Letting Our Characters Fall Hard & Why It’s Important

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Oh. My. Word. I thought after my first book the others would be easier to write.

WRONG. SO WRONG.

Now into my 4^th manuscript (my agent holds the 3^rd while I make edits...good times), it’s clearly not getting any easier. I’m still carving out, and fighting for the time to write. Even when I etch out the time, it seems the words don’t want to flow. They drip like some clogged faucet. 

So I sit.  Stare at my screen. Pray.

Maybe check my email again – for the 20^th time. Then remember to do a little cleaning.

I have to say, that while working on my current manuscript, my toilets have NEVER been so clean. I even folded socks one night…now that is some serious desperation y’all. Folding socks in my nemesis! It’s a mutual dislike, but I digress.

There are a plethora of reasons writers find writing difficult, and I’ve come to terms with why this book is so stinkin’ hard to write: My characters are acting out and making all the wrong choices!! Ugh!

I know the story. I’ve got the plot lines down. I know what has to happen, but I can’t seem to make them fall into that moral demise. It goes against my grain. Letting them fall means I go there with them…try to feel what they would feel in order to put words on paper, and bring the story to life.  And wow…that’s difficult to do.

Going through the valley with our characters is challenging, and is intensified when they’ve thrown themselves down a slippery slope of sin. 

I don’t wanna imagine what it would be like if I stepped outside of God’s will for my life for five minutes, let alone the length of a novel! Yet, I must. I must tell this story.  Why?

1) Because characters must fall (Click to Tweet)

Why? Because we fall.

As writers, we must travel with our characters. Why?

2) Because someone needs this story.

Perhaps it’s me that needs it, or someone I’ll never meet…even someone who hasn’t been born yet (an odd thought).

And lastly, I must tell this story:

         3) Because the fall may be great, and terrible, but it reflects the unprecedented potential for grace and redemption toabound (click to tweet)—something we can’t WAIT to write! Something we crave to experience in life, and in the stories we read. 

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So…with the encouragement, and constructive criticism spoken in love from my valued writing partners and critique group, I’ll persevere through this story. One. Word. At. A. Time.

Stand strong, writers, and do the same.  

Side Note: A Little Trick I’d Like to Share:   A tool I’ve been using to help get my word count in, is the timer!  I can trick myself into writing for an hour. After the hour or 90 minutes, I give myself 30 minutes to clean, check email, walk etc. then go back to writing again. This REALLY seems to be helping me out. 

HAPPY WRITING!