To answer the first, I am writing a novel, not a children’s book. I would love to write a children’s book that focuses on a strong boy character (hard to find if you don’t count the animals that happen to also be males –Frog and Toad, Franklin, Clifford, Little Bear, etc.) because I know how hard it can be to find a book I’d like my boys to read. However, I’ve had a story rolling around in my head (for years now) about God’s power to restore. One that I felt needed to be told. So, at my husband’s urging, I started with it.
The book is Christian, fiction, and finished. Well, sort of. Although I did end the book, I feel some areas are not complete and so I am going back and revising where necessary. I feel thrilled to have enlisted the help of a talented woman who has agreed to act as my editor. As it stands today, my book has approximately 71,000 words, 40 chapters, and 200 pages. (This, by the way, is on the shorter side where books are concerned.) While I’m editing, my goal is to add another 4,000 words, which would give me a high enough word count to enter the book into a writing contest. (The contest deadline is October first. I’m sweating over it a little. Okay, a lot.)
In an effort to address the second question, I have to say, “It’s a secret.” While I’d love to divulge the plot of my book, I can’t. Imagine what would happen if my plot trickled down to someone who could write my book better. Exactly.
Thirdly, people ask, “How do you do that?” The implication is that writing a book in the midst of home schooling a second and third grader while keeping dibs on our three year old might be an impossible task. I’ll suffice it to say that I ignore things I shouldn’t (dishes, laundry, vacuuming) to focus on something I like more. After all, everyone finds time–even if it isn’t much time–to do what they enjoy. (Be honest, haven’t you ever sat down with a good book when you should’ve been doing something else? Well, me too. Only I write it.)
Personally, I think there is a greater question that how I find time to write. For me, the mystery lies in how a book gets written. Any writer will tell you that some things will not be written. Will not. No matter how much you want to write it. It’s almost as if the words, the stories, take on their own persona and on occasion refuse to be manipulated. At other times, the words begin to flow and there’s no stopping it. The writer feels the rightness of what is spilling on the page. It is a, this-is-good-stuff-really-good-stuff kind of experience. Like going shopping, plucking something from the rack, hitting the dressing room, and slipping into the best fitting outfit of your life. It looks good. It feels good. You know it’s good.
The secular writing world refers to this as a “muse.” A muse is a near-magical being that moves on the writer and lends inspiration. I doubt writers believe an angel or the like is hanging over their shoulder, but they do recognize the instance of receiving inspiration and believe it comes from somewhere.
I find the process amazing. Even now, I look at the 71,000 words and wonder how they happened. How is it possible to come up with 200 pages worth of creative writing? Personally, I see this as evidence of the Creator. All creative processes must come from somewhere. Doesn’t the Creator just make sense?
Before the words hit the page, I feel them in my mind. As if they were given to me. Then, I use a process I refer to as “stewing.” I stew over them. Then, I sit in front of a blank screen and type. This isn’t a thing that can be forced.
Vessel. Aren’t all Christians called to be vessels with an ear to heaven and hands toward the world? Whether or not writing is your forte, the key is to do what you must with what you’ve been given.
