A Story is Waiting
As I race to the finish line writing my thesis manuscript, I also have to write another significant story before the end of the semester for my short forms class…
When I was a brand new baby writer over a decade ago, a few things worried me about the writing process and about my own abilities. First, I didn’t think I had it in me to finish something. Writing a great beginning is easy when the project is new and I’m just so excited about the characters and their adventures, but navigating a story through ninety-thousand words is something else entirely. When I finished my first manuscript, the fact that I had finished it at all felt like a huge accomplishment. Of course, when I started drafting the sequel, this nagging fear that I’d be a one hit wonder and not be able to finish this next one sat in the back of my mind until I wrote the very last line.
Now, as I work on manuscript number twelve, the fear of not finishing is pretty much in my rear view, but another one has lingered even longer. My most creative time for generating new ideas tends to be when I’m in the middle of another project. The creative energy is already flowing, so that makes sense. If a great idea sparks in the middle of drafting another story, I’ll write a short outline to capture the main plot points, the characters, and any overarching theme, and then I’ll place it into a file I’ve affectionately titled, ‘It’s Not Your Turn Yet.’ I’m never really out of ideas for the next project, but I’ve never been overflowing with them either. Things take a while to percolate in my mind, which brings me back to this second project I have to come up with for class.
Generating new ideas on demand has always stressed me out. I hated writing from prompts in my high school English class when I only had a couple of minutes to come up with something. Even as a professional, when I was asked to contribute to an anthology for the first time, I stressed about thinking up a good story in such a limited amount of time. Well, for school, I have to come up with new ideas all the time. Not only that, but I have to turn those ideas into stories really quickly and then workshop them with my classmates. There have been many valuable learning experiences in this grad program, and I have for sure upped my game as a writer, but my favorite area of personal growth is that I no longer worry about writing on demand, so to speak. When I have a deadline coming up fast, and I don’t have a clue what to write, I know I will think of something interesting. I’ve learned to trust the way my mind works and believe in my process around creativity.
So, I have no idea yet what I’m going to write for this other project, but instead of feeling stressed, I feel excited. An idea I haven’t even considered, a story that has not yet been told, is just waiting for its moment in the sun!
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." – Oscar Wilde
