What do you do when you have so many different plot lines, characters and meet cutes clogging your head? You make notes anywhere you can – slips of paper, post it notes, legal pads, notebooks and especially, my iPhone! I would be lost without my iPhone but I can’t seem to completely wean myself off the paper products. And pens. I have a love affair with a good pen. Ok, so maybe I have a love affair with office supplies in general or is it an obsession? Maybe I need a therapist to diagnose it properly but regardless, I’ve always got some way to write down ideas, cool names, situations, etc. so I don’t forget them.
Ironically, I have a couple characters and plot lines that have been sitting in the back of my brain for a couple decades. Yep, you read that right. Decades. Why were these not the first things I dusted off and wrote about when I sat down (determined) in 2020? The answer is easy. The story I wrote wouldn’t let me sleep. I would think about it before I went to bed only to find myself wide awake a couple hours and several chapters later. I would hear a song on the radio and get lost in the story because of how much the lyrics fit the characters and situation. There were a few times I was on the way to pick up my daughter from practice and drove right past the school because I was so engrossed.
You see, I’ve always wanted to write. To let my imagination take the characters or story lines in my head and just go. I started a few times but life would happen and I would put my dream back on the shelf only to dust it off a couple years later and dream some more. 2020 acted as a wake up call for a lot of us and we changed in drastic ways. For some, it was a harsh reality shift that caused heartbreak and constant worry. For me, it was a subtle shift of priorities and an overwhelming, burning determination to DO IT NOW. Take that dream out of the mothballs (if you aren’t sure what those are, look it up, young’un) and finish at least one solid manuscript. There was not much to stop me since I was no longer losing 2+ hours per day commuting so I really had 2 hours to work on my dream each day. So I did it. More to come on the process because (I think) it was kind of cool how it all came together.
Stay blessed!
mee
Operation Song
I was introduced to a non-profit recently that touched me deeply and I want to share with you. Take a few moments to look into Operation Song, a non-profit that pairs veterans, active-duty military and their families with songwriters to tell their stories. Their mission is to bring them back one song at a time.
Giving voice to some of the darkest moments endured can bring a veteran back to the light. Anything we can do to support our veterans, active-duty military and their families must be done. They are the ones who stand in front of us and guard our freedom. We owe them a debt of gratitude and respect that can never be paid.
Support veterans organizations like Operation Song, it’s the least we can do.
Stay blessed!
mee