I’m a gardener. I love to look at a space and build a picture in my mind of what could be. When I go to the plant store, I talk with the plants. Whisper to them, caress their leaves and inhale their scents. I become giddy, picking out plants, placing them on the cart and standing back to discern if their colors and size will work with the dream I’ve created in my head.
Once on my cart, the plants are a part of my garden family. Very rarely, do I put one back because to me they are little orphans and I must bring them home to live with me. Insane, I know. I’m sure, even my husband thinks I’m a little crazy when it comes to gardening.
Writing and gardening are very similar journeys for me. I plot out my stories and my flower beds. On many occasions, I’m sure that I’ve thought everything through but when I’m at the store something catches my eye and spins my plan into a completely different direction.
The same with writing. I’ve plotted my characters, decided on everything from the color of their eyes to the way they talk and then, one of those pesky characters either steps up and blooms where I least expected it or decides that is not what she or he wants to say or do. The character screams out, “This is who I am!” And my story becomes richer.
When I’ve collected my plants for gardening and my characters for writing, I can’t wait to build their story and create the world I can see so vividly in my mind. Sometimes my dreams are greater than my plant budget or words to paper can hold and I must scale back. Sometimes, I have to rip out, cut back or rearrange my creation for it to gain its fullest potential.
There are times when I want to give up. The weeds are too high, the sun too hot, or my self doubt creeps in and I loose sight of the dream. Those times, I kneel in the dirt and dig harder or sit in the chair and push words out through my fingers and attempt to landscape through letters on a screen of white.
And then, through grit and determination, I create a world out of bare land or blank paper, so special that I can’t wait to share it with you. Those are magical times, that send me back to the plant store and back to my chair to begin again.
Whatever world you are creating, I wish you rich soil, rain to cleanse and purify, sunshine to grow in and shade to relax in.
Happy Planting,
