Self Expression Magazine

And On The Third Day…

Posted on the 18 June 2012 by Laureneverafter @laureneverafter
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Last Tuesday night, I was having difficult time about where to go with the book I’ve been working on for four years now. I made great strides with this book my first semester of college, then took a break over Christmas and never went back to it as committed as I had been before. Assignments begged for attention, and summers were for being lazy and clearing my head. I had my brainstorming, though, and the story has actually made a lot of headway in that sense since my freshman year of college. My only problem has been actually writing the thing. I’ve started and re-started this book so many times now, I’ve lost count. I could never figure out what I wanted my main character to be like, what her situation was, or what she really had to do with the story. I told myself, “I need to figure something out or take a serious break from this story for a while.” I was torn. Taking a break seemed logical, but I didn’t know if I could let go of my characters and their story long-term to work on something else. I didn’t think I’d be strong enough, and that would rob quality effort and attention from whatever project I worked on next. So, as a solution to this dilemma, I decided to do what Wendy Paine Miller does when she has a problem that needs addressed. I took three days to step away from the story, pray, and wait for the answer to come to me.

On the first day…

I journaled. I expressed my distress in writing addressing both myself in that odd inward way you can only do when writing in a journal and to God. I felt I got a lot off my chest about the issues with my story, and while still nervous about the outcome, wanted to give it a serious run.

On the second day…

I came across a link from Huffington Post UK about inspirational quotes from achieved writers. I copied them all down in my iPhone’s Notepad app and found myself scrolling through them randomly throughout the day. While they seemed to give me some hope and encouragement, I still wasn’t sure what to do. Then, later that night, I was struck by inspiration and couldn’t resist writing about the story. I felt like I was getting closer to my main character’s voice than I ever had before, and finally started to feel like I was going in the right direction with the story. I realized it all had to do with her personality, which I’ve struggled with for years. In the early days of this story, she was melodramatic and intense. Then she became this girl who wanted to be badass, but didn’t really know how, and then she was just nothing. She was completely devoid of any kind of personality, and I didn’t know what to do with her. But, then, I did something to her. I gave her a physical trait that would define how she related to the world, and that physical trait changes in the beginning of the story, so she has to redefine the way she will live from there on. This is what brought her to life for me.

And on the third day…

During a lull at work Friday, I scrolled through Twitter for interesting articles and tweets, when I came across this quote from Jon Winokur’s @AdviceToWriters Twitter account.

“Finish what you started. You can’t move forward until you finish something.” @ChuckWendig

That was when I knew. I had to keep writing this story. I had to rigorously apply myself to this story. After reading that quote, I was bombarded with scenes playing out in my head between my main character and the other characters in her life. My MC was awkward, but humorous. It is what gets her through the eerie, intense situations she’s had to deal with and is still dealing with in her life. So, this is where I’m at: fully committed to finishing this project. I’m excited and relieved. I didn’t want to move on from my MC and her story just yet. I have big plans for her, and I intend to see them through.


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