of our hands and, like all
projections, how we do it is what counts.
Remember
that what you write will reach inside the minds and hearts of others
and, by the power of your words, resonate. How do you choose to
create what resonates in others?
Writing
is something that comes from within a writer; a deep need to share a
story, a theme, experience or something which the writer themselves
chooses to explore.
When
writers ask me how to deal with writer’s block, I have one
response: Writer’s
block comes to you because you are trying to write what isn’t you.
When a writer ‘blocks’ they are experiencing these key things:
fear, self doubt and a desire to please others.
When
writers ask me how they should fix their writers block, or indeed,
why is it such extremely hard work to write, then my responses are
simplistic, based on the need to change
something that they’re doing.
At
first, my answers can be met with some resistance. ie: Often, a
writer has a preconceived idea of what kind of writer they are, or
want to be, and that may be the problem… in not knowing what you
truly should
be writing as opposed to what you think
you should be writing. ‘Writers block’ will always begin there.
Do
you love writing? Does the written word in and of itself give you
incredible joy? Does the thought of composing a sentence and
describing a moment, a scene, a sensation, a palette of colour,
transport you with inspiration and excitement? What entices you, the
writer, to capture an audience and transport them?
I’ll
ask a question: Can you effectively captivate with something you
don’t know, or don’t understand or have never come close to
experiencing? Perhaps, or perhaps not.
During
the process of writing, part of the joy is for us as writers to
explore how a scene, projection, moment or situation may occur,
creating that rush of creativity, the adrenalin and thrill that
actually makes us want to write!
If
you have decided that writing is in fact for you, that you have the
guts, determination and the hard-driven discipline required to master
your much loved skill, but you sit down to write and falter, then you
must ask yourself why.
A
highly skilled young University student asked me to read a piece of
their work and to offer a critique. It was an evocative piece. Very
dramatic, very intense, extremely wordy, descriptive, exciting… but
it lacked something. It
didn’t ring true. It
was a good piece of writing but I was left unmoved. I thought
carefully about the piece before I gave her my critique.
Finally,
this was my response: When you write, the most important thing to
remember is not to try to impress
the reader but to find your own individual style. Don’t
try to write with someone else’s style. Don’t
copy the sort of writing that will outwardly impress you but feel to
the reader as if they’ve read your book at least a hundred times
everywhere else!
Write
what you
know. Write what you
feel. By all means, use the power of your imagination, but don’t
try to construct what isn’t innately a part of you because it will
read cleverly, but not reach hearts and, as writers, our job is to
reach hearts, otherwise we have just added to a high pile of pulp.
When
a writer writes from deep inside themselves, reaching into what they
know, how they’ve grown, the insights, the hurts, the joys, the
depths of their being, then they lose writer’s block. They may have
decided to sit down and write that great money-spinner and instead,
written a poignant or meaningful story of something that jogs a
memory of a day in their schoolyard. The piece they actually may end
up writing may seem totally un-commercial, however, it may leave the
writer, and ultimately the reader, deeply satisfied. I assure you
that when you write from your inner truth you will always become a
better writer and that is what really matters in the long run. You
want to reach the hearts and minds of your readers.
When
people read, no matter what the genre, they unconsciously go there to
learn something, even if they feel they only want to be entertained.
When they read, they want to leave your
book/short story/poem, prose or paragraph, and feel that it was a
moment in time that you loaned them and which they have captured;
that borrowing from your ‘knowing’ it will leave them stronger,
better able to face the world. Write what you
own… share with us, the reader, what you
know and feel.
Writers
often ask me why they can’t seem to get the discipline of the
thing. My response, based on experiencing the roller coaster of life,
is this: No matter what is happening in your life, and
I mean no matter what,
write something every single day; every single day go to your work
and at least sit with pen in hand, with computer open and ready; if
you find nothing there, then edit something you have previously
written; look at your writing and be ruthless with it; teach yourself
to know if that flowery sentence is valid or just satisfying an itch
to be vocal; train yourself in excellent sentence structure and that
often, less is more.
Readers
these days want to get to the point… so learn the skill of writing
brilliantly with a sentence well built, rather than a paragraph that
repeats itself.
Take
the pain from losing loved ones, your illness, a job you hate, the
spiteful neighbour and
use it to write!
