Make-believe Mondays With Maya Banks

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Maya Banks.

Debra: Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Maya: Lots of daydreaming!

Debra: Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Maya: I often have to propose a story to sell and then go forward with a different story until the “time slot” for the proposed book comes up, so I have a whole lot of people running around my head at any given point. It gets crowded in there and they like to talk to me at night when I’m trying to sleep. I get up often to write down entire passages of dialogue because if I don’t then it’s gone and I can’t get it back.

Debra: Oh, yes. That's why an author has to keep pen and paper nearby at all times. Many people keep dream journals as well. For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Maya: I dream entire books. Not kidding. I’ve had a couple where the dream was like a movie or as though I was reading a book. Other times I’ll just dream a snippet and it’s so powerful that it stays with me the entire next day. I’ve built stories around that “feeling” or that idea represented in the dream. I probably get more ideas from dreams than any other avenue.

Debra: Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Maya: I love to daydream. I love to night dream. As stated above, most of my ideas are from dreams. When I get stuck in a story, my solution is often to go to bed and lay there in that hazy place between sleep and waking and let my mind go free. I love to play the what if game. I love to dream big. The act of creating a story, a whole new world, is addicting. It’s a wonderful experience to share that creation with readers because then they get to step into that dream world for a few hours.

http://www.mayabanks.com (website)

http://www.writemindedblog.com (blog)

Maya, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers. (Note to my readers: Make-Believe Mondays will be on holiday until Dec. 10th. Readers who wish to see my itinerary can visit my other blog on http://www.myspace.com/debraparmley

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!