BLOG ONE: The
Origin of IF NOT 4 U and Some Shoes
Over the past few
years, I’ve done a bucket load of writing, thousands of hours worth, easily. My
writing skills are self-taught through textbooks, online tutorials, and workshops
etc., and I have several story lines on the go at any given moment (if only
there were more hours in a day so I could finish them all). The method for my
work is pretty consistent. First, when
an idea pops into my head—via a dream, a memory, a picture, a life experience,
or whatever—I immediately jot it down
before it has a chance to slip away. Then, I start developing an associated plot by letting my imagination
go wild, which often takes weeks, involves many scraps of paper, and sees a lot
of refinement before I decide if it’s got legs.
Then, when the storyline begins pulling together, I develop a
chronological series of chapters, each with a purpose in pushing the plot
forward. And then, I spend many hours stringing
words together, an insane number of which get chopped during the editing
process.
The origin of IF NOT 4 U and Some Shoes came by way of
a cute compliment directed at a fabulous pair of shoes I was wearing, delivered
by a guy from my past. His single line, “Those
shoes look amazing on you,” sparked the notion of a shoe style that had me written all over it, which
subsequently prompted my footwear-loving brain to envision what it would be
like to search for exactly that. The morning after, I excitedly began developing
the storyline of a teenage girl questing for her ideal shoe who, without realizing, was actually finding her
ideal self and her ideal love. As the
ideas for her adventure began meshing, I decided to make the lead character an artsy,
fashion-centric shoe lover because I, too, am an artsy, fashion-centric shoe
lover, and would easily be able to write from the protagonist’s perspective. Which proved hugely beneficial because, whenever
I needed to write dialogue for Francie, I would simply ask myself: what would I say?
Of course, I had to
give Francie the motivation for embarking on a multi-year globe-trotting quest,
and what better reason than her first love, a.k.a. the adorable, irresistible,
incomparable Berkeley Mills. A simple conversation
with him, a simple stare into his amazing eyes, and Francie saw her entire life
unfolding. Shoe Love Collides with True
Love. Sole Mates Become Soul Mates. Yes, I know; those are some seriously
hokey hook lines J but they work.
So, out of curiosity,
have any readers of IF NOT 4 U and Some
Shoes initiated a search for an ideal shoe?
Has anyone successfully found one?
I’ve begun a search
of my own, but thus far, I’m not entirely certain of what I’m looking for so I
haven’t made much progress. More on that
in BLOG TWO.
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