This weekend, I got away. I left my apartment, my cat, my unmade bed, and the giant pile of laundry on my chair and went away to the mountains. To chilly nights that caused me to burrow a bit deeper into the covers. To time of sweet fellowship with new friends. To realizations about myself and about my faith and about my doubts. And, much to my surprise, to find some much needed motivation.I've written extensively before about motivation and failure, the importance of intentionality and discipline, and sometimes coming up short in my writing.
But for all that writing about writing, I haven't done a whole lot of writing in recent months. Motivation has been sorely lacking as I survived my sister's wedding and immediately fell into a few weeks of some emotional turmoil. And so writing just hasn't happened, but it's about to.
A couple of months ago, Office Boy and I went out to lunch after church with other members of the young adult ministry at church. We all spent a good bit of time talking about what we do or, in my case, what we want to do. And somehow in the course of that conversation, it would seem a few people got the idea that I'm actually writing a book, not just that I want to write a book.
And so this weekend, on the retreat for the young adult ministry, I was asked about how my book was going. Several times.
I've also found myself in the unique position of having a lot more free time than I would have expected recently, which translates into writing time. So now I not only have the time to write, but the motivation to write. But the problem I have now is...what do I write?
I have four different book ideas. Four. And I don't know what to start or what to choose.
So I'm asking for your opinion now. I have four book options that I could begin working on, but I'm having an issue with indecisiveness, so here's the options I could start with and I'd like your opinion on which one you think should be my first project.
At His Feet -- A historical fiction novel taking a deeper look into the life of Mary of Bethany. What drove her passion for her Savior? What happened in her life that caused her to be so in love with her Savior that she would defy convention to show her love for him?
Beloved -- A look at one woman's journey through pain and heartbreak as she learns that her worth and identity rest completely in her Savior. This book would be based somewhat on my personal experience.
Miles -- Inspired by this song by Nichole Nordeman, it's based the true story of a little boy desperately in need of a heart transplant who received his heart from a young boy who died in a car accident. It examines the existence of pain our lives, the reason behind it, and how sometimes the purpose of pain is part of God's greater plan.
Forget Me Not -- The story of one little girl, raised by her grandmother, who must learn to deal with the pain of watching her grandmother contract and succumb to Alzheimer's.
Obviously the first would require a good bit of research about the historical time period, and I may set Beloved or Forget Me Not (for the record, these are all working titles) in a non-modern time period, but I'm not sure just yet.
So, dear readers, please, give me your opinions. I would love to hear any and all of them. Happy Monday, all!
--Sarah.
