Writing a story is like visiting a friend you haven’t yet met. You enter their environment, go along on their adventures, meet new people, and learn new things.
Every time you start a fresh story you are entering another world. At first, you don’t know what or who you will encounter and it is tedious and thrilling, exciting and exhilarating, fun and frustrating. But in time, you begin to find your way.
It is necessary to spend a lot of time there. Not to run in and out but to walk in, introduce yourself and begin exploring. It requires patience and attention, curiosity, and respect. You are a stranger, a visitor, a sojourner. Your ways are different. You may not know their customs, language, expectations.
You must go slowly, carefully. Keeping your eyes and ears attuned to whatever may present itself, you must be ready to respond appropriately.
Writing is an epic adventure. You are walking into the unknown, an uninvited guest in a strange land.
Susan Reimer 