I wrote a kids' story this morning. The idea came to me while I was taking a shower this morning and coalesced as I ate breakfast. By the time I made a cup of tea, I'd written it all down. It's just the first draft--there's a lot of editing I have to do now--but it's the one of the few times I've actually finished a story. Usually I have great beginnings and no idea how to create a satisfactory ending. I don't know how many times I've gotten inspiration for a story, wrote a few pages and then had it fizzle out in my head. It's like one of those dud fireworks--shooting up into the air with a bang....and nothing happens. Just a big pile of failure.
Since I was little, I've always read voraciously, I know a good story when I see one. I wasn't interested in writing some derivative dreck or copying someone else's style. If I'm going to write something, I want it to be my voice telling the tale. There are authors I enjoy greatly, and one of the things in common among them all is that their individual voices comes through strong and clear. Neil Gaiman, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Tamora Pierce, Madeleine L' Engle....I could go on.
I know I have stories of my own to tell...but I didn't feel like I had anything special to say until very recently. I've created blogs over the years, only to give up on them after a while. I wrote angsty poetry in high school about boys and deep emotions; journaled intensely during college, coming to terms with my chronic health issues and riding the roller coaster of a tumultuous relationship. Blogspot, Xanga, Myspace, Deviantart, Facebook, and now Blogspot again have all played host to my musings and declarations over the years. But that's just cataloging my life, sharing what's going on within my heart and mind. But I've always wanted to write and publish a book....about something.
It's been one of my lifelong dreams to write a children's story, but there was never anything cohesive that came to mind. An idea here, a scrap of a character there. I never had been hit with any inspiration until just last month. I now have sketches for a kids' series stacked in my bedroom. I have two main characters and have been figuring out who they are and how they relate to each other. I have the basic elements and need to flesh them out. There's a general direction but no clear story yet. That one is going to be like a painting that refuses to coalesce until I put a lot of effort and time into it.
Today however was a different story. Like a flash of lightning, I saw the first line: "Thomas Doorit was a naughty little boy who loved destroying good books." And then I had an ending right away too! I quickly scribbled out the story on some notebook paper, my thoughts going faster than my pen. It's already transcribed into Word so I don't lose it, and will lend itself to easier editing that way. The working title for now is "Thomas Doorit gets his comeuppance." It relates to books and classic literature, but I'm not going to give the ending away here. I think I actually have something this time. I even know what kind of illustration style I want and someone in mind to create them for me.
I'm really excited about this book, and I'll be sure to post more about it as I go.
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