A Colorful Character Walk!

Editing is paralyzing.

Through my entire first draft, I was so excited to edit. And when I think back to those moments, I wonder why in the world I would ever assume editing was the easy part of all this.

Hi! It's me, Aspen Mars. And today, I write this with pine sitting on my desk - wondering if it's the popcorn my partner scorched in the microwave causing the sizzling scent in my nostrils, or if it's time to blow out my candle. I have sat in my writing space a lot more than normal lately. Which is awesome! What's not-so-awesome is the lack of productivity I've actually yielded from that. But what's important is I'm taking steps in the right direction. Even if my writing space currently smells like someone lit a vanilla flavored hate crime on fire.

Something about my desk has gotten to the point of driving me absolutely insane lately. And I'm not sure why that is. The smell aside. I felt like I was going stir crazy - in the very spot that I'm supposed to own and rock the most. What? That's nuts! And the more I sat, tasks piling, uncompleted, minimum amount of progress made, the worse it got. Because I was staring what I needed to do right in the face. And I knew how to do it - that was the worst part.

Not that I've done those things just yet. But I'll tell you what I have done.

I woke my partner up for his wallet, since my ID lives in there. I grabbed my water, my true love - I mean a can of Dr. Pepper, the car keys, my Hello Kitty Bluetooth speaker, and my 2-in-1 binder that houses the monstrosity I call my novel. Earlier today, the first real step I took was printing out my first draft. I slid it into my binder and brought it, along with my journals, to the park.

And I went on - what I call - a colorful character walk.

The concept for this follows a general color hunt. You pick a color while you're out and about, and then you look for that color around you as you go. During my short walk, I picked two colors. Green and purple. And I picked these colors because they remind me of my character, Fennec.

Recently, my editor (and best friend) Amy, has suggested that I start implementing general inspiration and creativity revolving around writing and my novel into my cycling routine. Since I've been overwhelmed with the editing process and was unsure where to focus. I felt like my attention wasn't in the right place. And Amy suggested reconnecting with writing and my story for what it is.

Amy also was why I ended up referring to a physical copy of my draft. And it helped wonders. You can find her website here if you want the resources I use personally, or to check her out in general!

I'm glad I listened to her. And above all? I'm glad I stepped away from the laptop.

During my walk, I found inspiration in simple things.

I found inspiration in things I had long since forgotten about.

I found receipts from my favorite tavern, where I frequently write, in my planner.

I found a napkin from the same bar I had written progress notes on. Both of these from last year. It helped me reconnect.

I found my words as a reader better, instead of the author.

I found Fennec in the world around me, listening to electronic violin, breathing fresh air that smelled like possibility. Smelled like ideas. Smelled like home. And something very important happened.

I remembered.

Why I write. What people have said about my book. When I printed my first draft, my therapist made a copy to keep, with my permission. She asked me to sign it. She believes in me.

And she's not the only one. She's not even the first. I thought of that on my walk. I thought of a friend telling me my words, my story, made her reconsider an entire genre. I thought of my coach telling me how much she loves my characters. I thought of Amy cheering me on, always, as an editor and friend both. I thought of my beta reader telling me it was an honor to read my work.

Maybe these people need those words, not just now. But when they're done developing, too.

Somebody, somewhere does. I've had people tell me as much. And that's the point.

This book has already accomplished everything I wanted it to. And if it has already done that, could you imagine what it could do when it's finished? Polished to perfection? Published?

Yeah. That's powerful.

So no matter how hard these developmental edits kick me? No matter how they try to knock me down. I will hold my pen. Clutch my keyboard. This book. And I will get it right. Nothing worth it is easy.

And I think I'll go on more walks.

I brought a piece of this one home with me.