The View from Up Here

On the go this week—traveling by plane specifically. Destination: peace and relaxation or at least as much as one can get when visiting their family.  I am truly looking forward to having the opportunity to sit down and do a bit of writing. The day job has been pretty taxing recently and has eaten into the writing time so it's nice to push back a bit.

Now back to the traveling by plane. As I sit up here in the sky, it's interesting to see that there is some order in the chaos of our world. Down on the ground, the world can seem so full and confusing at times but up here, you can see the little neighborhoods broken off into sections. You see where the highways (freeways, interstates, etc.) curve or break off, connecting cities and states.

Watching all these connections and making sense of the chaos reminds me of writing. Sometimes you're so deep into your edits and story that you can completely lose yourself. I've mentioned before that critique partners are very useful in this case. Another way of helping this is stepping back—and I mean waaay back.

I'm not sure if any of you have little plot devices that help but sometimes I try excel spreadsheets or even post-its to organize my thoughts. In a way, it is kind of like writing a synopsis. To write a synopsis you do need to step back and fully understand what is happening in your story.

So why is this even important? Have you ever read those stories that just don't seem to flow or the plot feels choppy. As writers, you can probably identify this. As a reader, you most likely just see it as not making sense or quite frankly, it makes you tired and you decide to put the book down, unsure IF or WHEN you'll pick it up again. I've come across quite a few of these books in my lifetime and truth be told, I very rarely pick that author up again.

So I've said it before, but I'll say it again, give it your all when you are writing. Enjoy it and most importantly if you want to be published, take the time to make sure it flows together and is the absolute best story you can tell in this moment of time. Your reader will forever thank you. And for a writer, that's the biggest praise you can get.

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life, Writing Topics