This is the second part of my journey back to writing. If you would like to read the first part, you can check it out here. Otherwise, let’s continue…
Re-Inspired
One Masters degree and five years of teaching later, I wound up working at a Catholic church in a brand new state. I was relaxing at a rooftop lounge with some friends one sunny weekend. One of my new friends was discussing her book that was near beta testing. Listening to her process of creating her characters and world building reignited the joy I experienced in writing my own stories. So I shared with her what I wrote in my undergraduate program, including James and the Sky Pirates. On a whim, I made a passing comment about my main character:
“James is a boring name for a main character. He should have a name that’s more interesting…like Mikhail!”
(Please forgive me if your name is James, or if you have a character named James! In my defense, it was said on a whim,)
All inspired by our conversation, I went home to revisit my old writing and place Mikhail at the center of the story. I opened my Macbook Air - which I had purchased two or three years ago - and searched all of my documents titled after my undergraduate courses.
James and the Sky Pirates were nowhere to be found.
My guess is that not all of my Word docs transferred successfully from my old Macbook to my Macbook Air.
A moment of distress was replaced by excitement. I retained the sky pirate theme, but now with Mikhail taking charge I could expand the world he’s living in and set my sights on a new purpose for his story.
The Revision
Today I’m writing Mikhail’s story in Google Docs (while praying that it never gets lost again). Now that he is in the picture, the story has a new purpose with a whole new direction. The sky pirates are still around, because who doesn’t love the idea of swashbucklers causing chaos in the sky? If you’re wondering about James, he survived my moment of inspiration - evolving into the antagonist of the story.
This story is in its infancy. I’m meeting new characters that build Mikhail up, and that break him down. I’m expanding the world which he lives in, teasing out the social dynamics of his universe. It is a fun and sometimes daunting task to write this story. For now, it’s a creative outlet that is full of surprises along the way. I hope to see it through to the end.