This week has turned out way different than I’d planned. I set out a schedule of writing for myself, but almost all of it got pushed aside for other things. My daughter broke a bracket on her braces over the weekend, so I had to take her on Monday to have the wire clipped, then they did an adjustment on Wednesday that took over an hour! The poor girl has so much hardware in her mouth and they are moving things around so much that eating has been difficult and painful. So the meals I had planned did not work and we’ve eaten out every day this week.
Thankfully, I had arranged last week with a friend to do some writing sprints together on Wednesday at 2:30. I completely forgot and was sitting at home reading. (Yes, I’d finished that book on Monday night, but I’d started another book by the same author. I tend to get on an author kick when I like their writing style.) Anyway, my friend texted me that she would be ready in a moment and I flew out of my chair to get my laptop. I wasn’t in my usual writing space (Panera or the library) and I hadn’t been thinking about my story at all. But the accountability of someone else writing “alongside” me worked. I wrote 771 words. But it’s less about word count and more about the fact that I’m moving the story forward and revealing more about the main character.
I’m absolutely loving intuitive writing. I don’t have to stress that I don’t know what to write about when I sit down at my computer. I trust that something will come and the characters will “talk” to me and lead the story along. I’m realizing that it is similar to how I worked on my NaNo story in 2020. I knew I had to write, but didn’t always know where the story would go. Every day I sat down to write and just let it flow without having a plan. I didn’t call it intuitive writing at the time. I had called it “pantsing” because that’s what I’d read in the forums. But for some reason Intuitive Writing sounds much more comfortable and welcome than Pantsing. Flying by the seat of your pants has a scary feel to it, like jumping out of a plane and hoping you land safely. Using your intuition feels like it’s all inside waiting to be discovered, like a seed in the ground that pushes its way to the surface to blossom into something beautiful.
When I started to write on Wednesday I had not one clue what I’d be writing. I’d finished a scene the last time I’d written and anything was possible, especially since I am trying not to be wed it the idea that I have to write everything in chronological order. I discovered more about my main character and the family she comes from. It wasn’t something I had planned or even thought about. But as the words came out on the screen, it felt like I was getting to know her just a little more. Which makes it even more exciting to tell her story. I fall in love with stories for their characters and it’s no surprise that it’s what I love about writing. Creating characters that (hopefully) others can relate to is my goal.
Today will be a much more leisurely day, thankfully. And I finished my book and haven’t started another (even though I got a few for my birthday), so I’m here at the library with the intention of writing. What will Alanna reveal to me today? I’m looking forward to finding out!
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