Realigning the Why

It’s amazing what happens when I remember the why. I was struggling with where to begin my revisions, where to start, and I was so stuck in my frustrations with how this story was just “not good.” I started to spiral, and forced myself to step back and take a deep breath. I thought about why I started writing this story in the first place. Why it is so important to me to finish it. Why it keeps calling me back. And it all fell into place. I love this story, I find joy in the idea of it and the journey of my characters, and THAT cleared the fog in my mind. The frustration disappeared because I was standing on the solid foundation of my why, and all kinds of possibilities for what would happen in the story presented themselves. I was able to take the time to plan how I want to realign the first act of the story and sketch out what would go where.

This weekend was a beautiful example of how trusted friends and loved ones can inspire and push us to reach new levels in our creativity. My peer critique group and I went on a writing retreat and it was just lovely. We had time to write, time to create, and time to just be together. We had moments where lifted each other up and moments where we were able to share more of our personal stories which deepened our bond. I know it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say each one of us left the weekend with our creativity cups filled, invigorated to go back and tackle our projects.

This week I’m going to begin querying again and continue to work on revising my first manuscript. Realigning the why of what I’m doing for this story helped me remember that this story is driven by the relationship of what a mother will do for her daughter. I’m excited to add the pieces that will better reflect that.

What drives your current work in progress? How does remembering why you started the project help you write the story?

Happy Writing!