In a new post, mystery author Zara Altair says that loving your novel can help you power through problems and challenges. “What drives your commitment is loving your story,” she says. No one else cares enough to write your story for you. If you don’t do it, no one will.
Falling in love with your story also helps you create characters, events, and a story world that are unique. The work becomes personal. “When you love your story, inspiration follows you around,” Altair writes. “You wake up in the middle of the night with the resolution to your character’s dilemma. Or how to weave the subplot into the main story so you’re not telling two entirely different stories in the same book.”
And on your bad days, loving your story will bring you back to the page, even when you don’t feel like writing. “On those days when you think skipping a writing day won’t matter, but your character tells you to write the next scene…now. That’s you, caring about your story,” she writes. “No one else can write this story. Give your characters their voice and let your story speak for you.”
