In the Moment of Creation

Please welcome guest blogger Savanna Kougar

Creation is both an act of magic, and magical. I’ve experienced that since I began writing stories. No, not as young as some authors, but when I was a young teenager.

There’s that undeniable spark, that in-the-zone period of time where the scene you’re penning simply flows. It’s as if you’ve waved a sorcerer’s wand, and summoned it into beautiful and powerful existence. And, there it is on the page, or on your monitor screen.

But, let me ask you this. As a writer, have you ever started reading one of your books, an old manuscript...or maybe you were polishing up your manuscript for submission... and, it’s as if you’re reading what another author wrote?

More than that, you happily lose yourself in your own story.

That’s happened to me. And, from what I understand other authors experience this as well. Frankly, it’s a puzzlement to me in a way.

I mean, I wrote the book, or the manuscript. Each and every word of it. Yes, I wrote all the words that took me an agonizing half an hour to decide on. As well as the paragraphs and passages that magically flowed onto the page.

Okay, this is my take on why this happens. At least, in my case.

As I write and world build, I’m fully engaged. Essentially, I’m living in the sci fi/fantasy/paranormal culture that I’m creating. This occurs, of course, through the experiences, emotions and adventure of my heroines and heroes.

Not only does their story unfold like a movie before my mind’s eye, but I’m smelling and tasting and feeling what it’s like to live in their world. I also experience the mind set of my heroines and heroes. Or, how they relate to their social, political and cultural environment.

So, when I’m working on my current WIP, unless it’s a sequel, the story takes place in an entirely different world.

For example, in BRANDED BY THE TEXANS, the setting was on a parallel Earth. And, while it takes place in the year, 2009, Texas is an independent nation and it’s an Old West cowboy culture. In my current WIP, the heroine is a witch from another planet-world... though, she doesn’t know that at first... and her heroes are hellhounds created by Hades.

Yes, two radically different settings, even though both stories are on Earth and take place in contemporary times.

But, you see where I’m going with this. I’m so immersed in my current world-building, that reading one of my books seems somewhat foreign. And new.

However, there’s another vitally important component here that takes place during the creative process of writing a book. It’s what I call ~ In the Moment of Creation.

It could also be called, your Muse ~ that wonderful companion all of us writers cherish. Or curse, depending on how our WIP is going.

As you’re writing, you become utterly immersed in your created world. You are intimately living with your characters. Because of this, the act of creating this particular story is unique to that moment in time. It’s like magic. It is magic.

Think of it this way. The book that spills forth from you, from your imagination and your crafting, is unique simply because it is being written ‘in the moment’. It is the very magic of the moment, as you’ve created it. Or, to go Zen, it is Be Here Now.

When we write each of our books, we are living *in the moment* of that story. Or, we are being IN THE MOMENT OF CREATION as we pour forth the words, pen the scenes and chapters. The process is magical. And, the results are magical.

So, when we go back and read our books, our WIPs, we are reading the magic of being and writing in the moment. We feel the inspiration.

Why is this important? It brings the story to life.

We’ve all read fiction books that may be technically correct in every way. Style, grammar, punctuation, characterization, hooks, etc. -- on and on... blah, blah, blah.

However, the read is like eating cardboard instead of sumptuously dining on real food. The magic has been left out. For whatever reason, that being ‘in the moment of creation’ never occurred.


Savanna Kougar is the best-selling author of ten ebooks, with five books in print. She pens love stories because that’s her deepest heart. She writes in the futuristic/fantasy/paranormal subgenres because that’s her fiercest passion. And, she writes erotic romance because she ferociously enjoys ripping the damn doors off.

You can find her at her personal blog ~ Kougar Kisses ~ savannakougar.com ~ and at the following blogs as a contributor.

SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS ~ shapeshifterseductions.blogspot.com ~
HAPPILY EVER AFTER ~ happilyeverafterauthors2.blogspot.com ~
LINDSAY’S ROMANTICS ~ lindsaysromantics.blogspot.com ~
Romance Writer’s Behaving Badly ~ romancewritersbehavingbadly.blogspot.com ~
TITLE MAGIC ~ titlemagic.blogspot.com ~
Siren-BookStrand Authors’ Blog ~ sirenbookstrand.blogspot.com ~


BRANDED BY THE TEXANS

What can three Texans do to a woman’s body and heart?
Kylie is about to find out.
Beyond her wildest dreams.
On a parallel Earth.

It’s 2009... Kylie is on the run from the law for a crime she didn’t commit. A promising doctoral student, she’s lost everyone and almost everything, except for what she stows in her car. Now, Kylie has to salvage the rest of her life. But, where in this age of GPS tracking, TV’s Most Wanted and cameras everywhere?

It’s 2009... Dillon, Dono and Dash are three brothers desperate for a wife to brand as their own. The Union made women scarce in the Three Star Republic by releasing a bio weapons’ plague during the border wars. These tough-as-leather Texans will do anything to keep the right woman, even if they have to lasso her like a wild filly and love on her until she loves them back.