Tag: writing

creativity

In the pause: How other authors bring out the best in our writing

Christa Avampato

Earlier this week a new author told me that he was afraid to let his characters be harmed. And I told him that he has to let them breathe and live, and that means that difficult things can, will, and must happen to them. It’s the overcoming of obstacles that makes for powerful storytelling.

What I didn’t realize is that giving this advice would give me new Emerson material. I have had the ending scene of the second book in my mind for some time and it puts a beautiful bow on this arc of Emerson’s journey. And then, after this conversation with this author, it came undone. Another very small scene came into my mind when I got home and it wouldn’t let me go. Though it’s only four lines, it’s jarring, even to me. And it’s absolutely what must happen. It hurt my heart to write, and so I had to get it down in ink. No matter how long we’ve lived with our characters, their stories will still surprise us.

While I’m busy working away on book 2, you can download the Kindle version of Emerson’s first book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, for free for one more day today. Visit Amazon to get one for yourself and for all the readers on your list!

creativity

In the pause: Messages in dreams

Christa Avampato

I believe that our dreams can send us the messages we need exactly when we need them. Yesterday I had a dream that I had handed in my manuscript for Emerson’s second book. There was a note on top of it that said, “Dedication – that’s your only goal now.”

Though it was a very short dream, it had a powerful impact on me. It gave me encouragement to stay on this path, to keep creating, dreaming, and growing. To keep helping other people. To keep standing up and speaking out to help build a better world. I hope that by sharing this message, it helps to encourage you, too. Stay true to who you are and the impact you want to have. We need you.

creativity

In the pause: How to achieve impossible dreams

Christa Avampato

When I want to do something big, I spend about 30 seconds thinking about what that goal looks and feels like. Almost immediately, I move into what I call breakdown mode. I start to break apart that big, beautiful dream into bite-sized pieces. The big dream, for me, is too daunting and it’s not actionable. I make it happen, I’ve got to unpack it, dissect it, and put it into a to-do list with deadlines. And then I pick a place and begin. For my writing, it’s one word at a time. For my collage work, it’s one tiny piece of paper. For getting a new job, it’s making sure my resume is up-to-date in all its various forms and channels. You get the idea. It’s a puzzle and the best I can do is focus on one piece at a time.

When my head hits the pillow at night or when I sit down for my 18 minutes of daily meditation, I give myself a little chance to think about that shiny goal out there in the distance. I fall asleep thinking about those dreams and I wake up thinking about them. Everything in between, all my waking hours, are devoted to action. It’s the only way I know how to make things happen.

creativity

In the pause: Writing breakthroughs in longhand

Christa Avampato

On Friday and Saturday I had a few writing breakthrough in my second book in the Emerson Page young adult book series. And they didn’t happen while I was writing. I was actually reorganizing my closets. I was folding my sweaters when a very strange person showed up in my imagination, an old woman whom I have never seen before. I closed my eyes and listened to what she had to tell me about Emerson’s story, and I got it all down in longhand as honestly and as quickly as I could before it evaporated. And the story just kept flowing into the evening while I sat in a coffee shop on the Lower East Side waiting for friends to go to dinner.

I never saw this coming —this character, this plot twist, this revelation, this truth that was both painful and freeing. It explains so much that needs to be explained in due time. You won’t meet her until book three, which will be the final piece of Emerson’s story. I originally thought this series would be nine books, and had mapped it that way. Now I see that this portion of her story wraps up in a trilogy because of this new character.

In book two, Emerson will be exploring Iceland, Ireland, and Spain—three countries connected in odd and mysterious ways that will shed some light on Emerson’s path to her goal. I’m just glad to be able to tag along for the wild ride she’s about to take.

creativity

In the pause: A NaNoWriMo breakthrough

Christa Avampato
From Cara Anselmo
Photo from Cara Anselmo

At almost 30,000 words this month, I’m sliding into the weekend with the ending scene defined for the second book in my young adult book series about Emerson Page and the ending scene to the series. Both carry tissue warnings in the best possible way. I feel like having a cake to celebrate. The first book in the series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is on sale now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your favorite independent bookstores.

