There is something about writing that is so fulfilling.
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There is something about being able to change a story that is so empowering. It’s like sitting through a movie that you almost love and being able to fix the parts you hate. When you think to yourself, ‘Oh man, Why did they do that? They should have done this…” you can actually change it. Or reading a book, when you think to yourself, “Seriously? Did the author just do that to my favorite character?” there’s hope at your fingertips. (I’m not endorsing plagiarism in the least—fix your own stories.) But writing is so cool.
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I love moving and flowing with characters and watching how they leave my grasp and go a new direction. I love changing a few words in a conversation and seeing how it completely changes the direction of the story. Words are so powerful, I sometimes forget. I also love escaping the mundane predictability of this life for a few moments to explore the possibility of “What if?”
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There’s so much power in those two little words. What if I gave Sadie a choice of which guy she ends up with? Who would she choose?—which I did by the way. I went into the story with two possibilities and left it up to her; you’ll have to read the book to find out who she did (and no, I’m not crazy–characters have a mind of their own). What if she and that particular guy aren’t perfect people? What if I killed someone off? That’s always a fun one. I heard once that if you’re stuck on a particular scene, kill someone. I’m proud to say that while I have struggled many times, I’ve never gone to that extreme. Yet.
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But the power of “What if?”
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I find myself saying “What if?” all the time now. In fact, that’s where most of my new ideas for novels come from. I’ll see something in the store, on the news, or wherever and think, “What if, what if, what if?” I love it. The possibilities are endless—and a little scary. But what if?
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There is something truly fulfilling and satisfying in writing.
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