I just got the best realisation ever on my way to work this morning! I have wanted to write a novel about a specific character for a long time (since I first started writing, actually), but I've never really found a good story for her, nor a good setting. I've scrapped every single attempt, and they were all horribly full of clichés.
In the meantime, I've expanded the world I created for her, detailing and creating cultures and things that I personally find very interesting. I've written several stories (or started to write them, to be more accurate) from that world, and daydreamed nearly every day.
Then why in the world didn't I connect the dots sooner? I've been holding my creativity back because I forced her into a role that frankly didn't suit her. I wanted her to be something that was not right for her, and it wasn't even right for the world she lives in. It would prevent her from doing what I needed her to do to write the kind of stories I wanted to write, in order to be logically consistent.
At the same time I have several roles that would fit her far better, and would make for far more interesting reading, but so far I just didn't realise that it was a possibility. In fact I mentally slapped myself when I realised it, just because it is so RIGHT for her. It's so obvious! And still it never occurred to me at all. I had all the little pieces, from daydreams and other stories, but I never actually put them together.
This whole journal is very vague, but I don't want to actually write precisely what it is before I am completely sure and have worked out the details (and preferrably written a great deal of the story), but I just had to share anyway. It's such a relief to finally stop banging my head against the wall, figuratively, and be able to start creating again!
PS. Apparently my mood is stuck at "Bewildered", because the emoticon legend won't load. But I'm not particularly bewildered, I'm more optimistic, excited, restless, creative, happy, and a thousand other good feelings. Also it's less than a week until my holiday, so I'm really excited about that too
Clubs I'm in: (some of them)