creativity

In the pause: How to know what to write

Christa Avampato

“Write what should not be forgotten…” ~Isabel Allende

I’m in the midst of writing some difficult passages in Emerson’s second book. There are characters in the book that have been through terrible times. They’re reliving those times, explaining them to Emerson because it will make a difference to her journey. And I hope it will make a difference to readers, and the journeys of readers. I hope their resilience, determination, and love for life inspires us all to be the best people we can be. I hope it makes us kind, grateful, and resolved to build a better world for ourselves and for each other. Life is tough; together we are tougher.

creativity

In the pause: Featured in Women’s National Book Association Members Write Now column

Christa Avampato

Grandmas-Special-HerbsThank you to Women’s National Book Association – NYC Chapter for making me their Members Write Now feature this month. Read an excerpt of my book at http://wnba-nyc.org/members-write-now-christa-avampato/.

 

creativity

In the pause: Writing in the middle of Times Square

Christa Avampato

Emerson’s second book begins in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the night before her 14th birthday. On Wednesday, I walked a few blocks from my office on my lunch break and took a spin around the exact area where I imagine her to be. Like my own internal augmented reality, I could see her, the other characters, and the action of the scene unfolding in my mind, superimposed on the real-world setting where I stood. It was like having an out-of-body experience.

There is something powerful about writing in place, standing in the place where your imagination runs wild and getting it all down as best you can. I wrote the first draft of this opening scene in my apartment, 50 blocks north of Times Square. When I edit it, refine it, fill it with the juicy detail and vivid imagery that bring Emerson and her journey to life, I’m going to be there, in Times Square. You’ll find me on the top step of the red staircase in Duffy Square, just above the TKTS booth. I’ll be pounding away on my laptop in the cold night air because I want you to feel what Emerson feels. I want the sense of urgency and alarm she experiences on that night to be what you feel when you read those words. I’m blessed to live in the city where my stories are set, and that’s a privilege I’ll use to its full advantage.

creativity

In the pause: How writers can deal with naysayers

Christa Avampato

“The world is full of people who say it can’t be done. If everyone listened to them, we’d still live in caves—and there would be no such thing as books.” ~Dean Koontz #NaNoPepTalk

I’d like to talk to you about naysayers. Some are valuable. When I was deciding to go to grad school and expressed my desire to work part-time and go to school part-time, a friend of mine told me exactly why that was a terrible idea. (He had gone part-time and deeply regretted it.) He was right. It was a far better idea for me to go to grad school full-time. After I got my MBA and a good job, and decided I want to work on my writing on the side, that same friend said I was wasting my time and that I should really focus on important things like climbing the corporate ladder and finding a husband. (He never climbed the corporate ladder, he’s not a writer, and his spouse is less than a good match.) That time he was wrong.

To find out if naysayers are worth listening to, I consider the feedback as if a friend was telling me my own story. That objectivity helps me sort the BS from the gold. Also, consider the perspective of the naysayer. Are they offering you advice from experience, or are they just stating their opinion as fact? I’m glad my friend gave me solid, informed reasons to go to grad school full-time. It’s one of the best decisions I ever made. I’m glad I ignored his opinion about my writing and how to spend my time. If I had listened to him, I wouldn’t have the writing career I have today.

Ultimately, the one who lives with the consequences of your choices is you. What matters most is your opinion of your own life.

creativity

In the pause: Your writing is immortal

Christa Avampato

Your words are going to live on long after you. They are the surest path we have to legacy and immortality. Two nights ago, I walked home with a co-worker who lives in my neighborhood. His husband, a writer just a few years older than me, is dying and in hospice care from a neurological disease similar to Parkinson’s.

“Even though he can’t talk anymore and will never talk again, I’ll always have his words because he was a writer,” he said. “And that’s pretty cool.”

I don’t think it was an accident that we walked home on the night of my novel’s Pub Day. I have long believed that the Universe works through us to reach others when they most need it. And I think me coincidentally running into him and us walking home together was not a coincidence at all. He had a message for me from the Universe: Be strong and tell your story so that it will live on long after you’re gone. And you must do it now. You never know how much time you’ll have. When I got home, I immediately started writing Emerson’s second book as part of NaNoWriMo.

My co-worker is remarkably strong. How he could tell me so much for their story for 45 minutes and not have his voice crack once is just astonishing to me. I was tearing up. I’m in awe of him. And so grateful for the message he delivered. I will not waste it.