The Treasure Between Your Lines: Smack Dab in the Imagination by Dia Calhoun

 When I am stuck in a novel or want to delve deeper into a scene, I often crack open a new direction by imagining what is happening between my sentences. 

First, using the computer, I put each existing sentence in a scene or a description on a separate line. Then I add spacing between the sentences. Then I print it out. 

After reading a sentence, I imagine what is unsaid, hinted at, left out. I imagine who or what else might be speaking. I use that ancient, old-fashioned tool called a pencil, and start writing. I do that for each sentence--sometimes even between words in a sentence.

This process helps me bypass my over-rational, limited, conscious self and delve deeper into my unconscious. I have no expectations for what "should" happen between the sentences. I don't follow plot or character arcs; nothing is planned.

Often I find one nugget, a bit of description or dialogue for example, that opens up my ideas about the story or character. Sometimes this even leads to a revelation.

Give it a try. What treasure may be lurking between your lines?