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The Stories We Tell
What Inspires Us to Write
We live and breathe words. …. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt — I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted — and then I realized that truly I just wanted you.
Cassandra Clare
An idea for a novel has come to you. It’s your passion, this story you have to tell. You pour your energy into it. If you listen to the naysayers who tell you that you cannot, the ones who echo the words that writing is not too hard, that writing is not work, that all you have to do is park yourself in a chair and write, then you will succeed, right? Wrong, there’s research, character development, and world building if you’re writing sci-fi or fantasy.
Perhaps that brilliant novel idea came from a dream, something you listened to, the seed was planted, so you began outlining. Or maybe you are a pantser like me and don’t focus on the outline, but you take notes. More than anything, you want to begin writing that first draft; this is the story you must tell, despite what others…
