Getting to know Time for Once: a blog series
“You really write from what you don’t know. You write from what you know, but you write into what you don’t know. ”
Hi, and welcome to the final post in the blog series: Getting to know Time for Once. I've avoided answering this for three weeks. So, let's go.
The question this week is: How personal is my first book? Very on varying levels. Confused? Keep reading (it won't take long, promise).
Time for Once originated from a writing assignment for an online fiction writing course I took in 2015. (I learned tons! Check out Gotham Writers Workshop if you’re so inclined). In addition to weekly assignments and peer reviews, I began writing a 50,000-word contemporary fiction novel (that will forever remain unfinished).
So, the idea was created in class. Groundbreaking, I know. You're probably wondering where the idea came from? Or perhaps you're thinking, get on with it Jes, I'm about ready to stop. Fair. You can stop reading. I encourage you to, actually. 'Cause getting personal is petrifying. Still with me? Okay, fine.
The idea for Time for Once is an extrapolation of memories dumped into a what-if scenario. Yes, I have a knack for being transparently vague.
The bones of the prologue came from the assignment in 2015, where my what-if scenario plays out in a scene that I believe many of us wonder about as we get older: reconnecting with a familiar stranger. Chapter One takes you back to the beginning when Jolie meets Jace for the first time.
And here comes the personal petrification: out of all the chapters in this book, Chapter One is the most personal. I wrote from what I knew. But oh!—the journey I went on with Jolie and Jace! What a privilege it has been to write into what I didn't know.
The book started personal, yes, and ended up being incredibly meaningful.
Are you curious to see the original writing assignment side by side with the current prologue? If so, sign up for my Newsletter & read it in the March issue.
Thanks for being here,
Jes
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