October 1st, 2015: Writing about Time, About Time for Writing

     Every story that I write is a new beginning for me. Any artist is filled with excitement to see that blank page, or empty canvas until they actually pick up the pen or paintbrush. At that point he feels more alone than at any other juncture during the creation. Whether or not the tale is going to fulfill the image in the author's mind is all yet to be seen.
     I have been outlining and making notes on the way I want to tell my time travel novel for well over six months now, and even though I just had a general idea about exactly how my story would unfold, I was blessed with a serendipitous idea back in August about how it should end. Many times, we have a breakthrough that surprises even us as writers.
     I read about a study years ago that said that if you have something that you can't quite work out, you should concentrate on it right before going to sleep. Many times, I've found that if I do this, I will wake up the next morning with the most incredible ideas. That last line of the poem I'm writing, or that scene in the story that isn't quite right will suddenly be illuminated with a clarity I could never achieve during the day.
     I started the story today, and as funny as it might be to hear it is just falling into place and I can't wait to see what I write next. My loose ideas and notes are manifesting themselves into the story that I had hoped to write. If I can maintain this level of creativity, the end product will be fascinating.
     I try to provide something original in each one of my pieces. In "The Picture of the Ghost", there was a bit of a love story in the middle of it. In "Gretchen's Shoot", I wrote about relationships and how they can see you through difficult situations. "The Empath" was about weathering the horrors of this world and using them to bring about healing. My book "Encouragements: A Collection of Poems" is full of uplifting verse that testifies to the fact that when circumstances are the darkest, if we stand firm in our faith in God, He will always bring us through.
     So where am I going to go with the idea of time travel? The underlying theme of the tale is that we should not underestimate the influence for good that we have on the lives of people we come in contact with. Accidentally given the chance to go back and change the things that went wrong in his life, the protagonist doesn't just try to improve his own life. He reaches out and guides those around him so that they achieve higher goals than they would have without his help.
     This will be the longest project that I have attempted so far, and will take a few months to accomplish, so if you don't hear from me, don't think I've given up on writing. I'll be writing more each day than I've ever done before, and then I will go into editing the rough draft. If I can complete this book by the end of the year, I will feel that I've done well.