It has changed my life!
She was speaking to me about joining the Association of
Christian Writers (ACW). It has changed my life too, but for me the process of
change began a little earlier, when I began blogging. By the time I had been
blogging for about 18 months I realised that joining ACW would be a good idea.
(A friend had persuaded me.) I also realised that pursuing blogging fame was
less important than improving my writing skills and seeking inspiration for
what to write.
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| Pursuing blogging fame! |
That was over five years ago. Perhaps I need to take stock
of what I have written and set myself (or better, seek guidance in setting)
some goals for the future. My writing life may need to change!
I have been wondering about life-changing events. Some of
them are listed in articles about stress. I have compiled a list, but you may
be able to add to it:-
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| Cards for life-changing events |
- Becoming a Christian
- Passing a driving test
- Relocating
- Taking up a hobby
- Marriage
- Becoming a parent
- Accident
- Illness
- Bereavement
- Finding a vocation
- A meeting
- A decision
- Winning/losing
- Joining ACW or another organisation
- Finding a job
- Losing a job
- Going on a gap year
- Children leaving home
- Becoming a grandparent
- Learning a new skill
Obviously these events may happen in real life. Memoirs,
biography and autobiography may go into detail about specific instances.
Writers of fiction might find inspiration for twists and turns in their plots
by weaving some of these into their stories. What might change? Would it make
people sad of happy? How would they adapt? What difficulties would they need to
overcome?
Of course, not everyone will experience everything on the
list. Some experiences are more general than others.
The list above is mainly relevant to adults. Another list
could be made for children’s writers. Some of the things which befall adults
could happen to the important people around a young main character.
Children might be more affected by:-
- Finding a new friend
- A friend relocating
- Changing school
- Learning something new
- Playing a musical instrument
- Being picked for a sports team (or not!)
- Bullying
- New pet
- Death of a pet
- Joining a club
- New sibling
- Travel
- Finding something
- Losing something
The age of the children in the target readership affects the
choice of life-changing events in a story. For very young children a single
event might be the reason for writing a story. Young adults would be affected
by friendships, rejection, encouragement, learning to make their own decisions.
(Life changes rapidly for youngsters without external changes.)
So there is some theory of writing. All you and I have to do
now is to plan what we are going to write next and apply ourselves to writing
it.
Have fun!
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