Flexibility

 

I detest change, unless I’m in a routine, then I crave it. The last months have been devoid of routine and rather testing my patience and sanity, and writing has suffered, as well as other things like reading.

But it has made me think about flexibility and how this can affect us. My children are pretty flexible, as we have worked on this for years, but still, any uncertainty causes huge outbursts, forcing me to be more flexible as well as predictable!

I was thinking about characters, and how they will be affected by their ability to be flexible. Often in a series, you can see the main character having standard things, like the hat and pipe in Sherlock Holmes, in so much that they are a fixture. I enjoy that in a character, something stable and predictable.

Having to flexible as a character can bring out other flaws or strengths as well though, and as a writer, I enjoy watching my characters struggling with the unexpected. I enjoyed the difficulties my characters had in Downstream, as they came across other people’s inflexibility and longing for stability.

When it comes to actually sitting down to write, I have to be more flexible as well, as I need to find time and headspace around a teen-filled household. Having a fixed date for blogs (Like this one, even though I’m often late, and sometimes realise the date several days later…!), helps me to sit and write. I then realise how much I love writing, and how therapeutic it is.

Be Flexible, like Goldie!

It has also helped me to trust God more, as I know He has a plan and He is teaching me not to plot every minute of my life, as He’s got it already. I can lean on Him and be flexible, knowing His plans are so much better. He holds me like I hold my teens when a change in plans feels such a disaster from which they might never recover, even though I have reassured them all is well. Hopefully, and fortunately, God is more understanding and patient than I am with our struggles around changed plans.

I love your interactions on the blog, and somehow I will find time and space to read and catch up the last blogs, as it’s such a wonderful platform. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on flexibility and whether you are a lover or hater of humdrum routines or you’re the shaking-it-up-type of person!

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a homeschool mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Maressa is part of a special Dystopian book group online, which you can find here: https://reamstories.com/faith-based-ya-dystopian/.

Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, and her first self published novel, Walled City, came out in December 2020, followed by Viking Ferry, a novella. Beyond the Hills is the second book in the Elabi Chronicles, and was released in 2021, followed by stand-alone novel Burrowed, released in 2022. The third book in the Elabi Chronicles, Downstream, has just been released. All of Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.