For those of you who have never encountered a Threadless t-shirt, I almost hate to direct you to the website—because you will lose both time and money. It’s a sickness, for me. I love books and snazzy shirts.
Anyway, there’s a part of the site where you can go rate upcoming designs, and I saw this one: “Fairy Tale Story Arc”
Perfect, right? Although, as a writer, I’ve tried to follow that basic arc—told myself to outline and structure according to the rise and fall of natural storytelling—but when I over think the process, it all falls apart. And by falls apart, I mean that I get bored.
I’ve talked about boredom before when it comes to writing, and there’s little new that I can say about it. Just that if you’re bored, chances are the reader will be as well—and so, when you’re writing, it’s not enough to take the pulse of the story…you need to take your pulse, as well. If you don’t have one, if working on the book is putting you in a coma and you’re just slogging through, then you need to make a change. If not in the story, then somewhere else in your life.
Justine Musk has a wonderful blog over at Tribal Writer, and she’s always writing about working from a place of passion and deep soul. Lately, she’s been discussing the importance of “being interesting,” which is a topic few think about—or value—as much as they should. But to be unique, to develop your own quality of ‘interestingness’, you also need to be interested. Interested and curious. Not superficially—but authentically, deeply, passionately. What stokes your fire also carves the path of your life—as a writer, it carves the story from your heart—it pushes you forward, with endless energy.
As Joseph Campell states, “On the dragon there are many scales. Every one of them says ‘Thou Shalt.’ Kill the dragon ‘Thou Shalt.’ “ And in doing so, find your bliss, your individuality.
For the writer, this is especially important. Follow your heart.