As authors, we have all these stories inside our heads. We see the characters we write about, think about what happens to them, and if we’re lucky, we get to share them with the world. The catch phrase, “plot bunny” is real and authors find them in pictures, or the news, or seeing a building or place, or any number of other ways. Some we keep and others we set free.

Last week, ‘lil q asked me to help her write her new book. In second grade they wrote a book, and the teacher told the kids they were all published authors. That title stuck with ‘lil q, and now she wants to write a new story, complete with illustrations that she is making.

I tried to talk about plot, tension, conflict, resolution. To add details about her characters, to describe them, even though there were pictures. She wasn’t too interested in any of that. Her ideas needed to get written or drawn. Nico needed to find his sword and fight off the zomblies (not a typo.) There was lots of action, and dead zomblies. Nico, with his magic sword, was the hero who saved everyone before going home to play with his sister.

It was a cute, if short story. She wants to make it better, but doesn’t want to change the story to add more. That isn’t how she imagined what Nico did, so why add to it.

Where did Nico and his adventure come from? Not sure, but probably the same place as all the other ideas and stories she acts out with her Legos or her dolls. It’s a beautiful thing to watch a child act out a story only they see to fill their time.

Speaking from experience, those crazy little stories never leave us. I still see or hear something that triggers some unfinished tale inside my head. I often let those play out as I’m walking or trying to fall to sleep. Some are good enough to make it onto a Word doc. Most don’t. But it doesn’t matter. The point isn’t to always have a best seller play out in your head, it’s to keep imagination alive.

I rarely gamble, but I would bet more than a few people who’ve never published a book, have trove of these stories stashed away somewhere. Some might be too personal to share. Others too short. And some lack the depth needed to entertain other people. But they are there.

Sometimes it’s worth spending a little time with our imagination. It connects us to so much of our life that it would be a shame to ignore it. Hopefully some of those stories we be shared and entertain a whole lot of us in the future.

Until next month, stay safe and healthy.

~Andy

Andy Gallo:

Andy prefers mountains over the beach, coffee over tea, and regardless if you shake it or stir it, he isn’t drinking a martini. He remembers his “good old days” as filled with mullets, disco music, too-short shorts, and too-high socks. Thanks to good shredders and a lack of social media, there is no proof he ever descended into any of those evils.

Andy does not write about personal experiences and no living or deceased ex-boyfriends appear on the pages of his stories. He might subconsciously infuse his characters with some of their less noble qualities, but that is entirely coincidental even if their names are the same.

Married and living his own happy every after, Andy helps others find their happy endings in the pages of his stories. He and his husband of more than twenty years spend their days raising their daughter and rubbing elbows with other parents. Embracing his status as the gay dad, Andy sometimes has to remind others that one does want a hint of color even when chasing after their child.

Join my Facebook group for more of your favorite characters and to meet new favorites:

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Harrison Campus:

Book 1 Better Be Sure 

Book 2 Better Have Heart:

Book 3 Better Be True:

Novella: Better For You

Website: www.andygallo.com
Email: andy@andygallo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/andygalloauthor