Don’t
wait for when life will get good, for when you live in the right
house, have the right amount of money, have the perfect relationship,
have wonderful heath… all or some of those things may never happen,
so write! Be your own best creator!
Write
something, even if it’s for two minutes a day, every single day
until the hardship of the discipline becomes your addiction and your
high… then you have learned the true love affair of writing and
have built a solid relationship that will let you call yourself a
writer, a marriage where you have learned to merge words with the
love of making it happen.
Remember,
the entire fantastic residue of living, is stored within all of us.
Don’t write about things you don’t know just because you think
that’s what readers want, and worse, because someone else got rich
from it… write what YOU know and, if you do it thoroughly,
seriously and with real craft and commitment, readers will love your
tale about the day you dropped your lunch at school and ten kids
laughed at you but one stepped forward to help… because when it’s
genuine, we, the reader will know it and cheer you on!
Meet Deby Adair:
Deby
Adair is an author, artist, graphic artist and equestrian. An avid
follower of the mystical and mysterious, Deby Adair has always loved
the purity and truth of unicorns and their archetypal majesty. A past
professional equestrian, Deby loves all animals and champions animal
rights, the environment and human rights. She believes we must take
care of our natural world.
An
avid reader all her life, Deby began writing stories, poetry and
prose from a very young age, the WISH trilogy is based on many works
of writing and art which she produced as a girl but later embellished
and created into her three novels.
Writing
this trilogy and creating a vast collection of wonderful, exciting
art works has occupied her for many years now. We hope you enjoy her
much loved books and wonderful artwork as much as Deby enjoyed
creating them!
Where to find Deby:
Deby's books: The Wish Trilogy
Book 1: WISH
From
the mists of time there comes a long-lost tale of unicorns.
'Wish
- Dreams Beginning', Book One of the Wish trilogy.
When
a homeless girl called Rielle and her unusual dog Pud become
hopelessly lost in a wild landscape, they find themselves in an
untamed forest. Here they meet an enigmatic unicorn who charms Rielle
with his cryptic ways. Soon Rielle and Pud find themselves locked
into an adventure of soul-seeking, friendship, mystery and truth that
is both disarming and sometimes sinister.
Meet
unicorns as you've never thought of them before; ancient forests and
unusual creatures. - Although classified for Children and Teens, this
book is also receiving heartfelt reviews from adults.
Book 2: WISH AGAIN
As
a timeworn legend comes to life, can the past be mended and the
present put right?
'Wish
Again - Dreams Truth', Book Two of the Wish trilogy.
Disarming,
charismatic and thrilling, this book explores friendship, complex
characters, trust and the ethereal beauty and archetypal power of
unicorns such as you have never seen unicorns before.
Fast-paced,
this book draws you from one chapter to the next in a series of
unfolding scenes that send you hurling to its conclusion with bated
breath.
Wish
Again- Dreams Truth by Deby Adair has been nominated for the 2011
Aurealis Awards - Australia's Premier Award for Speculative Fiction
written by an Australian Citizen.
Although
classified for Children and Teens, it is also receiving rave reviews
from adults. Wish Again-Dreams Truth-Book Two of the WISH trilogy.
Book 3: THE THIRD WISH
An
ancient feud and a race for power, who will have the final victory?
And what of the unicorns... which destiny will they be keeping?
In
this final book of the Wish trilogy - 'The Third Wish-Dreams Honour'-
the gripping destiny of Rielle and the company of complex characters
that become inextricably bound in her adventure, is revealed.
In
this powerful, touching and thought-provoking book, the destiny of
each character unwinds to reveal how unicorns, humans and First Ones
are bound in a quest of honour to an ancient truth.
To
do The Third Wish-Dreams Honour full justice, it is best read after
reading Book 1, Wish- Dreams Beginning and Book 2, Wish Again-Dreams
Truth.
The
Third Wish- Dreams Honour by Deby Adair has been nominated for the
2011 Aurealis Awards - Australia's Premier Award for Speculative
Fiction written by an Australian Citizen.
Although
classified for Children and Teens, this is not just a children's book
and is also receiving rave reviews from adults. The Third Wish-Dreams
Honour-Book Three of the WISH trilogy.
