Twitter Party Recap

Thank you to all who participated in this week's chat.

Here are some of the topics we addressed:

1) Where do you find your inspiration? Often from real life. Also when doing mundane things: commuting, taking a shower, running, people watching, listening to music. Even when daydreaming.Some of us need a "fire under their butts" to get them going. Many of keep a notebook or even use an iPhone to jot down scenes that pop into our heads or conversations we overhear.

2). Fiction vs. non-fiction writing. This was an interesting topic, because each writer seems to have her own comfort zone without much cross-over - although a few brave souls are venturing out of their comfort zone and into fiction. @gonnakillhim quoted @annrants as saying "she loves writing fiction because she never knows who will walk thru the door." A discussion point was whether those of us who write both fiction and non-fiction use the same process for both.

3) Making compelling characters. Becoming the characters - in your writing them - is important. Your characters also should be flawed, complex, believable. Some find it exhausting to become the character. Characters can come to life not just on the page, but also in our heads.

4) This week's prompt is to have a character tell a joke and a character cry. There is concern over how to wrap up the story in just 600 words. Some other concerns are trying not to make it contrived or forced. And a fear the joke won't be "funny."

5) It is hard to write funny for many of us. Some of us do it through dialogue. Others struggle with making it seem natural and wonder whether it's universally funny. Also, there was a plea for a sarcasm font. If only!

6) Screenplay. Several people see their novels or writing unfolding like a screenplay. They visualize entire scenes. An interesting way to see action happen.

As always, we are thankful for all of you who stopped by and hope you find the chat useful. We appreciate any comments you'd like to leave us below.

Don't forget to link up Friday!