Back to the Basics

“Creative Writing 101- First Thursday of each month at the Community Center on Main

Street,” I review the flyer as I stand in front of 304 W Main St, our local Community Center. I was scrolling on Craigslist under their “Events” category, and found this creative writing course for beginners. I am not one to attend in-person classes, but I am desperate and in search of inspiration since my rough draft deadline is only a couple of weeks away. On a deep breath, I remind myself, “It’s now or never,” before I head into the long-standing courthouse-shaped building, which was being held up by four towering pillars at the top of the steep stone steps.

Following the signs, I find the room where the beginner's class is being held. Entering through the doorway, there are ten people in attendance at the moment. Checking my watch, I see there are about 5 minutes left before the class starts. Noting there are two chairs to a table, I find my seat at an empty table at the end of the middle row. Hopefully, I won't need to share. Peering around, I notice the attendees have a different method of note-taking, so I take out my brainstorming notebook and pen. As I waited for the class to start, I began to question my decision to attend this class. I feel like such a fraud sitting here amongst a room of novices, when my last book was a USA Today Bestseller. Writer's block can be deadly, especially with a deadline looming within the coming weeks.

One method I was instructed to try, by my literary agent, was going back to the beginning and reviewing the fundamentals. This method is “fail-proof”, according to my agent, and all her clients use this method when they have found themselves in a rut. The only idea I came up with was taking a beginner's class, that’s where you are supposed to learn about the fundamentals. At least that was my logic. The class is also free, and I figured, what the hell do I have to lose?

I flip through my Brainstorm Notebook, checking out old ideas from my last book that didn’t make the cut, since I am expected to have the first draft of the sequel done in 2 weeks. In the previous book, I had a female main character who would go to the same shop during her lunch break, where she sees the same man every day, sitting in the same spot, writing in the same notebook with the same pen, and wearing something that doesn’t seem to be from this decade. Rumors swirled about the older gentleman, and one day the main character decided to befriend the man and get to know him. She learns that he can turn back time, as he tells her about his mission in finding his soulmate. Intrigued, she sits with him every day during her lunch break, learning more and more about this time-traveler until he stops showing up to his regular park bench. Weeks pass, and one day, when heading towards her usual lunch spot, she gets tripped up and is caught by a handsome stranger, who has the same first name and looks to be the younger version of the gentleman she had been conversing with for weeks.

My book was a major success and made the USA Best Sellers list. Now I have to follow it up, and I have no clue where to go with it. It’s intimidating when so many books and movies went on to create wildly unsuccessful sequels. I do not want to follow in their footsteps; this project has to be better than the first.

The class begins with the typical “breaking the ice”. Each participant introduced themselves and explained why they decided to join the sign. Going around the room, most of the people attending were trying something new, or they always had an interest in writing, but didn’t know how to start. I think I was the only one who was an award-winning author who was currently dealing with a writer's rut and needed to find inspiration before the deadline for my first draft. When it came to my turn to introduce myself, I didn’t use my real name and decided to go with Julia. I let the class know that I am working on a story and am in dire need to bust through the writer's block I have been experiencing for months. My admission seemed to prompt our instructor, Gregory, to use it as a learning opportunity: “Even experienced writers have their struggles. It’s always good to go back to the beginning.” Gregory began the first lesson, which involved breaking down different parts of a story. A lot of the information is a review for me, and I fought to keep my eyes open for the first part. Soon after discussing the different parts of a story, Gregory passed out what looked to be some type of graphic organizer to each of the participants. Reviewing the sheet, it appeared to provide space to create your idea for a main character, a plot, rising action, etc. I begin by jotting down my main character’s name and their character traits. When it came to the plot, however, my pen stilled in mid-air. What the hell should happen next? Scanning over the rest of the sheet of paper, deciding to come back to this section later.

As I filled in each block of information, I couldn’t stop replaying what Gregory had said at the beginning of class, “Go back to the beginning.” I have been hearing this statement from my agent and close friends, now it has been referenced in this free class by someone whom I just met today. With only 14 days left until my rough copy needs to be on my agent’s desk, I need to stay on task and answer the question, “What the hell should happen next?” Then I asked myself, Why am I worrying about what’s next? Why not focus on what came before?

The first story was told through the point of view of the female character; my next story should be told through the male character traveling through time. Once that idea popped into my head, my pen never left the paper. Questions that needed to be explained kept popping into my head. I can’t believe it took me over 6 months to come up with the idea of a “prequel”. I wish I had attended any previous writing class, so I wouldn’t be stressing over the due date.

I walked out of the community center feeling like a weight had been lifted. By the end of class, I had 4 pages of my brainstorming notebook filled with ideas. I needed to get home as soon as possible, so I could get right to typing. Before pulling out of the parking lot, I shot my agent a quick text to let her know that I have been inspired. She is going to love this update!