Life

Life can either lift you up or bring you down depending on what mood it’s in. Yes, I’m talking about life having a mind of it’s own. We never really know what kind of day we will have but we can absolutely try to make it better by trying to stay positive and make the best out of each day. Life is short, so making the most of each day is important.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written any blog posts. Life has taken a toll. My husband and I have lost two family members who we were very close to. Adding to that, the stress of normal day to day life has had an impact as well. Sometimes it feels as though no matter how much you try, life has a way of humbling you back to reality. The understanding that just when you think you’ve been through as much as you can possibly take, anything can happen. 

So just as we go through loss in life I think it’s important to include tragedy in your own writing. Your characters don’t necessarily have to experience the loss of a loved one but the emotional journey a tragedy takes a person on is important. The loss of an idea or direction in life can be a tragedy as well.

Not each one has to be as devastating as losing an important person but it is a way to develop your character. To help them grow into the person they become at the end. Transitioning your characters from being naive to the situations you put them in through your story to being experienced in handling the situation set before them is essential to their growth. In a way you are helping your character grow. As we age we become wiser to life. Wiser to each and every thing that life throws at us. A character needs those transitional plot points to develop into the hardened character you want them to be in the end.

In my current work in progress, my characters go through a lot of tragedy in a sense. There are moments of self discovery. Transitional moments that make that them wiser. Learning how to navigate through life is important for both you and your character. We don’t always expect the unexpected but we do try to survive it when it does happen. That’s all we can do. Showing that growth in your characters life is essential to making them relatable to your readers. Not just with tragedy but with any unexpected event in their lives.

• They meet someone unexpected
• They get life changing news
• Someone offers a kid gesture towards another person and they have a moment of inspiration
• A tragic event happens to someone they know and they learn some lessons in life vicariously through someone else.
• They make a lifestyle change

These are just some examples but there are many ways in which a character can grow as a person. Writing these ways and living the moments through your character just might help you grow as well.

Speaking of growth, I have officially finished both the Blurb and Synopsis for my novel. For those of you who follow me on Facebook you may have already seen my posts. If you wish to Follow me on Facebook or YouTube, the links will be below the last image in this post. Finishing the Synopsis was actually very trying. I have never actually completed one before this. I mean I’ve attempted to write one but never got to the final draft. You don’t typically need a synopsis for short story’s or anything but a novel. So the need to write one and get to the final draft hasn’t been substantial until now. The last novel I wrote is still in the editing stages and never got passed that before I started my current work in progress.

However, I must say that I am super excited to have reached this point. I am also about 3/4 of the way there with my beta reader for their read through. Next will be the final changes and then being sent off to be critiqued by Agents. I am fully expecting tons of rejection letters and many submissions until I find the right one but as we all know, that is just one of the parts of life that makes us stronger. Both as a person and as a Writer.

So if you are struggling with whatever your current tragedy is in life or in your story for your character, just remember that it is an opportunity to grow as a person. In this past month of losing two loved ones, I have grown wiser. Not that I wouldn’t prefer to have the people instead of the lesson in life, but just that you are reminded of some important things.

For me it has been that life is too short to miss out on any time with the people that you love in your life. Also that family and friends are very important. Don’t miss a chance to say how much they mean to you. My grandmother will always be in my heart and although I would rather her be with us right now, I know that it was her time and that in her death she was still able to teach me so much about the importance of the short but full lives we all have.

Thank you for reading my blog…Until Next Time…JUST KEEP WRITING. 

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