Weird Tips?

[SarahEMC2]

As a memoirist, I have a very quirky "writing tools" that I find indispensable, if unusual. For almost every project, I keep a shoe box full of sealed plastic bags that contain "sense memory" tools. For instance, if I were writing about my maternal grandmother, it might include a cotton ball doused in her perfume, some old cigarette butts, several pieces of the flavor of Trident she used to keep in her purse and dispense whenever we get to "acting up," and maybe even a copy of the Bobby Vinton album she listened to seemingly all the time. Photographs are helpful, but I find I get most of my best sense detail out of these shoe boxes, and that the smells in particular often trigger new memories.

What is your "quirky" tool?

S

[Matthew MacNish]

Wow. I have nothing like this but that sounds awesome! This could obviously work with fiction too if you had the time to go out and find the right catalysts.

[Quill]

Collages.

For example, I was having a hard time drawing a bead on my antagonist, so I Googled 1940s photos, found one with a man that fit the face and body style, printed it and surrounded it with cutouts of the perfect hat, jacket, shoes, glasses, tie, and even hip flask, all Googled from vintage and reproduction clothing sites.

The original photo was perfectly set with a house reminiscent of the house in my story, but in the photo the man is standing next to a woman, probably his wife, and my antagonist has no wife. So I cut her out and filled her space with sections of siding, bushes and grass copied from other parts of the picture.

I did the same to a lesser degree with my other characters. I wrote my most recent draft with a cork board next to me collaged with all my characters' facsimiles from Google searches of period photos.

[karenbb]

I wouldn't call mine quirky, but I use music to help put myself back into specific parts of whatever I'm writing. It's extremely helpful if you're trying to write when the kids are poking their heads in your office every 10 minutes. I make playlists in iTunes that provoke specific emotional responses and it puts me in the proper headspace. My WIP revolves around music so it's been extra helpful lately, but it can work for anything.