Photo Friday - Pumpkin edition

My Mom is a member of a local charitable organization.  Their main fundraiser involves painting pumpkins, which are sold in early October. The proceeds from the sale are used to purchase Christmas gifts for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings.  It's a fun event, and getting the pumpkins ready to be sold takes a lot of work.  That's what the group is focused on now--painting and embellishing the pumpkins.  I've been helping out as my day job schedule allows, and as we were working the other day, it struck me how similar this process is to writing a story.

First, you're faced with a blank page.  This can be intimidating, but I prefer to think of it as inspiring.  All that blank canvas, just waiting for your story!  You can write anything you want--there are endless possibilities, any number of directions you could go. Sometimes it's hard to pick just one idea, but eventually you settle on a topic and begin to write.

In the early days, you're sketching out the story.  Who are the characters? What motivates them, what makes them tick?  What happens to them? Where are they?  Lots of details, and as you get to know the story, you can start filling them in to make a more complete picture.

Eventually, you have a first draft.  The bones of your story are there, and you have created a recognizable thing.  It's not yet ready for public consumption, but you're well on your way.  A little more detail here, some spit and polish there, and you'll have an actual book.

So you keep going.  You keep working at it, keep editing out the bad and inserting the good.  You send it out to beta readers, maybe you have an editor, and you use their feedback to make the story even better.  Finally, after all that effort, you have a finished book!  It's beautiful, and you can't wait to share it with the world.

You celebrate the accomplishment for a bit, then start the process all over again!

Pretty fun, huh? :o)