This weekend I opened my book for the first time in about four weeks. I have barely even thought about it recently to be honest. I don’t think I care any less about the story, but I have been so busy with other projects I haven’t been able to really get into it. What I mean by that, is get into the head space of those characters. I know its not uncommon for author’s to take a break, but I’ve had more trouble than usual connecting with my characters and it’s making it hard to write the back story that I need without it sounding like its forced. I’ve been dealing a lot with personal stuff as you will notice from my last post and it hasn’t helped my creativity much, except to write extremely depressing pieces, hahaha.
Three weeks ago I started writing a story with a friend just for fun. It’s been really good for me because it’s forced me to stay in contact with another human being, but it’s also helped me storytell on my feet because she writes her character(s) and I need to respond with my character(s) and sometimes it takes time to write a post, but it’s pushed me into a new form of storytelling that I’ve never done before and I think it’s helped me grow as a writer. My friend has been storytelling for years and years, way longer than the measly 9 months I have, and I feel like I can learn a lot from her, so it’s been really fun. Also to trust someone else to read my first draft, since essentially that’s what it is, its my first reaction unedited, it kind of pushes me out of my comfort zone as a writer. It’s something I don’t feel comfortable doing in class when the prof asks us to share what we wrote, and with her even sometimes I feel scared or think “Is this good enough?” but she comes back and says how much fun she’s having and I’m like, ok, so I must be doing an okay job writing.
It’s a confidence booster, I think, and of course practice makes perfect, so to be writing all the time makes me really happy. I love writing, and I’m passionate about writing, so to fill my spare time with it really fills me with a lot of joy, especially when I can do it with my best friend. I think that’s probably another reason why I haven’t looked at my book. I’ve got a whole slew of new characters running around in my head now, on top of the characters in my book, and I’m trying to figure out how to go back and forth between them without losing my own self somewhere in the chaos. Our other story has slowed down a bit and we aren’t as obsessively consumed by it as we were when we first started, so I feel like now is a good time to try and come back to my book.
I can look at it with fresh eyes, and reenter their minds and dissect their thoughts with a clear head. I’m excited to reread the chapters I was editing before my break and see what I can add to them with the new things I’ve learned this past month. Because I have learned a lot, and I want to always apply my new knowledge and experience to make my book the best book it can be.
~Kat
Tempest in a Teacup 