Writing is hard.
Actually, let me rephrase that: reigniting your passion for writing after losing it is hard.
Here’s the thing. I’ve had this specific story living in my brain since I was in the fourth grade. That means these characters have coexisted with me for nearly 20 years.
Back in high school, I carried a little notebook everywhere I went, scribbling down ideas every spare second I got. But when graduation hit, my passion for writing seemed to vanish with it.
When high school ended, so did a lot of the passion for writing.
I haven’t completely abandoned the characters. They’ve always been living in my head rent-free along with their stories. All of the characters have their own backgrounds, secrets, and personalities. It’s simply not possible to not think of them sometimes.
But last year is when I started experimenting more. I woke up with the idea of: “what if I create a physical character? A version of my original character I can hold?” And this inspired a spiral into custom doll making because, for some reason, that inspired me to write.
But the good news is that it did, it actually did help.
Having to sit down and think about my characters, what they are wearing, their personalities, what accessories they carry? It made me realize how generic my characters are.
And that part of my writerly journey inspired a whole passionate rewrite and rework of my characters.
My story became less of an average weird chick flick and slice of life, reforming itself into a more modern, scifi feel. While the story still takes place in the year 2105, my vision of the future looks entirely different now.
The takeaway? If you are facing writer’s block or struggling with character development, try building your characters from scratch in the real world. Take a few minutes to design their wardrobe. map out their physical traits or maybe even make a poseable doll.
It completely transformed my writerly journey, and honestly, it might just help you, too.
I’m so excited to finally share this sci-fi world with you. Welcome to the journey—this is just the beginning.