So much of writing means being
locked away in a lonely room with barely any human contact for weeks on
end. But that’s about to change for me!
Next month, I am so excited to be traveling
to Europe for the first time. I will be spending a week in France with some
amazing writers, working together, taking classes to improve our craft, going
on walks, and just having a wonderful adventure to replenish our creativity. I’m
also hoping to exercise my rusty French, which I haven’t used since University.
(And a few trips to nearby Quebec where everyone speaks English, anyway.)
I find it so interesting the way things
work out—it was precisely a year ago that I was working on Clarity 5, and
writing about Helen going to France for her honeymoon. I’ve always discovered
that when I put a lot of energy and focus into writing about something, it
tends to come true for me. Sadly, this hasn’t always been positive. For example, while
writing Clarity 4, where Helen was recovering from a massive car accident, I
went out for a small drive to de-stress from work, and my car skidded on ice
and spun out, before smashing into a telephone pole.
RIP, my first car, my baby. 😦 We had such wonderful times together!
That was a terrifying experience. Losing
control and spinning, and not knowing where I would end up, I remember shutting
my eyes tightly and just hoping for the best. I had no time to think. I
remember that moment of confusion after my car slammed to a halt and my head jerked forward. When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t
figure out why for a few seconds, and I wondered if I had been injured. Then I realized my glasses had gone flying
off my face.
In that moment, I knew that I felt exactly
as Helen did in my story—right down to her blindness. To make matters worse, it
was the ONE day I happened to forget my cell phone, so I had to climb out of
the wreck to get help. In my high heels, through the snow. It was a quiet country
road, early on a Sunday morning, and there were not many cars. Luckily, a kind
old woman happened to pass by, or I might have had to walk to
a nearby farm, and knock on the doors of strangers for assistance.
Overall, I felt like I had brought this
upon myself by writing Helen’s accident in such detail. Of course, there was
one critical difference: Helen crashed her car in the United States, and I
crashed mine in Canada, so that means I also had an extra-large cup of delicious
Tim Hortons’ coffee spill all over my favorite red coat! 🙁
I had to finish writing Clarity 4 with a
neck brace on, due to my whiplash. For a few weeks, every time I woke up, my
neck didn’t have the strength to lift my head off the pillow. I had to reach
back with my hands and manually lift my head. Every time I got in a vehicle after
that, especially on icy roads, I was a little more nervous than I had been
before. I still am.
Anyway, the point of all this is to explain
that I intend to write about more pleasant experiences in the future, so that I
can bring wonderful things into reality. So far, much of my writing has been
dark and filled with disaster—I could list a dozen awful experiences that
happened to me after (or before) writing about them. But there are fewer genuinely
good and lucky events, and I intend to change that. Somehow. Without
compromising my writing style too much!
I think I may have already begun.
Before
heading to France, I will be exploring London for a few days, and staying with
a great aunt whom I've never met. I can’t wait to spend hours walking through the
streets of London, absorbing every possible detail, soaking in all the
atmosphere and culture. I know that it will find a way into my writing someday
soon, as have all the places I’ve traveled, and all the people I’ve met.
Writing tends to drain your emotions, experiences, ideas, and energy. It’s
important to be constantly refueling. Constantly growing. I have a feeling that this will be one of those special adventures when my life will be as exciting as the stories I write!
Be sure to follow me on Instagram for pictures and videos of my author
adventures!
(Some weeks I don't post much as others, and that probably means I'm hard at work writing. 😉)
