Vision

The interesting thing about writing is that I can take on the mantle of other lives in other world, immersing myself in make-believe for hours on end, and nobody thinks it's strange. In fact, as a writer it would be peculiar if I didn't live a little in my head with the characters and their stories.

I have been working on visualization techniques lately, trying to play out the stories like movies in my mind. It helps me to find the holes in my stories, the things that don't make sense or change the mood and character dynamics. It also helps me to find those moments that are less original than they could be. For example, when a character running through the woods suddenly morphs into Katniss Everdeen, it's a clue that I may have a wee problem.

The other visual strategy I have been employing lately is drawing, mostly with pencils and colored pencils. I love creating art but I am not a talented artist. I have a wide selection of watercolors, oils, acrylics and pencils neatly organized in a closet and mostly used on "Art Day" with my sons. The process of sketching out maps of the setting, interior design-type room sketches, portraits of characters, and overviews of scenes is helping to ground my fictional worlds in my reality as a writer. If I find myself getting stuck, art keeps me flowing.

Have you incorporated visualization techniques and/or art in your writing? Tell me about it. I am curious and we are all here to learn from each other.