Nothing New Under the Sun
LoRee Peery
I sent my last finished work in progress to beta readers.
The working title had remained the same since I selected it. On a whim, I researched
“my” title. Wowza. It’s been used more than a few times. And I discovered
another author had a November release under that title.
Back to the drawing board, praying and brainstorming. Potential
titles occupied my subconscious for days while I checked my dedication page, my
blurb, my synopsis changes, making sure all would be ready for submission to my
editor. I thought it would be fun to
email my critique partners and get feedback as I continued to labor.
I took notes and worked on characterization for my next
story. I went about daily activities, which included selecting a book from my
stash for reading pleasure. The heroine was another pregnant one. It seemed as
though half the books I’d read over a six-month period involved pregnant
protagonists.
My just completed WIP stars a pregnant heroine. Get over it, LoRee. There is nothing new
under the sun. A few months from now another theme or similar character or
setting will be prevalent.
What makes a story, a theme, characters, or conflict new to
a reader? To me, it’s the individual skills or voice of the teller. Each author
is unique because she brings herself and her background to the page. And that
includes who we are at that point in time as a writer, as well as everything we’ve
been exposed to in life.
That’s sure nothing new to my heavenly Father. After all, He
created my uniqueness before He made me! (Jeremiah 1:5)
Each of us grew up within an ordained situation. Parents, place
in the family, cultural influence that spans generations, location, time in
history, maturation. It all contributes to who we are as individuals.
Humans are shaped by the people around us over the course of
a lifetime. Our family, friends, school, church, followed by higher education,
or life on the streets, job choices, peaks and valleys of life—they all matter.
All those influences shape us into who we are. Personality, problems, and
prayer affect our choices.
Enter love. Opening ourselves to love expands who we are. We
become vulnerable as we broaden our world by letting in love and members of our
spouse’s family. We’re exposed to more life experiences and realize how so much
of living mirrors similar happenings in the lives of others.
Nothing new…I once heard there are no new ideas. I’ve been
told authors claim there are only a few plot lines, repeated over and over and
over. If that’s true, why don’t the books we read and write result in boredom?
My answer? The history that individualizes me doesn’t match
anyone else’s. No one else can characterize based on my DNA, my relationships,
my journey, my take-away lessons, my point of view, my errors in thinking.
It’s a crazy whirlwind life when we follow our dream of
creativity. Completing the path set out for us to travel is ours alone, ven if
it is old news to someone else.
Have you had a recent break-through that you consider a new
one? (It doesn’t matter if it’s old to someone else! It’s what you do with it
that matters.)
“That which has been is that which will be, and that which
has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the
sun.” — Ecclesiastes 1:9
and learn about her books.
It's been a quiet few days in cyberspace. Here in eastern Nebraska, we've been fogged in for 24 hours. How about your neck of the woods?
ReplyDeleteA little sun to match your under the sun article, but the cold snap is setting in. Cyberspace is not that busy this week. But maybe that's a good thing. I'm actually getting some writing done.
ReplyDelete