My journey to authorhood officially began when I was around fourteen. I never liked writing assignments in school growing up and never really wrote just for the fun of it . . . Except if you can count that time I was five and wrote an epic tale of a clown horse. Yeah, we aren’t going into details there.
But needless to say, at such a tender age, I knew nothing of character development or story beats, let alone what I was doing.
Like, come on. Who hires horses anymore for clowns anymore? This ain’t Mister Ed we’re talking about here.
But I digress.
The point is, I’ve come a long way from little Jacky and his ringside act. Like, leaps and bounds. Light years. Eons. (That’s as far as we can go, right? 😂)
You are never done learning, but I’ve learned a lot! I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned that plots are critical, but their construction doesn’t always have to look the same for every book. I’ve discovered character building and that glorious invention called internal conflict. (Don’t hate me, it’s for the good of the character.)
I’ve learned the craft of storytelling.
But through that, I’ve learned about life.
Fiction isn’t fiction?
Now, I know what you’re thinking. How could one possibly learn about life from scribbling away at a half-cooked idea? Well, when you put it like that, not much. It’s once you start simmering those ideas down that things begin to make more sense.
See, writing encompasses lots of things. You’re a researcher, planner, amateur IT, and problem solving, word-nerding sentence-organizer. There’s a fair amount of psychology thrown in there, too, ‘cause somebody’s got to find out what makes those imaginary characters tick. How else are we going to break them down and build them back up again?
For me, it’s that latter part that fascinates me. What makes a character do what they do? What lie are they believing—the one that shapes their every move? How did they come to believe that lie? Why are they so determined to keep to the path they’re on—or do they want to be there at all?
How am I going to use that to make them a better person?
Are you still with me on this? ‘Cause I’m about to get a whole lot deeper.
What I’ve come to realize over the past years of seriously pursuing writing is that even though the correct term is works of “fiction,” there are some very real points here.
Specifically what happens within roughly the first third of a book.
If you grab a random book, flip to the first page, and start reading, I’m willing to bet what you’re gonna see. You’ll be introduced to the main character (that’s MC in writer lingo 😉), see a little into their everyday way of things, then BAM. Something happens, something that catapults Mr. or Ms. Content-with-their-life into something waaay out of their comfort zone.
Have I been right so far? 😏
Yeah, that might be because that’s the general way most plots work. It’s called the Inciting Incident. It’s where we authors take our characters out of their nice, cozy lives and toss them into conflict. We kinda like to do that to them. Like, a lot.
But aside from my affinity for internal conflict . . . does that scenario sound familiar? Have you ever felt like, all of a sudden, your life was just uprooted? Like you were tossed to the wolves?
If you haven’t, then you ain’t living life.
Like a Book
Characters fascinate me. When they’re well-written and properly portrayed, they make the story. They teach us valuable lessons (or reiterate the ones we might have forgotten). They earn our pity, making us root them on. And, if they’re really good, they make us want to be better people.
There was a writing meme I saw a long time ago (yes, a meme. Don’t judge. 😆). It went something along the lines of “Your characters are like geodes. If you want to see what they’re really made of, you must first break them.”
If you’re a writer, you’re internally cackling, I just know it.
But it’s true! It’s the general rule of writing. Think up a character, spend way too long deciding on their hair and eye color, hem and haw over their name, going in between any variety of choices before settling on one that wasn’t even on the original list, then bend ‘em, twist ‘em, stretch ‘em till they break.
We’re not being sadistic. It’s through trials that they are tested.
Ah-ha! Did I see a lightbulb go off in your brain? Well, if not, allow me to expound a bit here.
If you’ve ever been through anything difficult in your lifetime (difficult is relative here, what’s hard for one person isn’t the same for another), then you know yourself that certain situations can change you, for better or worse. Half the time, you’re wondering what you even did to deserve such a disruption of your perfectly snug life, and the other half, you’re plotting how to get through it as quickly and painlessly as possible.
In these situations, all we see are the here and now—here’s a problem, and now I have to deal with it. We take the punches as they’re thrown, not stopping to see the big picture.
But there is a bigger picture. One I, as an author, am constantly taking into account when I’m writing.
One the ultimate Author also has in mind.
The parallels between writing and real life can be startling at times (but not shocking since fiction is literally a recreation of real life). Forget about relating with a character you’re reading. How about using them as a wakeup call?
How many books have you read where, in the end, the MC looks back and goes, “Wow. I did not expect any of that to happen.”? Then followed that with something along the lines of, “But I’m kinda, sorta, like, glad it did. If none of that ever happened, I wouldn’t be where I am today, which is closer to/is what I always wanted.”? You can go ahead and count. I’ve already thought of at least a dozen.
See, while we’re knee-deep in the thick of what might be our worst nightmare/the most inconvenient change/the switch you so did not need right now, that’s all we see. The struggle. The conflict. Our heads are down, oblivious to how on earth this might work out in the long run. In fact, that thought doesn’t even cross our minds. Why even should it, when your entire world has literally been turned upside down and shaken like a chew toy in the mouth of a hyperactive puppy?
Cue the author, who enters the scene of this fictitious setting in a puff of colored smoke, wielding notes and sketches and files that, incidentally, have the entirety of the rest of this MC’s life plotted out, how they will use this experience to their benefit in the long run, what they will take away from it, how significantly it shapes them as a whole, and the list goes on and on.
Basically, they have it all planned out. They aren’t seeing just the added threat taking in that injured stranger brings down on our MC. Nope. They’re also seeing the friendship that blossoms between them, the protection said injured being brings to them, the journey they will go on together, the villains they will defeat, and the hope they will bring to the nation, all from just our little MC taking in a wounded soul. (If this example sounds familiar, like bookishly familiar, you’d be right. Comment below if you think you know what book I used here! Here’s a hint: book #2 in this series just came out. 😉)
So start living!
God does the same thing. When tribulations arise, we only see what’s right in front of our face. The Lord, however, sees the beginning, the end, and every speck of time in between. While we’re focusing on the roadblock, He sees the journey it will bring.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” Does it say these things won’t be hard? No. Does it say that they are incongruent and random? Absolutely not. It says all things work together.
This journey called life is not some random act of random occurrences in a random timeline. An author doesn’t throw together a bunch of events, sprinkle it liberally with conflict, and call it a book. Neither does the Author of all creation set about events and trials and conflict and call it life. Every move you make, every thought you think, every trial you face. They aren’t just seen. They’re planned.
So don’t give up, give in, give half of what you’re capable of. When you’re caught up in the here and now, stop for a second. Look up from what’s got you caught up in the present.
See that light at the end of the tunnel?
Guess what.
There’s so much more beyond that.
I hope this made at least a tad bit of sense. At the very least, I hope it encourages you to carry on with your life in more confidence than you sat down to read this post with. Life is a journey, my friend! Live it like an adventure!
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to my website so you don’t miss a post! And while you’re at it, don’t forget about my newsletter! By joining the tribe, you’ll receive email updates about life, my writing, the latest on pre orders of new releases, as well as maybe a . . . giveaway? 🤔😃😏 So don’t miss out! We have a ton of fun. I’d love to see you join in!
Was this post relatable? If so, please share it with somebody you feel would benefit from it! We’re all along for this ride called life. Let’s make the most of it!
Catch ya on the flip side!
_Mac 🤎