I’ve had my head buried in my rewrite this past week, coming up for air only to take care of personal business.
The above is an attempt to make a face from some items plucked from my windowsill. I found all these things in some remote corners of this amazing planet, and there’s at least one personal story attached to each of them. And I might tell some of those stories someday.
But those stories are interesting mostly to me because I’m the one attached to those objects. Yeah, we could debate that. I do read and love lots of nonfiction.
But this past week as I tried to stretch and push and mold and refold my WIP, one of my favorite writing quotes kept nudging its way into my brain. I don’t even need this quote written out to remember it.
I heard the prolific YA novelist, Richard Peck speak a few years back and he said something like this:
A story is not what happened. It’s what might have happened.
Sometimes, for me at least, simple wisdom, like the quote above, is just what I need to keep digging. To try to see beyond what I’ve already seen. To keep reaching toward what my story is becoming. To remain open to what might have happened.
And to remember that yeah, this is my story, but it needs to be way bigger than me if I want readers to connect with it.
Oh wow– I might just steal that quote. It seems to really pinpoint what needs to happen when we write a story. I’m learning that with each book I write–allowing my brain to take me places I might not have thought of. Good post!
Thanks, Terri! I’m glad the quote spoke to you.
I enjoy looking at all the what-if’s in my stories.
I saw Richard Peck speak once, and he’s an amazing orator. I hope to see him again at future conferences.
Medeia, I hope to see Richard Peck speak again, too. He was really genuine and inspiring!
Good luck with the rewrites. What a fun place to be. 🙂
Thanks, Laura. I hope to give my WIP to a couple of readers this week. We’ll see how it goes!
So true. I could not have come across your blog at a more opportune time as I am also in the midst of heavy, frustrating re-writing.
Best of luck to you and keep up the incredible blog!
Saumya, welcome to my blog, and thanks for the kind words! I hope your rewriting proves to be productive and get less frustrating. Good luck!!
What a fabulous quote. I’m glad you came up for air to make faces and feel inspired. 🙂
Thanks, Elana. Glad you enjoyed the face and the quote!
I love that! I hope your rewrites are going well. I’m definitely going to keep that quote in mind as I push forward. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Susan. I hope your rewrites go well, too.
I am in revision hell right now. I took my laptop into the potty to pee with me today! TMI?
I’m getting sick of looking at it and festering over it, so I’m pressing on in madness.
Perhaps I will know I’m almost done when I start making cute faces out of objects within reach. I like it. It’s cheerful. 🙂
Great blog.
~Lola
Lola, welcome to my blog! I hope your revision experience starts to feel less like hell. Just that you are pressing on speaks worlds about your drive and committment. And, yes, making faces out of objects is cheerful. Thanks!
I love that face you made with all those objects. Great picture!
I also love that Richard Peck quote. That’s definitely one to tack up over my desk, which is (for the moment) sort of clean looking.
Alissa, I was so impressed by Richard Peck when I saw him speak!
And those face making objects–a walrus tusk for a mouth and a whale vertebrae for a nose, glass japanese floats for the eyes, all from the Bering sea coast. And, I’m glad one of us has a neatish desk for the moment.
Oh, my. That is what I needed to hear, to think about, to consider with my revisions. I feel the need to stretch, search for the unexpected. Thank you and I hope your rewrite is taking you someplace fantastic.
Thanks, Tricia. I hope you make some cool discoveries during your revision.
Playing the What If game always makes me think of new stories.
It’s funny how someone else’s written word can push us to want to write better.
I’d love to hear the stories connected with your random objects up above.
Thanks, Maribeth. Those stories will come out in one form or another. Good luck with your stories!
Richard Peck is a constant inspiration, and those words, and variations on them – which I heard at a workshop with him a bit over a year ago – are always a good reminder when I’m wondering about my stories. “Don’t write about what happened to you – write about how you would have liked it to happen.” Thanks for this post…
Thanks, Carol. I hope your revisions prove to be rich!
Way to keep plugging away!
Awesome post and I love the quote! Good luck with the rewrite!
ohhh I LOVE that… what MIGHT have happened 🙂
Thanks, Jamie. It’s an easy quote to remember, simple yet significant. That’s what I like about it!
Thanks, Terry.
Thanks, Dawn. Glad you like the quote!
Just love your posts, Paul! I’m absolutely positive your stories WILL be unique and much bigger than you. You put so much of your heart and soul into them, I can’t imagine anything but the best!
Thanks, Jody! You just made my day!
That is a very deep thinking quote. I never purposefully thought about my characters in that way…as in, what might happen to them. It seems that when I write that type of thinking comes to me in a more organic way and what might happen to them forms or becomes clear to me. Scenes or experiences never even dreamed of are created in my head as I write. It’s my most favorite part of writing — the unexpected.
Thanks for your thoughts, K.M. I never thought of my characters in that way until I heard Richard Peck speak.
Paul, what an inspirational quote–thanks for sharing. I love that you can revise all week and come up for air and be inspirational for us. It sounds like your revisions are going great! Keep plugging!
Heather, glad you liked the quote. I’ve got it on my mind right now as I contemplate a new story. I hope your revisions are going well, too!
I like it Paul. I think I always have a similar thought in the back of my mind as I write. I’m really looking forward to reading your manuscript!
Thanks, Natalie!
Wow, it’s the “way bigger than me” part that’s hard, isn’t it?! I want to let my plot fly and balance it with my own writerly control. Such a tall order …
Congrats on finishing up the revisions! I love the quote you put up, too. It’s true. Gave me something more to think about.
Thanks, Jill! I hope your revisions are going well!
Yes, yes…the challenge is to make the stories bigger than life, but still believable. At least, that is the challenge for me. Good luck w/ the revisions and kudos for trodging through them. That’s what writers do — they write.