Lessons From My Time in the Mountains

This post was supposed to go out yesterday, but my neighbor called me in for an emergency baby-sitting/pet-sitting job. So instead of writing, I spent three hours playing with eight puppies and one of my favorite kids in the entire world.

But anyway, last weekend, my siblings and I spent a few days in the mountains in our church's cabin. It was a lovely time of relaxation and rejuvenation (albeit it was far too short). Can't wait until I get to go again.

While we were there, I had the chance to help my brother brainstorm a book idea he's working on. He's struggled with it for months, not sure of where to start, so I did my best to help him break through. I learned a few things during that session and I thought I might share them.

~Don't over think~

His biggest struggle was overthinking everything. The plot. The outline. Everything. Once I boiled everything down to the most basic concept, I could almost see the details click for him. He got so excited about writing his story.

Sometimes we want to go super complex on things because it sounds like that's how all the greats did it. But, honestly, the most simple- ridiculously simple- ideas are the best. I mean, I wrote The Herbalist's War off of career research. There's nothing super complex or fancy about it. Just a basic concept that grew into an awesome story.

~You have made progress~

I often find that I get overwhelmed in the process that I forget to look back and see where I came from. But as we were touching on how to outline, he made a comment like: "It's so easy for you. You don't ever struggle with it." And I replied with something along the lines of: "Well, that's what happens when you've written almost ten novels."

I had to stop and think about that. I did struggle with outlining for years. My first novels prove that. But after a while, I figured out my process. It changes from time to time, depending on what my story needs, but it's still essentially the same. I've made progress. I've figured how I best outline. Who knows where else I've made improvements?

If you ever feel like you'll never reach your goals, stop a moment and list five areas where you've improved and how you went about it. Then, maybe try to think of ways you could improve in whatever area you're struggling with now. A fight is always easier with a battle plan. Make one.

~Brainstorming brings breakthroughs~

He spent months stressing about his plot. Months. After about thirty minutes of brainstorming, he calmly spent the rest of the weekend and the days afterwards working on his story as if none of that stressing ever happened.

So if you ever find yourself overwhelmed by a problem, reach out to someone else. They'll probably know exactly how to fix it. And then the only thing you'll stress about is why you didn't think about it in the first place.

So there you have it, three lessons from my time in the mountains! I hope you found them helpful.

What sorts of lessons have you learned recently? Where have you made improvements? What are some of your best brainstorming moments?