Well. Not so new. It’s the same resolution as last year.
Finish my WIP.
I don’t think I’m lacking motivation. I think I’m just slow.
I’m marinating…turning the characters over in my mind until I know them well. Until I know what they want to do. Until they are real. To me.
Unfortunately, this process seems to take me a year.
Now that I’ve completed two novels, I see the pattern of my creativity taking shape.
When starting a new project, I generally sit down and map out the central players and events — I can’t say that this is not frequently on the back of an envelope in a car or on a napkin at the table. But when the idea strikes, it comes together rather quickly. I can even get the first 50 or so pages written right away, often within a few days.
But then I stop. I am suddenly blocked.
Yet I’m still drawn to the story. I can’t quite put it away. The written pages sit on my desk and move to my bedside table and often into the car for school pickup. (Yes, I still write old-school in a notebook or legal pad.) The pages are never far from me, yet I’m not writing. Instead, music begins to catch my ear. Songs begin to sing the heart of the character. This time there are so many songs, I even made a playlist of the songs and have listened to it on loop for months now. Each time, a bit more of the character comes to life in my mind.
Then I find myself researching. I google occupations of the characters…looking at photos and learning details of every facet of their life. I watch videos of the places they are from…what the buildings and transportation look like. I learn about the teams they would cheer for: you can tell a lot about a person by the fan base they are part of. I let the soul of each character seep into my being, and they start to take form. They become people.
And then the people tell their story.
And I can write.
So, it’s been a year since the mindmap took shape on the torn envelope, and last week I began to feel the itch. I began to feel like something is brewing. My main character is on the move.
Stay tuned…