All morning I’ve been feeling somewhat like Winnie the Pooh, with my head all full of fluff! Lately, my writer’s brain has been burning the midnight oil, firing up at all hours of the night. Ever since last week, when the Big Guy gave me the go ahead, to finish my fantasy/fiction book, it’s all I can think about 24/7!

Why I ever thought that I might lose the story, by taking a break from it, is rather funny if you think about it. It’s like a really good movie one watches, after years have passed since viewing it for the first time. You might be surprised by a few small things that you missed or forgot, but not the important stuff. I’ve been discovering this over the last week. All my waking moments are consumed with scenes to be written down, as well as, the numerous tiny details needing to be included, while my dreams are filled with the lives and experiences of the characters I observe within the story.

Though I don’t profess to exhibit nearly the same high level of writing skills employed by the Big Dog authors out there, I’m learning to appreciate the efforts it must have taken them to produce such in-depth stories; envisioning and writing about events and experiences that never actually occurred. It’s a brain burner, to say the least!

It’s like seeing a really good movie for the very first time, and then trying to sit down and rewrite a word for word, play by play, retelling of what you watched. You have to take the time to remember all of the tiny details and conversations that made the movie so good! I dare you to try it! I guarantee you will be spending a good deal of time trying to re-watch all the good parts, so that you get it just right for whomever might read your version of the movie.

Being a writer by nature, I catch my brain running in circles trying to make things just so, in an effort to ensure my readers can see what I see, hear things the way I heard them, and feel what I felt. My desire is for the reader to cry at the places where I cried, laugh at the things I thought were so funny, and be drawn to love the characters as much as I do.

While one might think this to be stressful, it’s actually pretty fulfilling to me, as I excel at taking a yes or no answer, upending it and creating a 15 minute dialogue that causes my husbands eyes to glaze over. I’m just good at it! This girl is proficient at making mountains out of mole hills, as they say!

Perhaps one might say, I’ve never lost the overactive imagination I had as a child, and I’m finally putting it to good use. I’ll gladly take my time with this first story, as it has to lay the groundwork for all the others to follow. I may be sitting at 55 years old… but I’m just getting started!