Overthinking When Writing a Scene

Occasionally when I want to jump start my creativity with developing a character, I pull out my deck of tarot cards. I have the Paulina Tarot deck, designed by Paulina Cassidy.

I'm currently trying to get a hand on my female protagonist. She keeps trying to change who I want her to be. So, I drew a card from the deck. It was the Eight of Pentacles. I see a lady dancer, with a smile on her face and a catlike creature sitting at her feet smiling and observing. It's a great visual and it fits with the current situation. So, my character is trying to tell me that she wants to project a facade to hide her true goal, while the hero is watching her carefully, not at all fooled by her. Ah, so now I understand what she was trying to tell me. This is just enough of a creative jump to move ahead with the next scene. Sometimes I overthink what is happening, and then I find myself questioning my subplot.

Do you ever do that? How do you move ahead?

Over or Under?

Sometimes life just gets in the way. Yesterday, I forgot to blog. No excuses, just plain forgot.

I should have started your day with a smile. Maybe you did smile when you realized there was no Wednesday blog!  Those who follow me know I have three cats who keep me entertained. A few days ago, I uncovered a video for cats, which our cat Sarah, now gone to Rainbow Bridge, used to love. Let me tell you, putting in a video meant to entertain cats is a sure-fire way to keep them in one spot for a long period of time. The only problem is they become television buffs. Templeton now bats at anything on the screen that moves or flashes. The good news is it doesn't keep his attention for long. I thought I'd share these pics I took of Wilbur and Templeton watching their movie.

Aren't they cute? Charlotte didn't discover the movie until yesterday. And, to make them comfortable, I move two kitchen chairs in front of "their" television. I wouldn't dare play it in the family room on the flat screen!

But, now it's Thursday and I usually share a view from my window with you. I can tell you that most of the snow melted and the icicles are gone. But, unfortunately, we are getting snow flurries now. There is a dusting of snow covering the road and the sidewalks...and my car. Ugh.

The poor knock out rose bush outside the window looks so beaten. I sure hope it pulls through this nasty winter. I keep telling myself that in less than two months it will be April. I'm ready for spring. I need to see green and pretty splashes of color.

I'll leave you with one more amusing thing. A lot of writers tell me that they have "dreams" of scenes for their manuscripts. I've never had that kind of thing happen. For me, I just have to sit and get into a different zone and then my characters "talk" to me. So, this morning I was sitting in a quiet room and reading when I suddenly went into this zone. I could visualize my two characters in an already written scene, but they said totally different things than I had written. Their responses were passionate, heated, and very real. I plan to write that scene later today. Where was I sitting, you ask? Um, well, I'll just leave you with a question. Does your toilet paper roll over or under?

Thanks for stopping by!