Intuitive

There are a lot of things I do in my life that I have no idea how or why. I just do. Mom things, for example. My kids can come to me time and time and time again with stomach aches, for example. I feel foreheads, press bellies, ask questions, and 99% of the time say, "You'll be fine; it's something you ate." But that 1% when they come to me and I know, I mean REALLY KNOW "something" is wrong, you would think I was the chief of surgery on E.R. I fly into action and just "know" what to do, who to call, etc. Some of this, of course, is the result of years of mothering, or years of reading up on ailments when someone in my family is sick. It's having Crohn's disease and thus knowing a lot about "gut" ailments. And some is intuitive.

Yesterday, for example, I saw a babysitter trying to console a 7-week-old baby. She changed him, he didn't stop crying. I knew he was hungry--it was that kind of wail--and his mom fed him and handed him back to the babysitter. And the baby kept crying. Baby Girl asked about it, and I said, "He needs to be held differently; that's not a Mama Hold." Which I was quite certain was true. Most of the time I can get any baby to sleep. The secret is to project calm and not get ruffled, and the secret to THAT is intuitive.

So it is with writing. I had sold--not kidding--four novels before I ever saw the following three letters on a writers' board: GMC. I thought it was some movie channel akin to AMC. In fact, I didn't bother to look it up or even ask. I sold another two books before I found out they mean "Goal, Motivation, Conflict" and it came from some workshop.

When I write a book, I think in arcs. If you ASKED me, I mean probingly asked, I might be able to tell you, "Character A starts out this way. By the end she has changed to that way." But I really don't ever consciously think of that. It's a journey, and I just tell my story. I pour out the story until it's complete.

Now, really? I wouldn't HAVE this blog if I honestly didn't know anything about process or characters or themes or symbolism. But when it comes to telling my story, I FEEL it more than I explain it. I intuit it.

I have writer friends who are the opposite. They use GMC models and worksheets. They devise all sorts of outlines and character sketch interviews (they really interview their characters!). And it's always whatever works. I just can't work that way. But I am curious . . . what devices do YOU use?

Discuss. :-)