Thursday's thing to love...about being a writer

I love it when a project starts to pull together.

For my NF book project, I've been researching caves, 19th century medicine, the Chicago Columbian Exposition, gas lanterns, geology--and more--for months. In the midst of the research, all I can see are the bits and pieces. It doesn't seem like the individual facts and quotes could ever join into a cohesive whole--but eventually, that's what happens. The facts start to collect into patterns; the quotes start to line up in stories; the index cards littering my floor start to gain some sort of order.

It feels like magic, although I suppose the more scientific explanation is that my subconscious chews on the information until it makes sense. That's what brains do: try to make sense of the world.

Today, my last batch of biotech editing work is done. Today, I get to draw on the new-found order in all my research and try to weave it into my story. On my first attempt, the result will be rough and forced-sounding, but after a hundred or so rewrites, I might have a book ready to send out again. I'm off to immerse myself in the 19th century!

~Cheryl