The idea you have right now feels like the best work you’ve ever done, the best work you ever could do. And it should. That belief is what’s going to help you see this one through!
As good as your present project is, the best is yet to come. As I worked on Sing After Storms, I started to formulate other story ideas. I jotted them down as briefly as I could, and put them aside until Sing After Storms was done. Then I looked back at that list when I was ready for my next project. That’s where I found the seeds for Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters.
The muse works in mysterious ways. It bubbles ups when we least expect it. Get the ideas down; they’re gifts. They’ll be exactly what you need when your next creative burst of energy strikes.
Our starting location for Write Around Disney World for NaNoWriMo
I usually write alone—just me and my story. Today I’m breaking that pattern to meet and write with other Orlando-based writers as we travel through Disney World while working on the drafts of our novels for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Last year, the event drew about 20 writers and they had a great time. Our schedule is below. I’ll post photos and reflections on the event to let you know how it went. If you’re in Orlando, please join us at any point. Thanks to the Orlando NaNoWriMo chapter for organizing this event!
Where: Downtown Disney Starbucks (starting location) When: November 16th, 2014 Start Time: 10 am End Time: Roughly 4, give or take 4 hours
Schedule:
Meet at Starbucks, Downtown Disney (DTD)
DTD to Port Orleans by Bus
Port Orleans to Epcot by Bus
Epcot to TTC by Monorail
TTC to Polynesianby Monorail
Polynesian to Grand Floridian by Monorail
Grand Floridian to Contemporary by Monorail
Contemporary to Wilderness Lodge by boat
Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom by boat*
Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom Lodge by bus
Animal Kingdom Lodge to DTD by bus.
*No stop at Magic Kingdom, just get back on Monorail
The purpose of my life is only this: to be a proliferator of good-a** vibes. Everywhere I go. Everything I do. I want it all to add up to this. That feels like the best possible way to spend my time. It helps me. It helps the world. Everyone wins.
No matter what decision you have in front of you, there are only three possible answers: give up, give in, or give it all you’ve got. They all have a place in our lives. The important thing is to know which answer to use when. Here’s my little cheat sheet that’s never failed me:
If what I’m doing doesn’t bring me joy, I give up.
If I’m afraid of moving forward, I give in (and give myself over to the experience.)
If I’ll regret not taking the road ahead of me, even if it seems difficult and frightening, I give it all I’ve got.
Above all, make a choice and stand behind it with conviction. The choice itself is empowering, and it’s yours.
As someone who loves and writes passionately about technology, I love that Moonjar is a low-tech solution to a big problem. Kids need to learn strong financial habits early, and most of them don’t. Moonjar easily teaches kids to divide their earnings into 3 parts: spend, save, and share. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s effective. It got me thinking about other problems that we have in our society that could be solved by low-tech ingenuity and creativity. It also inspires me to get back to building and making as I continue writing. Time for me to chase down that muse, too.
I was in a funk. I blamed lots of external factors, some deservedly so, but at the end of the day it was me that needed to ignite change. I needed to take back the reigns on my mood and keep marching forward. So I got up, danced around to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (judge me if you will but I like the message of that song), took a very cold shower, and got on with it.
Change is tough, but I’m tougher. I am my thoughts. My world is my own creation. I am responsible for what goes right, what goes wrong, and what needs fixin’. Life is a choice.
“Storytelling is part of human continuity.” ~Robert Redford
Stories keep us going in the darkest hours and they help us celebrate the high points. Though the medium and format may change, storytelling is the oldest tradition we have. Around a campfire, at bedtime, at the dinner table, on vacation, when we’re scared, when we’re happy, when we have free time. We tell stories everywhere all the time. Stories are mad for everyone—anyone can hear them and each person will take away something different to apply to life in their own unique way. I want my epitaph to read only this: she lived and told good stories.
Took my first roadtrip in my MINI. Image from Pinterest.
I took my first road trip in my MINI on Friday. About 3 hours into the trip, I got a terrible feeling of dread. I was going to my first literary conference and in the words of the Grinch, it felt like “a wonderful, awful idea”. I heard myself say things like “you should really stick with nonfiction” and “you’re not the least bit literary when it comes to writing” and the infamous “who do you think you are?”. I had to have a Moonstruck moment and will myself to snap out of it. I was driving my MINI Cooper on a sun-filled day as a full-time writer to spend the day surrounded by other inspiring full-time writers. Dread, please move along. Today you don’t get to stay. I know you’ll be back, uninvited, probably in about an hour, but right now you’ve got to leave. “Keep going,” I told myself. “You’re getting there.” And I did.
NaNoWriMo update: 15,000+ words into my novel, Where the Light Enters, and Emerson’s life is being turned upside down, one revelation at a time. Here’s a snippet of Scene 6:
The title page said only, “Properties of Light.” No author. No date. Notes filled the margins of nearly every page in Emerson’s new book. Despite her hopes, Emerson quickly recognized that the handwriting didn’t match her mother’s. Someone else had annotated this volume with their thoughts and ideas. Most of them were questions in small, neat print. “How can we transform light into mass?” “How do we bend light into a right angle?” It was always a matter of how, not if.
The streets, now quiet, are about to be flooded with danger
I’m back to my usual writing pattern as of today and it feels great. I’ve missed my groove over the past few days. Here’s a glimpse of scene 5 of my novel. Jasper and Oliver meet to discuss what happens now that they know Cassandra has them in her sights. She is on the hunt and they have to play defense.
“Oliver, I’m every bit as surprised as you are,” said Jasper.
“No one’s seen her since…” Oliver’s voice stopped short as he paced in the rare book room of Stargrass.
“I know. It appears she’s been hard at work, rebuilding, all this time,” said Jasper
“Rebuilding what?” asked Oliver.
“Herself. And I suspect others, too. She’s a jumble of parts. Some human. Mostly mechanical.”
“Where’s she hiding, Jasper? And who’s helping her? She can’t be doing this alone.”
Inspiring, encouraging, supportive. That’s the three words that immediately pop into my mind when I reflect on my two days covering YALLFest—Charleston’s Young Adult Book Festival. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from the amazing authors, editors, and agents that gave generously of their time and experience.
You can see my articles on my experience on the YALLFest blog—http://yallfest.org/press/. A few more will be posted during the early part of next week. Back to writing…
