Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Lightbulb is On

I haven't had a light bulb moment in... uh, pretty much my whole life. (I think my only light bulb moment ever might have been to write THREE NINJA PIGS.) So imagine my astonishment last night when I suddenly figured out how to turn a "blah' story into something that may actually have a hook?

Last May ('09), I participated in NaNoPiBoWee (National Picture Book Writing Week) The goal was to write one picture book manuscript per day for seven days. Let me tell you... this was quite a challenge! I only wrote one decent story the whole week. The story had some fun elements- a unique structure, inventive word play, and some irreverent humor. But something was severely lacking. It fell flat.

It needed a whole other dimension and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what.

That was over a year ago. I never showed the manuscript to my agent because I was a bit embarrassed by it. And yet, there were components of it that I did not want to go to waste.

Then last night, while brainstorming ways of addressing another abandoned manuscript, I had my "aha!" moment.

My Muse seems to sleep way more than most Muses, but boy am I glad she woke up and decided to turn on the light.

14 comments:

Mother Hen said...

Well done! you must be feeling very satisfied.
I hate going to sleep as that is where I get a lot of ideas too. They swim around as I'm drifting off and them ..poof.
I should never sleep.

ali cross said...

Ha! That last bit was perfect! So cute. And congrats on your aha! moment! Yay for you!

Stephanie Faris said...

Congrats! Isn't it funny how inspiration comes at the oddest times?

Anna Staniszewski said...

I love when that happens! It's like your brain's been working on the idea in secret and decided to finally surprise you with the answer. Good luck with it!

Deb Markanton said...

Nice!! I think our muses went to the same Muse Academy. :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Thank god for the invention of the light bulb or we'd get nuthin done. :D

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Yay! What a great moment that must have been. Can I borrow your muse for a day or two?! :-)

storyqueen said...

....the power of the DARE...(even though this doesn't sound like the dare project). But nothing makes a different idea appear more readily than struggling with one that isn't working!

Well done!!

Shelley

(P.S. I love finding manuscripts that stand the test of time...ones that I still like after a long time. Those are the keepers...sometimes they just take a little longer to grow.)

Susan R. Mills said...

That's great! I love it when I have a light bulb moment. I just had one today as a matter of fact, and I'm excited to run with it.

J.A. Palermo said...

Nothing like the aha moment! And I bet you have many more to come.

Mary E Campbell said...

Congrats on your aha moment. My muse has taken a vacation. I hope she comes back soon.

Hardygirl said...

Oooo!!!! I love a good muse moment!

sf

Kim said...

How exciting! I really need to change my light bulb b/c it doesn't turn on either. What's up with that?

Good luck with the new ms! I'm sure it's going to be a winner.

Tricia Fressola Idrobo said...

Now you got me curious to see the ms.