Write About...

It's been a while since I wrote my last blog post.  Naturally I don't really have an excuse except for life, stress, and other things getting in the way.  I also came across a huge writer's block, trying to come up with a story idea and then discarding it after a couple of hours or a couple of days, or just saving it for later because I couldn't bring myself to be in the right mood to write it.
This is absolutely normal for me, but it's never been this bad.  In all truth it makes me even more frustrated and stressed.  However, I think I finally came up with a story idea that I am very pleased with.  After realizing this, I just decided to stick my butt in a chair and write a post about it.
In my last post I said I was going to write about character profiles, but I think I'm going to save that for another day.  I'll try keeping this up on a regular every other day basis from now on.  I will also partake in July Novel Writing Month.  I think that in order to partake in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) I should get a little practice.  While I partake in JulNoWriMo I will be posting every day.  Yay for you and asdfghjkl for me.

The story idea I came up with yesterday really made me think about what it was I was going to be writing about.  Although I don't want to disclose any information such as plot and character names until I'm a little more certain I'll be writing this story and I know what is actually going to happen, I have no problem saying a couple of words.  This story is about nature, music, friendship, a sense of belonging, and discovery.  I'm surprised I didn't mention love because it's very rare for a book of mine to not include romantic connections.  I just dig that sort of stuff.  After realizing what this book was going to be about, I learned that these were things that I value greatly in my life. 
I remember some quotes I found on Pinterest a while back and even just looked up now.  These quotes say things like, "Write about what hurts", "Write about what you fear", "Write something you would want to read", "Write about your obsessions", "Write something worth reading", "Write what you know about".  Two of my personal favorites are, "Write what shouldn't be forgotten" by Isabel Allende and, "Write what you wonder about". 
I used to think that you should only really write about one of these at a time, but then I realized this morning how foolish that is.  The real trick, in my opinion, to write something meaningful if not to anyone but to you, is to write about all of that.
It seems to be a lot to possibly handle for one book idea but when you think about it, you need all of these things in order to create something meaningful.  A lot of books that I read and enjoy have more than just one of these aspects to them.  Books that handle all of these things make me think.  There's nothing I love more than reading a book that makes me stop and think about everything.  In my opinion, a good book adds all of these things and weaves them all into the book in a way that flows and doesn't overwhelm.
When I made this story idea and I found the key points to what this story was going to be about, I stopped and thought about all of those components.  Nature and music are things that I obsess and wonder about.  Friendship and discovery are things that I know about and I think is worth reading about.  The sense of belonging is something that hurts and I fear.  In all, they are things that I feel should not be forgotten. 
The importance of writing about many things that mean something to you is so you know that your voice is being heard in more ways than just one.  So write about hurts and what you fear and all of the feelings that come with it!  Write what you would want to read if you saw it on a bookshelf in a store!  Write about you can't stop thinking of!  Write something that you hope one day will change someone's life!  Write about your experiences and your expertise!  And most importantly....write what is important to you, and write what you have questions about, because you may find the answers to them.  Write all of this in one book.

Let's Get Real Here

Let's get real here, I'm just someone who loves reading and writing.  I have a million interests at once, and they are all reflected in my fiction.  I always have something to say about what I read or my experiences when I write.  So I decided to put my summer to use (notice I didn't say "good use") and create a blog so I can write down everything that goes on inside of my head.  In the end, this could all end up being influentially amazing or just really, really awkward.