I Love You Twelve

It’s been awhile since I have written in here. A lot is coming together for Play It in Piano. To be completely honest, I think this is the first time I really ever made an outline of any kind. It’s strange and exciting to me at the same time. I never realized how vital it is to a story until now…especially since my concept of time is really bad. I’m glad I realized it and bought that planner. It’s been a life saver.

I realized something the other day. I was supposed to go to my best friend’s house to play Manhunt. I texted her the night before saying that I wasn’t going to go anymore. I had some pretty stupid excuses. But I had decided that since I wasn’t going, I would sit and write. Around 6 p.m. that night, I started getting texts from her and her family, and two of my other friends, begging me to go over to their house. I went (not willingly, really… I complained for awhile about it). I want to say that whatever was really holding me back from going, was really idiotic and I’m really glad that I was “pressured” into going. I learned a lot about myself Tuesday night. I learned a lot about my friends…my precious friends. I watched reactions between all of them. I became more aware of someone that annoys me more than I realized and how I react (badly…and I’m not proud of it) to that person. I struggle sometimes reacting the way I know I should to react versus how I want to act. I think it’s a really important thing. Everyone is like that.

I’m really into character building. I’m learning a lot about it just on my own. There’s a lot of advice out there on how to create characters. I wrote recently about basing them after people you know and how it seemed difficult to me. It’s not as difficult as I thought. There are bits and pieces of Hadley that come from many traits from people I know. She is definitely her own character though. To be completely honest, sometimes I think she is a brat.Very demanding. Her story is coming alive to me more and more each day and it’s completely amazing me. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but somehow my writer’s block has run away from me. And by running away, I mean fled. I am very thankful for that. I’m eager to write.

A new character was introduced to me last night. A lot more characters are on their way. I think that’s another reason why it’s suddenly all starting to click together- I’m realizing that Hadley’s relationships with people are very complex. There’s more than just the few that I had originally started off with. Without people, there isn’t a story. Everyone you come in contact with affects you in some way or another. There are more people in Hadley’s life that affect the way she is. I just didn’t realize it until last night.

I had a terrible time sleeping Wednesday night and I had this crazy idea. I’ve only told one person about it…and that’s my best friend, Bekah. I will probably at some point tell my other two best friends, but it may be something that I want to keep secret about the story for awhile. I’ve told the storyline to a few people. I’m really shy about it. It’s like I’m not completely ready to share details. It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, I just feel like it’s not ready yet. So I’ll give a small summary. That summary is usually along the lines of… “It’s about this fifteen year old girl named Hadley.” The end. Eventually that summary will be a lot better. I just want it to be something that I’m proud of…and that the people I know will be proud of. Yet, if it reaches one person in the world, I will be completely satisfied. Of course I want it to go farther than that. Sometimes I feel like that’s a long shot. It doesn’t hurt to dream big, though.

I’m pretty sure that if I ever go anywhere with this after it is written…it’s going to be much more controversial than I ever expected it to be. It is a Christian story. It has my faith in it. Not in the religious-preachy-kind-of way. But one thing that Hadley and I definitely have in common is the faith in Jesus Christ. I’m not sure that the world…especially the “Christian” world will take kindly to some of the things Hadley may portray. I’m not scared. I’m just not sure where any of this will take me (or her, more importantly). It’s the unknown. It’s exciting and frustrating…it’s an adventure. To be completely honest, I’m shocked that my outline has become what it has. For someone who wants to write for Disney Channel, this certainly isn’t anything that Disney would use.

(Have I creeped you out by the way I talk about Hadley yet? I know it’s weird. It’s ridiculously weird. But if I don’t believe in my characters how is anyone else going to?)

I made a CD with music that inspires me for this story. I came across this one song on iTunes the other night. It’s by Starfield. I’ts called “Rediscover You”. It hit me very hard. Harder than I ever thought it would. You can’t tell a lot from song previews on iTunes…especially with Christian music. I’m very picky with Christian music. It’s really hit or miss with me. That song, however, hit me to the absolute core of my being. It inspired me and made me bawl my eyes out. I have been listening to it nonstop since then. I highly recommend that song. I highly recommend going on iTunes and just experimenting with music when you’re writing. Go find random artists…and artists that no one really knows about. Take ten dollars and just buy random music. Yeah, you’ll like some of it and hate some of it. But it’s a really great way to get inspired. Sometimes the songs you would least expect to get to you will.

Due to the fact that I only had three hours of sleep the other night, I am signing off for now. I promise that in the very near future, there will be a little more information about certain characters in my book, the town, and my word of the year. I’m just too tired to finish everything I wanted to say. And why would I put everything into one blog when I can stretch it out for awhile. ;)