After a few attempts to work out the opening scene to Henry & Sophia, yesterday I returned to the Forest of Dearbháil during my weekly 1-hour #WritingSprint. The result was 1,227 words and Sophia on the move hoping to learn more about the Dark One who lurks about in the woods and what he seeks.
This story started with a writing prompt - déjà vu - but has no true opening scene. Today's #WritingSprint was dedicated to uncovering a possible opening for this novel.
Have you ever felt like you don't belong or wondered how you fit in or where you fit in? If so, you're not alone and Jesus sees you, just like He saw Zacchaeus up in that Sycamore tree.
The words of our stories have the potential to change hearts and inspire minds and plant ideas because as Aldous Huxley says: "Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced. How are you wielding your words?
I love this quote from Franz Kafka. "Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly." I challenge you to steal 15 or 30 minutes this weekend and heed Kafka's words. Follow your writer soul and let your words bleed onto the page.
As Sophia and Máire wake to a new day, each must face what comes next on her journey to find the Sacred Magic of the Irish Isle and the faeries of Dearbháil.
Sometimes, as you sit down to write, you get an idea of what's about to happen. And, then, your characters show up with a mind of their own. #HenryandSophia
Oh, how I love the picture of winsome love and deep compassion we see in that moment of Jesus drawing in the sand as a woman stands accused and exposed before Him and a crowd of the religious elite.
Let us not fall prey to the lie that the world and its people are beyond our love, our hope, our desire to help. Let us remember that we make a difference.
I love the community of Writing Sprinters we're building each week. Today's writing sprint led to Sophia being found in the midst of an Irish Isle storm; but by whom?
