Life's Surprises

My creative writing teacher in high school had us write a letter to ourselves at the end of our senior year. We had to predict where we'd be in ten years and what things we'd accomplish in that time. She collected them and told us she'd mail them to us. True to her word, she held on to those letters and mailed them eight years later. Just the other night, I found my letter again and had a good chuckle over where I thought I'd be ten years after high school.

A few things I got right -- I predicted I'd marry a man who was my best friend, graduate from the two colleges I later attended, do some traveling, and be living near my parents. But some of the things like having only girls or receiving two marriage proposals or being involved in theater didn't come true.

And thank goodness.

Thank goodness we don't know every detail of our lives before it happens. Some of our greatest growth and happiness comes from embracing life's surprises. Who knew I'd be the first in my family to have a son? Or that I'd still be living in Utah? Or that I'd finally write a book and then another and another?

Of course we need to have goals and plans and ideas for what we want to do and where we want to be, but we also need flexibility because, thankfully, life is full of surprises. 

I Heart Chuck

My hubby and I were latecomers to this TV show. Since we don't have regular television, we watch stuff online, and one night, we remembered seeing a preview for the show and thought we'd try an episode. It didn't take long before we were hooked. Basically it's the story of a nerdy computer guy who winds up in the middle of the spy world and must use the computer in his head to fight the bad guys.

What I love about Chuck is that not only does the show have a little bit of everything (action, humor, and romance), but it is brilliant storytelling. Here's why:

• There's a story goal in every episode - something Chuck is trying to accomplish
• There's always opposition to said goal - someone or something blocking Chuck's way
• There's identifiable motivation driving the characters to act the way they do
• There's a subplot that usually mirrors the struggles Chuck is going through in the spy world
• There's always (especially now that we're in Season 4) a major plot twist, typically near the end of the episode and of the nature of "I never saw that coming"
• And finally there's our flawed but likable hero who is put into extraordinary circumstances and we want so much for him to succeed

Just like a great book grabs my interest and has me thinking about it later, I love how well-written shows and movies like Chuck inspire good storytelling.

Finding the Fun

The weather has been GORGEOUS here. Who knew November could be so full of sunshine? The other day Child #2 wanted to earn some money to buy a toy, so we trooped outside to pick up the leaves Child #1 had raked as his money-making job. The sun was shining and the damp fall leaves smelled wonderful. We had a great time working together. 

It got me thinking about finding the fun factor, even in work. I've pretty much finished outlining the novel I want to write next, and admittedly stressing about the story, then I read something on a blog that sort of brought me up short. The person was talking about writing her next book after being published and how different it was this time with a deadline, etc. And suddenly I realized, "Why am I stressing about this project? Writing is supposed to be fun for me. That's what I need to remember."

Sometimes in the midst of whatever we're doing (writing, querying, editing, publishing, parenting), we can lose sight of what made us start on this journey in the first place. Hopefully it's because we love what we're doing. Sometimes we need to remember in all the "work" to find the fun. Maybe it's letting go of expectations (or that annoying editor in your head), or writing something totally new and different, or leaving the computer altogether and going to soak up the sun.  

How do you keep the "fun" in your writing journey?