Character: I don’t write certain characters, I channel them. They write through me, dictating what they would do in situations. When I’ve had that character in my head long enough they become a voice in my head, and they start writing themselves. And it makes writing super fun because it’s just a matter of me dictating, not thinking. When they argue in my head because they have different values and points of view, those scenes are the funnest to write.
Action: Creating cool action scenes is something I LOVE. It’s exciting. You look at a situation and wonder “How the hell are they going to get out of that?”
Monsters: ‘Nuff said. If monsters don’t get you excited, you better check your pulse.
Invention: When I read a story, I like to see something new. Feel something inventive that I haven’t felt or seen before. It can’t be so far out in left field that it’s alien and ahead of its time, but it’s got to be fresh and new enough that I experience a new emotion or feeling. It has to be a new experience. Which does make it challengingt when writing in a series. It’s often hard to come up with a new high concept or inventive angle. But I want each books to stay fresh for my readers. It’s worth the extra effort.
Impact: I am an instense person, or so I’ve bene told. I don’t do halfsies. And I don’t believe in wasting your life on an exotic beach sipping a Mai Tai. What a waste of life! Life is there for you burn through, not sit through. When I die, I want my gravestone to say “All Used Up,” not “I Played it Safe.” Burn through life. Remember that.
Themes: I like to carry powerful themes if I can. Topics like character, doing what it takes, self-mastery, and making hard decisions are themes I tend to carry through. Showing scenes when characters display these to the Nth degree motivates me to write them. When Ivy carries someone out of a burning building but is on fire when he does that, inspires me to be that kind of person.
Visuals: Creating visuals gives me a sense of instant progress, instant gratification, where as writing words do not. Any time I feel like I am slowing with the writing, looking a a new cover, poster, or graphic I did motivates the heck out of me.
Deep Truths: Insights about God, reality, and deeper truths spur me on to add them into my fiction. Most of the time, these are deep thoughts and insights about God and our world. It’s super fun to creation a fictional world around those truths.