Ask Elnora--How Does Your Garden Grow? Lenora Worth

Hello, little green-thumbed garden girls. Spring is in the air and that got me to thinking about my garden. I used to have a big, rambling yard that included a swimming pool and a palm tree and a spot that I called the Dark Forest (very shady and full of surprises.) We had Confederate Jasmine and lilies and azaleas. But that home belongs to someone else now. Now we don't even have to mow the yard but that also means we don't actually have a garden. So being the innovative woman that I am, I decide I'd come up with a new kind of garden--a dish garden. And since I've been subscribing to Southern Living Magazine since I wore my first pair of plastic pink fuzzy high-heels, I knew exactly what I needed for my little garden--a thriller, a filler and a spiller. I hope to have several different dish or container gardens on my deck this summer. I like a lot of color and fragrance. I have a gardenia and some lavender out front in our little walkway space and I plan to plant a hibiscus out front, too.

So all of this talk about gardening also got me thinking about our books. When we write, we also have to have a thriller, filler and spiller kind of plot, don't we? Our plots are much like garden plots--we till the soil--the germ of an idea. We come up with a grid--our outline and synopsis. We plan out the main plot points--our thriller, our filler and our spiller. The thrill comes with the set-up and the call to whatever quest our character decides to pursue. The filler is the middle, the lush, thickly held part of our story that carries our characters through and the spiller comes when we push through the black moment and tumble over into that happy ending. A beautiful combination.

So how does your garden grow? What seeds to you try to plant whenever you start a book?

Here is my new little garden spot. It has already brightened our deck. I hope to add new furniture and a few other treasures to make this little spot intriguing and inviting. I hope to do the same with my stories. Let's discuss!

Ask Elnora--About New Ideas--Third Friday Writing

Yes, it's that time of the month. Third Friday Writing Day. What shall we discuss today? How about new ideas for plots? Where do they come from? How do we get them? Are there really only so many plots in the world or is everything old new again? How do we make our plots seem new and fresh???

First, Elnora hasn't a clue. I usually look out the window for a few hours then get a scene in my head then someone in that scene starts talking in my head and then I decided "Hey, I'd better write this stuff down or I'll forget it." Then I play with that idea, eat a lot of chocolate, shop online for inspiration and maybe, just maybe come up with a plot.

But my favorite way to figure out a plot (besides the Seven Deadly Sins thing I mentioned a few weeks ago) is to read a newspaper article, then find another article to match to it. By taking these two different subjects and using some of the aspects from them, I can usually come up with a plot. For example, I have a book out in September that is about art theft. I saw an article about this in the Sunday paper. Then I wanted to set this story in New Orleans. I had an American princess in mind to be the heroine. She had been mentioned in The Diamond Secret (which was out in 2012). Then I found an article about a photojournalist and how he combined pictures with essays to write stories. I wanted to have someone such as that for my hero. So "In Pursuit of a  Princess" was born in Elnora's tiny mind. And now, it will be a real book--out later this year! No cover yet, but I hope to have one to show off soon.

But I did find this picture to use as a writing prompt. Sunset on a beach? What could happen there? What could go wrong? Are we drifting at sea? What about those two tall buildings?

Let's discuss how we come up with new twists for old plots. What would you do? How do you decide what stories to write?

Ask Elnora--About Those Seven Deadly Sins?--Lenora Worth

Hello, my name is Elnora and I'm a sinner. There, I said it. But thankfully, I write books where I can analyze and tweak sin and put it in it's proper place. My characters go through all kinds of feelings and emotions, and gasp, sometimes they don't always act in a proper Christian manner. But we want our characters to be human and we hope that by the end of the book, they are human. :)

Today, I'll be teaching a workshop at my home chapter of RWA--the NOLA STARS! My workshop is all about The Seven Deadly Sins and how they can be pitted against The Seven Heavenly Virtues. Then we throw in The Seven Corporate Virtues and seven deadly habits verses seven caring habits. But it doesn't end there. Oh, no. I also throw in seven original plots and ... we're off and running. This is a fun workshop because it's like connecting the dots or playing hang-man. It's like tic-tac-toe and solving a cross-word puzzle. Do I match Pride with Prudence? Do I throw in feeding the hungry? Oh, wow, I just came up with a great inner-city contemporary story! Maybe I can match Lust with Love and throw in a quest or a rebirth. That would add a lot of conflict! Do I write a tragedy or a comedy and if I do, how will I have a happy ending? I'll throw in some courage and pit that against a bit of anger.

As you can see, my little workshop is a good way to tell a story with lessons from the Bible. Because the Bible had just about everything I've mentioned above. I'll let y'all know how my workshop goes, but in the meantime, we can discuss the "virtues" of this plotting device. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you even understand it? At least we can discuss plots and how they are so important to a story. We can talk about how to come up with a good plot and some of the devices the way-smart Craftie Ladies use to create their stories. (And it's not even Third Friday Writing Day!))