Down The Rabbit Hole Again!

Life = tricky! 

I think I've mention that before. But it's true. It's really, really true. 

I've come to take it in stride, trying not to let the worst things get to me. However, since I am a nervous person, I do tend to look TOO FAR ahead in the future. I'm talking, WAY too far in the future where there are ridiculous outcomes that couldn't POSSIBLY come to light unless I made some very, very, very bad choices.

For example, I failed my Theology class when I was in my second to last year. Here's how my train of thought went.....

"Oh my goodness. I failed that class. I can't believe that happened. Now I'm going to fail college and then be forced to drop out and then I'm not going to get a good job and then will be kicked out of my parent's house and then live on the street in a cardboard box and then get robbed of my cardboard box and then I'll DIE" 

Yep! Dramatic little lady, aren't I? 

The truth is that I suffer from Anxiety! And the above is almost LITERALLY what will go through my brain with every decision that I have to make. I get held back from doing a LOT of things because of the sequence of events that goes through my head. 

So since I do suffer from these ... weird thoughts ... I try to take it ONE. DAY. At a time.

I kinda think this is the reason why I became a writer. My thoughts don't get so jumbled when I'm working on a novel. Granted, my characters can be a little odd ...

It's also the reason why I READ so much. Books are an escape from the craziness in my own mind. 

So here's my next book recommendation for the day! It's Wednesday after all! 

Everyone has been reading this book. I have too and now I know why. 

Hazel Grace Lancaster was diagnosed with cancer and is now 16, a three year stage IV cancer survivor and ... pretty much is depressed. Her life revolves around doctor visits and hoisting around a portable oxygen tank. To help her, the doctors send her to a support group. That's where she meets Augustus Waters. Together, the two of them form a bond that can't be broken. But ... what happens when cancer comes to claim one of them?
This is a story ... not about death ... but about life. And living it to the fullest despite its challenges. Hazel has to learn how to LIVE again. This book is both funny and sad. It's one I highly recommend for anyone who sometimes thinks that life is unfair or cruel. John Green gives readers a whole new perspective!
Read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. 

From my fascinating book recommendation, I'm going to go into .........

THE WEDNESDAY WRITERS WORKSHOP!!!!!! *cheers ensue and confetti is thrown and cake is eaten somewhere*

First, our quote of the day!!!!

"The first sentence can't be written until the final sentence is written" -Joyce Carol Oates

So let's begin the Workshop. Last week's Topic: Characters! 

This week's Topic: Where Does Your Creative Energy Come From? 

What I mean by that is this. (To clarify, this is a lesson that my Fiction Writing Professor Cynthia Beach asked our class. So don't think for one second that I'm SO brilliant that I came up with this on my own). 

Where do you find most of your passion for writing goes? The Beginning, Middle, Or End of your story?

J.K. Rowling said that she wrote the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows first. 

When I BEGIN a novel, I'm all fired up! I get into the first chapter, introducing the main character, the secondary characters, the setting, building up the plot. I get to about the fifth chapter and then I fall down flat. Energy gone. Inspiration seems to have zeroed out and I get bored. 

Some writers get their passion from writing the MIDDLE of the book first. They KNOW where their characters are. They're already developed and ingrained into the story. But ... they hate STARTING the book. The beginning and the end aren't so fun for them.

Then you get the writers who get their passion from the ENDING of the book. It's drawing their characters to the end of their story. You get to the end of the story and everything seems good and happy. 

So where do YOU get your energy? Do you feel like you're failing if you've reached your 'bad' spot? What makes you feel like you can't go any further?

I challenge my fellow writers to look at this lesson and think on it. I challenge you to look over your old manuscripts. Especially the incomplete ones. As you're perusing them, think about WHERE your story is. Where did you stop or get stuck? Once you realize where your creative energy comes from, you'll see your manuscript in a whole new light.

Okay ... now here's your homework. Yes, I give you homework. No, you don't have to turn it in. 

If you get your passion from writing the BEGINNING of the novel ... think of a scene that you KNOW you'd want included in the MIDDLE and write it. 

If you get your passion from writing the MIDDLE ... think of how you originally thought the book would end. Write it!

If you get your passion from writing the END ... think of where those characters started from? Write your main characters introduction! 

That's my Wednesday Writers Workshop for the day! 

In case you're thinking, "What the heck? Is she going to do this?" Have no fear. I will actually do my own assignment. And next Wednesday, I'll share it! 

Until the next post my delightful readers,

-Taryn