I’m nearing the end of the first draft of my next book, and the surprise I expected just happened. It always does.
Although I plan out the story by knowing the beginning, expected ending (which may or may not happen that way), and the plot points along the way, I let the story unfold.
This style of writing is called discovery writing.
As I write, I am often as surprised as I hope the reader will be about what the characters do.
If there’s a mystery, I don’t know how it’s going to be solved.
In my last two books, I didn’t even know who committed the murder until I was almost finished writing the book.
It’s part of the fun of writing. Who will show up? And why?
Like life. If we accept that it can be fun.
Except in life, we don’t know what our ending will be or when it’s going to happen.
But, like driving a car to a destination on the map, at least we can point ourselves in the direction where we would like the ending to be.
For me, I want to feel as if I made a difference in a good way, kept my promises as best as I could, and forgave myself and others for the mistakes we’ve made along the way.
Life is a journey through a story.
Every summer when I was growing up, our family would go on a trip somewhere. Dad would spend all year planning it. I think he loved the planning as much as he loved the trip.
We’d know where we were going, where we would sleep (motels with swimming pools), how long we’d stay, and when we would return.
What he didn’t know, couldn’t know, was all the rest of it.
The weather, the food, his kids’ behavior, the people we’d meet, the towns, the things we would learn. All our trips had at least one destination where we would learn something. Battlefields and caves were favorites.
What I appreciated then, despite my propensity for car sickness, was that we went somewhere together. Someplace new. We had adventures.
And despite the car sickness, my parents arguing over the fact that my mother didn’t seem to be able to read a map, and flat tires that dad insisted on changing himself by the side of the road, it was wonderful.
Like life.
If we accept that life is a journey and a discovery, it is wonderful. And like plot points in a book, the all-is-lost moments—the decisions, the inciting incidents—each one is a moment that we get to decide how to react.
We can make these plot points a learning experience that opens us up to more of what life is about, or we can shut ourselves down. Our choice.
Since we are writing the story of our lives, we get to choose what kind of story, and if we aren’t enjoying the story, we can rewrite it.
Every day, I review what I wrote the day before and make adjustments to make the story better.
Like life.
We can rewrite what we did, plan a new destination, choose how we react, and be delighted or dismayed by what we encounter. It’s our choice, our story.
Stories are not static. Since your life is a story, are you boring, scaring, or delighting yourself? You choose.
Every story is unique. Your life story is only yours. But you can get help.
As a writer, I use multiple editors to clean up my story.
As a person, I use coaches, classes, books, and observations to clean up my life story.
And like discovery writing, I practice letting go and letting the Master Storyteller tell the story because it will be much better than you, or I, can imagine.
We are not the authors of Life. We just think we are. I’m practicing remembering that.
PS: For those of you who liked the Ruby Sisters series, that’s the surprise that happened in my new book. The town and a character are connected. Who knew? Not me!
And since I have a few more chapters to write, I still don’t know how it will work out.
Watch for my new book,Follow Me Here, sometime this summer. I’ll know more soon!
In the meantime, why not read the Ruby Sisters series and be ready for the surprise!
BECA LEWIS coaches, teaches, writes blogs and books, plays with art, and is addicted to reading. She lives in Ohio with her husband and has kids and grandkids scattered across the country.
