WHEN IDEAS BLOOM
Even though it's been so long since I had even one drafting project that part of me is a little concerned about whether or not I'll get back to drafting. Obviously, that eight month chunk of time when I was recovering from sepsis, didn't do much to ease those fears. While I have always been a writer who has a lot of snippets of new ideas while drafting, they, usually, don't pop up as a solid plot until I'm close to the point when I will get to plan and draft them.
I actually really can't remember how long I was focusing on revisions rather than drafting new books, I want to say two years before the sepsis, so maybe three in total now? Either way, it's been a very long time! Like I explained, it's really rare for me to have enough of those snippets to even know the story and plot they were live in. So when I was in hospital those final days, and then home and resting, and not much else, it surprised the heck out of me to have not one, but two somewhat fully formed ideas pop into my head!
Of course one is more formed than the other, but I think that's because the second is a plot that will require less planning so to speak and more intricate details that I might only be able to really dive into when I have done more work, and maybe even once I start drafting. I will say I adore both of them, and am itching to jump in and get them started.
I have always loved the ideas phase, it's my favourite after drafting, and feeling the way those particular ideas came to life when I needed that proof that I was still an author, really did help along this long path of recovery. While I may still be on that same path, and while I am back to the author life, I am also realising that I am a different person than I was before, and also of course that ties in with how I will approach ideas, drafting, and everything that goes with it.
It's one of the big perks of being in any kind of creative space, getting to see, to feel, to experience the way these ideas start as a seed, bloom, grow, and show themselves to you. Ideas are a core part of the author and writing life, without them, we do not have what we want, things to create, and stories to deliver. I just appreciate that even in a place of darkness, in a place where I didn't know if my future included being an author any longer, my ideas bloomed.
Long may that continue for all of us!
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